North Huntingdon's Trash Pickup Changes Hands January 1. Why the Township Went Back to Manual Collection

"The industry and economics are driving us to an automated system," then-Assistant Township Manager Mike Turley told the Tribune-Review in September 2021, as North Huntingdon prepared to hand every household a 96-gallon wheeled cart. In that same story, he said unlimited trash collection was not an option because it was driving up costs.

Five years later, the township is going back. On January 1, 2027, Pro Waste LLC takes over residential trash and recycling from Waste Management, and the trucks will be manual ones, with a worker lifting bags and cans at the curb. The township's September 17 announcement sets the standard rate at $24.00 a month. In 2021 that kind of service would have cost almost twice as much. The economics behind the cart have flipped.

What Manual Pickup Cost Before the Carts Arrived

In 2021, Waste Management offered North Huntingdon two prices. Automated service was $25.75 a month, or $77.25 a quarter, in 2022, with scheduled increases each year. Its "manual option," where employees lift cans into the back of the truck, was $43.48 a month, or about $130 a quarter. The only other bidder that year, Republic Services, bid $31.44 a month for the first year. Commissioners approved the Waste Management automated contract, which included an option to renew for 2026, according to the Tribune-Review's report on the vote.

So manual collection carried a premium of about $17.73 a month over automated. The automated case also included safety. A Waste Management spokeswoman said the system let one person run each truck and spared workers the heavy lifting of manual collection.

Here is how the 2026 bidding compares, using the monthly figures on record:

The Pro Waste bid figures come from Civic IQ's summary of the township's September 10, 2026 work-session minutes. That summary lists a $14.3 million base bid for manual collection and $13 million for automated.

The manual rate costs $2.72 a month more than a single automated cart. It costs less than the automated option once the second cart is included, and less than the $28.96 a month Waste Management was scheduled to charge in 2025. Manual service has gone from the expensive option to roughly the same price as automated.

"Unlimited" Is Back in the Specifications

The rate is only part of the change. The township's 2027 bid specifications asked haulers to price two different services. The manual bid set "an unlimited weekly allowance" of 10- to 35-gallon bags, with weekly recycling. The automated bid was "limited to cart size." Later, the specifications say residential bids "shall contemplate an unlimited number of standard garbage bags" for weekly collection at the fixed price. Bags are defined as 10 to 35 gallons, with a 40-pound maximum.

In 2021, unlimited trash was what the township said it could not afford. In the 2027 contract it comes with the cheaper of the two realistic options. A household that regularly fills the 96-gallon cart, or has extra bags after a basement cleanout or a holiday week, is the one that gains most from the switch.

The specifications describe the rest of the service. They are what the township required bidders to price, and the township says the final schedules and service guidelines are still being prepared with Pro Waste:

• Trash: collected at least once a week, from January 1, 2027, through December 31, 2030, with a mutually agreed fifth-year option.
• Recycling: collected weekly.
• Bulk items: one item per household per month at the curb, during a designated week. Residents can arrange a special pickup of multiple items with the hauler.
• Yard waste: at least six designated weeks a year, picked up on trash day, in biodegradable bags.
• Extended absences: residents who leave their permanent home for two or more months a year can suspend service temporarily.

The New Line Item: Door-to-Door E-Waste and Hazardous Waste

The biggest addition is the one most likely to clear out a garage. The bid specifications require an on-call, door-to-door service that collects electronic waste and household hazardous waste, available to every resident. Televisions, computer systems, and other electronics with circuit boards are included, subject to daily maximums. The specifications describe the service as provided "at no additional cost per home per month."

The scheduling requirements are detailed. Bidders had to provide a toll-free hotline with live operators from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, in English and Spanish, an automated line after hours, and a web platform for booking 24 hours a day. Residents may use the program as often during the year as they need. According to the township's stated purpose, the service is meant to handle materials that are otherwise hard to dispose of and tend to pile up in homes. Old monitors, half-empty paint cans, and the like now have a pickup route.

The 96-Gallon Cart Becomes Yours

Waste Management delivered 26,000 carts across the township in late 2021: black 96-gallon carts for trash and blue carts for recycling, made by Cascade Engineering of Grand Rapids, Michigan, and stored by the thousands at the public works property before delivery, according to the Tribune-Review.

Those carts are not being collected. The township's announcement says the automated carts "will become the property of the homeowner," and residents may keep using them however they like after the switch. The 2021 cart price was built into the hauling fee. At the time, township officials calculated that Waste Management had added $4 per bin to its earlier $21.69 monthly fee. Households have been paying for the carts for five years, and in January they keep them.

What Seniors Will Pay

Senior pricing was an issue during the last switch. When the carts arrived in 2021, the Tribune-Review reported that some senior citizens had complained to commissioners about having to haul their carts to the curb.

The 2027 contract keeps two senior options. The senior monthly rate is $22.08, and the senior sticker rate is $9.28. Under the bid specifications, the senior discount applies to residents 65 or older who are head of household and can show proof of age. Sticker accounts require at least two stickers a month, with 24 bought per year, sold at a township location the hauler chooses.

Compare that with 2025, when seniors on the automated 65-gallon cart were scheduled to pay $73.86 a quarter under the 2021 contract terms the Tribune-Review reported, and bag customers bought at least 24 bags at $2.50 each. The new senior monthly rate works out to $66.24 a quarter.

Who Pro Waste Is, and the Weeks Before the Handoff

Pro Waste describes itself as a local, family-owned waste company serving Pittsburgh and the surrounding area. Its website lists an address at 4859 State Route 51 in Belle Vernon. The contract came out of a bid process that opened with a June 18 notice, a mandatory pre-bid meeting on July 8, and sealed bids due August 12, 2026.

Waste Management keeps collecting through December 31, 2026, which leaves about eight weeks of the current routine from this week on. The township says it will work with Pro Waste to distribute collection schedules, service guidelines, recycling requirements, and holiday schedules over the coming months. It points residents to its website, social media, and future mailings for updates. The township's garbage collection and recycling page is the place to check for the 2027 schedule. Rates and service terms come from the township and the hauler, so check their published information for your own account.

A $24 monthly bill, or $72 a quarter, is a small part of what it costs to own a North Huntingdon home, but it's one buyers ask about and sellers should know. When you want to see how your home's value compares to the rest of the township in 2027, the Slivka / Reilley Team can run the numbers for your street. Get an Instant Home Valuation.