Forward Twp. contracts with Pro Waste Services to handle garbage pick-up

Trash collection will take place every Wednesday beginning in October.

For nearly three decades, garbage day in Forward Township came with a quiet certainty: trash disappeared from the curb, and no one sent a bill.

That long-standing perk — a holdover from a 1996 deal with Kelly Run Landfill — is about to end.

With the landfill now on the brink of closing, township supervisors have chosen a new refuse provider, marking the first time in a generation that residents will have to pay for weekly trash collection.

Monday night, the board awarded a three-year contract to Pro Waste Services, setting the stage for a $19 monthly fee that will start in October.

Kelly Run, operated by Waste Management, has been accepting nonhazardous solid waste for decades.

Under the host municipality fee agreement, every household received free pickup — no exceptions and no invoices.

But the arrangement contained an expiration date, even if it wasn’t written in ink: when the landfill reached capacity, so would the era of no-cost service.

That deal will expire when the site shuts down, which is expected in late third or early fourth quarter of this year.

About 1,390 homes in the township will be affected.

The contract with Pro Waste runs from Oct. 1, 2025, through September 2028. Collection will take place every Wednesday between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m.

Billing will be handled directly by the company, meaning unpaid accounts will be the company’s responsibility, not the township’s.

Rates will be $19 per month, and billing will most likely be annual.

Residents who already have a Pro Waste dumpster for commercial use won’t face an additional residential fee.

Those with dumpsters from other providers will either need to switch to Pro Waste before Oct. 1 or pay an extra $19 per month.

Residents who own more than one property — including vacant homes — should expect to receive a separate bill for each address. Township officials explained that garbage service is billed per household, not per occupant, because the contract is based on the total number of serviceable addresses in Forward Township.

That means seasonal homeowners, landlords with unoccupied units and owners of second residences will still be charged the quarterly fee, even if little or no trash is set out.

There will not be a limit to the number of cans that can be set out for collection each week.

Before voting, supervisors debated whether televisions, computers and other electronics could be added to weekly pickup.

“If you want them to pick that stuff up every week, it’s going to cost,” Chairman Tom DeRosa said. Supervisor Dave Levdansky discussed hosting quarterly collection events where residents could drop off electronics at a designated site, if there is an interest.

They agreed – unusually – that it could be discussed with the company before a contract was signed.

Recycling also surfaced as a possible future option.

Levdansky floated the idea of a voluntary dropoff bin for aluminum, glass, paper, cardboard and plastics.

“Other municipalities have done it. They found markets. Otherwise they wouldn’t do it,” he said.

But not everyone was convinced.

“Plastic — can’t give it away. Paper — you can’t give it away,” resident and former supervisor Tom Headley said, drawing on 40 years of recycling experience. “I’ve been involved with organizations that have drop-off places, and it’s a mess because people throw all sorts of stuff in there other than paper. They don’t pick it up on time, and it’s a headache. So I would say no to all of that.”

In the end, the recycling discussion was left as a “maybe later” item rather than part of the new contract.

Officials will meet with Pro Waste this week to discuss electronic collection options. They unanimously approved the contract as is and agreed to contingently include what is agreed upon for electronic pick-up.