Bethlehem is raising recycling fees next year, and here’s why

Bethlehem City Council on Tuesday night unanimously voted to increase the city’s recycling fee in January.

The city’s contract with Republic Services from 2018-22 cost around $1.1 million a year, but Republic declined to renew the contract at that price in 2023. City officials say the company is facing staffing and supply chain issues and increasing fuel costs.

The city put out a request for proposals, and landed on a two-year contract with the same provider, but at a cost of around $1.7 million a year — a $600,000 increase.

To account for the increased cost, Bethlehem households will owe $90 a year for recycling services, up from $70 under the previous contract. It’s the first time Bethlehem has increased recycling fees since 2015, according to Mayor J. William Reynolds.

Under the new contract, Republic Services will switch from dual stream to single stream recycling. Residents will no longer have to separate paper and plastic recyclables and can put all materials in the same container starting in January.

Single-stream recycling is the less expensive option, Director of Community and Economic Development Laura Collins said, and could increase recycling participation, because the ability to put all recyclables in one container rather than sorting them is more convenient for consumers.

“This is a net positive for us from a climate perspective,” Collins said.

Recycling pickup schedules will not change.

City Council held a preliminary vote in November, where members unanimously voted to approve the contract and increase the fee.

“I know a $20-a-year impact is more for some folks in the city than others, but still seems, when spread out over four quarterly payments, to be a fairly reasonable increase considering how much the cost of everything is going up,” Council member Hillary Kwiatek said then.

The new fee is effective Jan. 1.

Bethlehem is not the only Lehigh Valley municipality considering a recycling fee increase. Upper Macungie Township’s Refuse and Recycling fee will increase from $305 to $320 a year to account for higher service costs from the city’s disposal company, Whitetail Disposal.