Residents of five Centre County townships will have a new trash hauler and increased rates for collection starting in 2025.
Burgmeier’s Hauling will take over refuse collection in Benner, College, Ferguson, Harris and Patton townships on April 1, 2025, following approval of a new five-year refuse and recycling contract by the Centre Region Council of Governments General Forum on Monday night. The COG also approved the Centre County Recycling and Refuse Authority to handle billing, payments and related customer service.
Burgmeier’s — a Blair County-based, family-owned business that operates in Pennsylvania, Maryland and West Virginia — will replace Waste Management as hauler for approximately 16,200 properties in the five townships. Waste Management, which will continue as the service provider through March 31, 2025, was the only other bidder for the new contract.
Hauler-owned carts will replace bag limits for customers, with three cart sizes available. Monthly fees for refuse and recycling for the first year of the contract beginning April 1, 2025 will be:
• $31.09 for a 95-gallon cart and unlimited recycling;
• $29.83 for a 65-gallon cart and unlimited recycling; or
• $28.01 for a 35-gallon cart and unlimited recycling.
For the remainder of the contract, rates can increase by no more than 5% year total for fuel costs, tipping fees and inflation.
Rates for 2024 are $23.38 a month for up to eight bags a week or $19.38 for one bag per week under a contract negotiated in 2019 with Advanced Disposal before it was acquired by Waste Management.
A 95-gallon cart holds about six to eight large trash bags, said Shelly Mato, Centre Region refuse and recycling administrator. Customers will have an opportunity to switch cart size for free one time within the first year.
Since the COG last negotiated a refuse and recycling contract, rates have climbed significantly, Mato noted.
“In an environment across the state of Pennsylvania, and in fact across the country, where refuse collection costs have seen a dramatic increase, we believe we are able to provide the residents of COG with contracts that will provide a high level of service for as low a price as we could hope for,” she said.
A comparison of 15 other municipal contracts awarded to private haulers in Pennsylvania between 2022 and 2024 found the Centre Region townships’ new rate is lower than all but four, according to a presentation to the General Forum.
The new contract will include weekly automated collection of refuse using the hauler-owned carts, along with curbside collection of recycling. Additional and replacement carts and excess refuse are available for a fee.
At-door collection will be available only for ADA-eligible households, at no extra charge.
Services also include on-demand bulk waste collection of up two items twice per year and bulk recycling collection of up to two items twice per year. Customers will request pickup and they will be scheduled within two weeks. Collection of additional bulk items can be requested for a fee.
Christmas tree collection is also included in the contract.
CCRRA will provide invoicing and payment collection for refuse and recycling service, with the ability for customers to pay in person, by mail or online. The authority will have dedicated phone and email contacts for customer service.
The combination of collection services by Burgmeier’s and billing and customer service by CCRRA yielded the lowest cost proposal, with an average monthly household cost of $30.10.
Waste Management’s proposal, including billing services, had an average monthly household cost of $37.65 and did not include Christmas tree collection, options for excess refuse or bulk recylcing pickup and on-demand bulk waste collection. With CCRRA handling billing and bulk recycling, the Waste Management proposal would have an average monthly household cost of $41.15.
Burgmeier’s proposal with its own billing services included had a monthly household average of $39.76.
The General Forum voted unanimously to approve the 2025-30 refuse and recycling contract. State College and Halfmoon Township are not part of the contract and abstained. The borough operates its own collection service and Halfmoon Township residents either contract individually with a hauler or transport their own refuse and recycling.
Benner Township is not part of the Centre Region COG but joins the four townships for the refuse and recycling contract.
