This area off Pitts Street in Berlin has been deemed a problem area for the town’s public works department due to the volume and weight of food waste.

By Tara Fischer

Staff Writer

(July 30, 2026) Before the Town of Berlin ceases to offer commercial trash pickup, municipal officials are seeking ways to address hazardous and unsightly overflow of restaurant food waste that the public works department says is becoming too burdensome to handle.

At Monday’s Berlin Town Council meeting, Public Works Director Jimmy Charles reported that 11 of the shared commercial trash containers used by downtown businesses are consistently overflowing, with excess waste ending up on the ground.

The Berlin Public Works Department collects this trash every Monday and Friday. However, the participating businesses only pay for one pickup a week. Even with the extra subsidized service, Charles said the waste thrown out in the bins is at max capacity when his crew shows up.

“In the last months, the last six months or so, we’ve seen a volume where we’re actually going twice a week to a specific location,” Charles said. “When we’ve gotten to this location on a Friday, all trash cans are filled. There’s trash on the ground. Then when we get there on Monday, it’s the same thing. They’re only paying for one pickup, but we’re doing it twice a week.”

The public works director asked the mayor and council for permission to notify the businesses that the town will return to one trash collection per week unless they pay for an additional pickup. He said the current arrangement is placing a strain on public works employees, as the containers’ volume and weight continue to worsen.

“I would like to send them a notice that it will either go back to once-a-week trash pickup and then they have the option of paying for the additional pickup,” Charles said. “To pay for the service for what we’re providing to them. It’s becoming a hardship on the crews. This trash is very, very heavy.”

He added that his team has been dealing with the issue since the spring.

“It’s a repeat every week, every Friday, every Monday,” he said. “We’re not getting the payment for the volume of trash we’re picking up.”

Council Vice President Dean Burrell questioned whether the town should continue providing the service at all.

“The taxpayers are actually subsidizing this trash pickup,” Burrell said. “Why can’t we say…we’re done, and you need to contract with someone to remove your trash?”

Charles responded that his original recommendation was to provide five more weeks of service before requiring businesses to secure private commercial trash collection by Sept. 1, giving them time to make arrangements.

However, the council ultimately favored delaying any decision until restaurant owners could return with potential solutions. Affected businesses are encouraged to attend the Berlin Town Council meeting on Aug. 10 at 6 p.m. to discuss the problem.

“I want to really give them the opportunity to speak,” Berlin Mayor Tyndall said. “I don’t disagree that it’s challenging and we need to have a plan, but bring them in on Aug. 10 so we’re not moving the needle to the end of the month.”

Tyndall also suggested public works gather additional information on the weight of the overflowing trash to better understand the true cost of servicing the businesses.

“We spend over $200,000 a year in tipping fees,” he said, referring to charges the county assesses to dispose of waste at the landfill. “If we’re talking about cost recovery … we need to have an idea what this sample weight could be so we can make sure the cost is there as well.”

Charles told the council businesses currently pay $150 per can, per quarter, for commercial trash collection. While one business pays $600 quarterly for four containers, he estimated the amount of waste generated would more accurately reflect a cost of about $1,000 per quarter to service.

“We’re trying to somehow eliminate this area because the volume … we’re losing money,” Charles said.

Additionally, Tyndall questioned whether additional collections were a realistic long-term option if the department lacks the personnel and equipment to handle the workload.

“If what I’m hearing from public works is that we really can’t handle the additional pickup with the personnel and equipment you have, then we need to remove the idea of additional pickup,” he said.

Charles agreed the underlying issue is the amount of food waste being generated.

“This has been going on since March and April,” he said. “The volume has been there for months. It’s hard on our equipment because of this weight … it’s a huge volume.”

Council members agreed to continue the conversation at their Aug. 10 meeting. Downtown restaurant owners may present possible alternatives for managing commercial food waste.