This summer, the Mount Horeb Village Board approved a new company to handle refuse and recycling for local citizens. After receiving four bids (from GFL Environmental, Lake Shore Recycling Services, Waste Management and Pellitteri Waste Systems), the board opted to switch from Waste Management to Pellitteri.

Village households will pay approximately $15 monthly for weekly trash pickup and biweekly recycling removal.* That amount will increase by three-and-a-half percent annually.  

The board is inking a five-year-deal with Pelliterri, which will replace Waste Management, and trustees will have the option to extend the contract to 10 years.

New trash and recycling carts will be delivered mid-December, with service starting the first week of January.

Todd Bollenbach, municipal account executive for Pellitteri Waste Systems, said residents can expect several changes, as well as increased recycling capacity and new pick-up days.

Mount Horeb’s service days will be Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays. Trash collection will be weekly, and recycling collection will take place every-other-week. 

Residents will receive a packet of information attached to their recycling cart lid when their new carts are delivered.  It will include contact information and maps showing what day of the week each neighborhood’s service will occur. 

“I feel the biggest change the residents of Mount Horeb will notice is our high level of customer service,” said Bollenbach. “We have a local, live, full-staffed customer service team dedicated to assisting the village residents and administration with anything they may need.”

Bollenbach said the company will offer and expanded recycling list which allows residents to recycle even more items such as bagged shredded paper (prepared properly), metal pots and pans, small appliances, coffee to go cups (with no lids), juice boxes, cartons, small metal plumbing fixtures, aluminum foil and empty aerosol cans. 

They will take all of the village’s trash to the Dane Country Landfill.  All of the village’s recycling will be taken to their Kipp Street MRF (Material Recovery Facility) to be sorted and processed. 

Bollenbach said the company has been family-owned and operated company for over 44 years, “with a tradition of service since 1939.”

“In 2005 we decided to enter into the residential curbside collection service market as the truck technology had proven that curbside could be safely done with automated trucks instead of manual collection,” he explained. “Since that time, we have earned one municipal customer at a time and now serve more than 70,000 households for curbside collection throughout Southern Wisconsin.”

“By January 1, 2024, we will proudly be providing curbside service for more than 40 municipalities throughout South Central Wisconsin,” Bollenbach continued. “Our headquarters is in Monona, right here in Dane County, with our staff, customer service, drivers, operations, sales [and more] all in the same location.  Our MRF (material recovery facility), which processes all of our all-in-one recycling, is located in Madison.  We additionally service thousands of commercial customers, have a specialty recycling division for ‘hard-to-recycle’ items, and also have a confidential data destruction division that handles the confidential shredding needs for many businesses and residents across Wisconsin.”

In recent years, technology has changed the way companies collect and more waste.

“With the constant evolution of technology, we continue to make strides by implementing equipment to automate processes and minimize the amount of recyclables getting through the system and not being recognized accordingly,” Bollenbach  said. “Our residential trucks are equipped with GPS systems and cameras that allow us to better resolve any resident concerns pertaining to perceived service inconsistencies, and we are looking to expand our fleet of trucks to include more CNG vehicles.” 

The most impressive technology occurs at our Kipp Street MRF,” he continued. “We own and operate a state-of-the-art recycling material recovery facility and are devoted to helping our customers increase the number of items and materials that can be recycled, instead of filling up a landfill. We’ve recently added technology that will further separate smaller OCC boxes from the mixed paper stream, we’ve added more sorting technology to further enhance the plastic sorting capabilities, and through the use of AI and robotics; we are on the cutting edge of recycling sorting capabilities.  Because of these advancements, Pellitteri is able to accept an expanded list of recyclables, such as hot and cold paper cups, bagged shredded paper, small appliances, metal pots and pans, juice and milk cartons, to name a few. Stop throwing away those to-go cups!”

Pelliterri also have a dedicated webpage on their website (Pellitteri.com) for the Village of Mount Horeb residents to reference specific information as it pertains to the services we are providing to the village.  On it, residents will be able to see collection calendars, a FAQ page, contact info and recycling information.  They also provide an interactive “Recycle Right” search tool at pellitteri.com to answer any recycling questions residents may have as well.

Pellitteri has a seven-minute video on their website that shows how recycling is sorted and processed to shipped to be used in new products. They also have more than 30 one-minute recycling tip videos to help our customers learn how to be “great recyclers.”

They also have a new app that residents can download that will allow them to get customized reminders to put their carts out for service, weather service notifications, review their collection calendar and search if items are recyclable.  

“We want this transitional period and new cart implementation to go smoothly,” said Bollenbach. “So, if you could let residents know to contact Pellitteri directly (instead of the Village) with any concerns and/or questions that may arise… it will be the easiest and fastest way to get any of their questions answered!  Residents can contact us via email at info@pellitteri.com or call us at 608-257-4285.”

*The original version of this article included a detailed breakdown of the costs, based on the village board’s accepted bid, that many readers (justifiably) found confusing. That breakdown has been edited and updated in the current version.