By Tara Fischer

Staff Writer

(Aug. 13, 2026) Berlin officials are seeking approval from county government for a larger dumpster on county-owned property to address a buildup of commercial trash the town’s public works department says is becoming more than it can handle.

The issue of overflowing waste from downtown businesses was back up for discussion at the Town Council’s meeting Monday night.

In July, Berlin Public Works Director Jimmy Charles reported that 11 shared commercial trash containers used by town businesses are consistently overflowing, to the point that lids cannot close and waste ends up on the ground. The issue has persisted since the spring.

According to Charles, this spot on Pitts Street requires twice-a-week trash collection, on Mondays and Fridays, despite the businesses paying only for once a week. He maintained that while the cans should realistically be emptied even more frequently, his crew cannot continue to provide the current rate of service, citing a lack of manpower and increasing waste volume.

The public works director had initially recommended that these businesses seek outside trash collection from private companies. However, an alternate suggestion was agreed upon Monday night.

Marcos Lopez, co-owner of 410 Social, which has four of the 11 Pitts Street cans, came before the Berlin Mayor and Council this week, where he said that his business takes as much waste as it can from the Pitts Street receptacles and moves it to a four-yard dumpster on the Worcester County Dental Center’s property. 410 Social shares this garbage bin with a downtown retail operation.

The Salisbury-based Chesapeake Waste Industries empties the dumpster. Lopez said the trash volume exceeds the capacity of the four-yard container, but the dental building’s property owner, Worcester County, is opposed to getting a larger bin.

“They don’t care for anything larger than [four yards],” Lopez said.

However, to address the trash overflow, the Town of Berlin has suggested advocating for the procurement of an eight-yard dumpster, to be paid for by 410 Social. Under this solution, the town will also continue to offer once-a-week trash collection for the Pitts Street cans.

Berlin Mayor Zack Tyndall said his office would email the Worcester County Commissioners this week about securing the new bin. If they are unwilling to compromise, however, Tyndall said a new remedy would need to be presented.

410 Social agreed with the recommendation. However, Lopez added that 410 Social would be willing to pay for a second trash collection from the town, if need be.

Still, the municipality maintained that they cannot continue to provide the twice-a-week pickup.