Bristol wrestling with how to stop picking up trash from businesses

More questions than answers as town figures out how to stop picking up commercial trash

By Christy Nadalin
Posted 7/5/19

Truth be told, Town Administrator Steven Contente would have preferred that news of the town’s plan to research the feasibility of eliminating commercial trash pickup had stayed under wraps …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Register to post events


If you'd like to post an event to our calendar, you can create a free account by clicking here.

Note that free accounts do not have access to our subscriber-only content.

Day pass subscribers

Are you a day pass subscriber who needs to log in? Click here to continue.


Bristol wrestling with how to stop picking up trash from businesses

More questions than answers as town figures out how to stop picking up commercial trash

Posted

Truth be told, Town Administrator Steven Contente would have preferred that news of the town’s plan to research the feasibility of eliminating commercial trash pickup had stayed under wraps until he had more data. “We’re getting ahead of ourselves,” he said. “We don’t yet have all the facts.”

The facts they have are: Bristol’s public works crews pick up the trash from nearly 80 sites that are clearly identifiable as commercial businesses. Statewide, only one other town — New Shoreham — picks up trash from businesses. By state mandate, each town’s cap, or the amount of trash the town may dispose of at the Central Landfill in Johnston before additional costs are imposed, is based on its residential population.

According to the state’s solid waste management plan, the Central Landfill will reach capacity in about two decades — and if waste disposal is expensive now, it’s fairly certain the solution will be more expensive, probably dramatically so, in the future.

As of 2018, Bristol’s population sets the town cap at 7,306 tons, a figure the town routinely exceeds, to the tune of fees of about $80,000 per year.

If that were the whole picture, telling businesses to deal with their own trash would be the obvious solution. But of course, it’s not that simple.

“My feeling is, we residents pay taxes, and those taxes contribute to education, police, fire, snow and trash removal,” said Stephan Brigidi, a local businessman and commercial landlord. “But businesses also pay property taxes — a good sum — so aren’t we entitled to services?”

“I understand, the town is looking to save money. But we are as compliant and mindful as possible. We are doing our fair share.”

Mr. Brigidi’s property on the corner of Franklin and Thames streets houses several businesses, including his photography studio and the Beehive Café. Between these five businesses, there is enough space in one narrow alley to hold about 10 garbage cans. Unlike most businesses in town, there is simply no room for a dumpster, anywhere on the property.

Diversion rate is key

“I’m standing here looking at a pile, about a five-and-a-half-foot-tall stack of cardboard to be recycled,” said Chip Cavallaro of the Beehive Café. “You wouldn’t believe how much cardboard a typical restaurant discards in a week.”

Bedsides cardboard and recyclables like bottles and cans, the vast majority of restaurant waste is organic. Mr. Cavallaro has had discussions with town officials about the possibility of instituting some sort of composting program, but a workable solution is not on the immediate horizon. What is clear is that kicking restaurants off the townwide recycling pickup won’t impact the town’s cap at the Central Landfill, as recycling — all those boxes, bottles and cans — are not counted towards a town’s cap.

Last Friday morning, trash day in downtown Bristol, a municipal recycling truck pulled up alongside Leo’s Ristorante at Church and Hope streets. The truck, equipped with an automated lift, hoisted several industrial-sized recycling bins into the air, dumping their contents into the truck. Leo’s landfill-bound waste is collected in a private dumpster on the property, which owner Paul Mancieri has emptied about once every two weeks, at a cost somewhere in the ballpark of $130 per pickup.

“The town has never picked up our trash,” said Mr. Mancieri. “Luckily, I have the space for a dumpster. What the town does do is pick up my recycling, which is a great relief.”

“I hear what the town is saying, but the challenge is for a small to medium-sized business. Does this extend to an insurance agency throwing out a bag of coffee cups a week? What about mixed-use buildings? They can’t do this on a case-by-case basis.”

Moreover, if the town stops picking up commercial recycling, not only will Bristol’s diversion rate (already below the state average) decrease, impacting the cap (and tipping fees) further, but there is no option for private recycling. All that material will end up in the landfill. “It’s environmentally and socially irresponsible,” said Mr. Cavallaro.

Private pickup no longer an option

So what options does a business have, if it has no room for a dumpster, if the town decides to stop picking up their trash? Not many. “I’m willing to pay,” said Mr. Cavallaro, but he’d be looking for a rate closer to what dumpster pickup clients pay. “We’ve been in business for 18 years, so I’ve been down this road. I could buy a Mercedes for what private haulers were charging” — if he could find one.

Private trash haulers, once few and far between, are virtually extinct nowadays. “No dumpster, no private pickup, is what I’m finding,” said Mr. Cavallaro. He already uses his pickup truck on Mondays to remove the trash that accumulates at the Beehive over a busy weekend.

Past planning had an impact

“Businesses in Bristol were permitted without being required to have means to store garbage. This goes way back,” said Mr. Cavallaro. “Obviously abuse is taking place, but perhaps the town should go after those businesses that have options?”

“You get into business because you want to be your own boss, and you want to solve your own problems. I’m not sure that it’s the town’s job to solve this particular problem,” said Mr. Mancieri. “But, what is the town’s problem is that they gave permission for these businesses to open in these places, they gave out all these licenses without thinking through the locations. So it seems like a stab in the back to all the businesses that don’t have space. Where are they going to put a dumpster? Wow, that’s a tricky problem.”

More info to come

DPW director Kevin McBride will be gathering information over the next couple of weeks to present at the July 17 Bristol Town Council meeting. The plan is to present data on everything from number of residential vs. commercial stops, weights, and all associated costs.

2024 by East Bay Media Group

Barrington · Bristol · East Providence · Little Compton · Portsmouth · Tiverton · Warren · Westport
Meet our staff
Jim McGaw

A lifelong Portsmouth resident, Jim graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1982 and earned a journalism degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1986. He's worked two different stints at East Bay Newspapers, for a total of 18 years with the company so far. When not running all over town bringing you the news from Portsmouth, Jim listens to lots and lots and lots of music, watches obscure silent films from the '20s and usually has three books going at once. He also loves to cook crazy New Orleans dishes for his wife of 25 years, Michelle, and their two sons, Jake and Max.