After missing pickups throughout the city during its first week on the job, Elite Waste Services has been fired as Bayonne’s temporary recycling contractor and replaced with Roselle Disposal Recycling, according to Public Works Department Director Gary Chmielewski.
The end for Elite came after city hall received hundreds of calls from residents during the week of Aug. 3 to 10 about their recyclables not being picked up, Chmielewski said on Aug. 12. Some had left their recyclables out for three days without them being picked up.
On Saturday, Aug. 8, a truck was seen in the city’s second ward during the evening trying to play catch up on the collections.
On Monday, Aug. 10, Chmielewski called Elite owner Thomas Saccomano but could not determine the cause of the problem.
“We’ve terminated the contract,” Chmielewski said. “The mayor took swift action.”
Roselle and Elite had recently entered into two-month emergency contracts for solid waste and recycling, respectively, as the regular contracts expired and the city sought to review the bid specifications on both and make changes. Galaxy Recycling previously handled the city’s recycling services but was not interested in the emergency contract.
“We’ve terminated the contract.” – Gary Chmielewski
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“We needed to find someone to do recycling,” Chmielewski said. “Elite came in and said they would do it for us. They said, ‘We have the trucks and the workers. We’re ready to start.’”
But the week of Aug. 3, Elite didn’t have enough employees or trucks, according to Chmielewski, and the city received a barrage of calls from unhappy residents. On vacation, he was personally getting calls all week.
“They weren’t picked up throughout the city,” Chmielewski said. “For three days no one got picked up. We received hundreds of phone calls.”
The situation got so bad that Chmielewski sent out public works trucks to help, including on Friday, Aug. 7 and Saturday, Aug. 8, when he had a truck out until 1 a.m. both days.
But even that assistance could not stem the backlog.
“The problem is that once you fill up a truck, it has to be dumped somewhere,” Chmielewski said. “It has to then go to an out-of-town to dump. Then the truck has to drive back to the city.”
By Aug. 12, all was back to normal, according to Chmielewski. The city completed an emergency contract with Roselle to begin picking up the recyclables starting the next day.
What was the cause?
So what happened to cause the recycling snafu? “All we know is we paid for a service and we didn’t get it,” Chmielewski said. “We don’t really know what happened. It’s the garbage business. Who knows what happens in the garbage business?”
A call to Elite for a response or statement was not immediately returned.
Chmielewski said that it takes four trucks to completely cover the city, and he did not know if all four of Elite’s were deployed in Bayonne. He also said that some personnel had quit Elite the week the contract started, and he believes that was a factor.
New pickup for some
While Roselle now has the recycling contract, Chmielewski said it has necessitated one change. Those from 32nd Street and north in the city who had their recyclables picked up on Wednesday will now have them get picked up on Saturday until November. This includes all those north to the city line and into Country Village and Sycamore Road.
“We sent a robocall to all those in that area, telling them don’t leave garbage on Tuesday for Wednesday pickup; rather, put their garbage out on Friday for Saturday pickup,” Chmielewski said.
Those residents’ regular solid-waste pickup will not be affected.
Residents with questions should call the city at (201) 858-6099.
Joseph Passantino may be reached at JoePass@hudsonreporter.com.To comment on this story online visit www.hudsonreporter.com.