CHANGE IN GARBAGE CONTRACTOR

By The Franklin Lakes Journal

Published: February 3, 2010

Franklin Lakes Residents - Change in Garbage Contractor
Starting today, Wednesday, February 3, the Borough will be using a new contractor for collecting garbage and recycling.  Over this past weekend, Scuffy Carting, the contractor that had been collecting garbage and recycling, advised the Borough that they would no longer be providing this service to the Borough.

The Borough has entered into an emergency contract with Suburban Disposal for collecting garbage and recycling.  The schedule for collection shall remain the same.  If you have any problems with garbage or recycling pickup you can contact Suburban Disposal at 973-227-7020 — this would include problems with backyard pickup, if you have contracted for this service.

Scruffy Carting began to attract the attention of borough administrators in the Spring of 2009 as a variety of financial problems started to surface. 550,000 dollars in municipal fees were being garnished to pay for what a judge described as illegal dumping at a waste disposal site. The company was also facing debt obligations of 225,000 from a company it had aquired.

Ringwood, Lyndhurst and Elmwood Park were concerned enough about the company’s financial stability, and an apparent inability to profer appropriate insurance bonds, that they pre-emptively canceled contracts and found similar services. Speculation in the carting industry focused on Scruffy’s low bids to win municipal contracts as an additional reason for its fiscal woes.