Haddonfield Part of Camco Trash Disposal Shared Service

Haddonfield is one of 17 towns participating in a Camden County shared services initiative to reduce the cost of trash disposal.

The Camden County Division of Shared Services has taken a regional approach to trash disposal that will result in a significant savings to towns and taxpayers, according to a news release.

Camden County organized and facilitated a cooperative bid package for trash disposal for its related agencies and 17 separate municipalities. This bid will leverage economies of scale for many small towns throughout the county and capture a much better price as a group than if they were to individually go out to the marketplace.

The bid opening is scheduled for February 9. The requested bids are for one year, with options up to five years.

“By joining in this cooperative bid package, each participant stands to save a great deal in disposal fees,” Louis Cappelli, Jr., freeholder director, said. "“The County has taken the lead on this project and will bring significant cost savings to the operation of several county institutions, and municipalities."

The Board of Chosen Freeholders are the highest elected officials in the county.

The participating municipalities are:  Audubon, Audubon Park, Barrington, Bellmawr, Brooklawn, Chesilhurst, Clementon, Gloucester City, Haddonfield, Lawnside, Lindenwold, Mt. Ephraim, Oaklyn, Pennsauken, Pine Hill, Runnemede and Woodlynne. This represents more than 63,000 households in Camden County and will represent in excess of 60,000 tons of trash per year, for an estimated savings of up to $700,000 based on previous bid results. 

Last year, other Camden County municipalities joined together to secure lower trash disposal fees.  Towns that participated in that bid received a rate decrease of $12.50 per ton, reducing fees from $65.00 to $52.50 per ton at the plant operated by Foster-Wheeler in Camden.

Camden County municipalities are no longer held to previously state-imposed trash flow restrictions, and are free to seek out the lowest price per ton.  The bid requests are for trash disposal only. Increased recycling efforts and county-wide single stream collection have also resulted in savings for municipalities by reducing the tonnage disposed of each year.

This agreement also contains the trash disposal rights to a variety of County operations, including Camden County College, Camden County Municipal Utility Authority, Camden County Vocational Technical School and the Camden County Health Services Center.