Erie area municipalities, residents scramble to arrange garbage, recycling pickup

UNION CITY — Garbage won't be picked up until further notice in Union City Borough.

Albion Borough will have a new garbage hauler this week.

Recyclables won't be picked up in Summit Township until officials can make new arrangements.

And a number of people in other Erie County municipalities where residents arrange their own garbage pickup — including Washington, LeBoeuf, McKean and Conneaut townships — are scrambling to find a new hauler.

The changes are because a local hauler, Raccoon Refuse, seemingly has gone out of business, municipal officials said. The Mill Village-based company provided garbage or recycling service, or both, for several Erie County municipalities, including Union City and Albion boroughs and Summit Township.

The company also provided garbage service in Cambridge Springs Borough and other Crawford County municipalities.

Union City Borough was notified by email Monday that Raccoon Refuse is closed, borough Manager Cindy Wells said. Borough officials in turn notified residents in a Facebook post on Monday.

"Union City Borough received notification this morning that Racoon Refuse has closed and is no longer providing services. The Borough is attempting to find emergency services until a contract is rebid," borough officials said in the post.

Union City Borough residents are asked not to put garbage at the curb until arrangements can be made to have it collected. Residents who have taken garbage to the curb are asked to retrieve and store it so that it is not scattered.

There also will be no recycling pickup in the borough until a new hauler is found, Wells said.

Albion, Summit Township also affected by Raccoon Refuse shutdown

Raccoon Refuse also provided garbage and recycling pickup in Albion Borough.

A new hauler, Grove City-based Tri-County Industries, will begin collecting trash and recyclables in Albion on Thursday.

Albion's contract with Raccoon Refuse was set to expire at the end of this year. The borough awarded the bid for 2023-2028 garbage and recycling service to Tri-County, which now will begin work in the borough immediately, borough Manager Gary Wells said.

Raccoon Refuse had picked up recyclables but not garbage in Summit Township. Township officials on Monday had no official notification that Raccoon will no longer provide recycling service, township Supervisor Jack Lee said.

"But from what we're hearing, I'm afraid they are done," Lee said. "We will have to figure this out."

Raccoon Refuse could not be reached for comment Monday.

The company posted on social media last month that it was understaffed and in need of additional drivers.

"... I'd like to take a moment and say that we are not closing our doors, however we are extremely short on staff and in desperate need of (commercially licensed) drivers," according to the July 21 Facebook post. "We are trying our best to get everyone cleaned up."

Recycling, home trash pickups ended in other parts of Erie County

Raccoon Refuse picked up recyclables in weekly or monthly collections in several Erie County municipalities, including McKean and LeBoeuf townships. That service has also seemingly ended.

"We've heard that (Raccoon Refuse) has closed its doors, but only through (news reports) and people calling us," McKean Township Supervisor Janice Dennis said. "We can't get ahold of anyone at Raccoon."

McKean Township residents arrange for their own garbage service, and Dennis and others previously served by Raccoon Refuse are now looking for another hauler, or looking to the township for information.

"We're getting a million phone calls from residents," Dennis said. "There are some other small haulers out there, but you can't get ahold of them. They must be getting tons of calls."

"We're telling people that it's going to be a struggle for a couple weeks until they can get new service," LeBoeuf Township Secretary-Treasurer Catherine Wise said.

Raccoon Refuse picked up garbage at the LeBoeuf Township Building and collected recyclables in monthly pickups in the building's driveway. It also provided garbage service for a number of other township residents.

"People are going to have to shop around and find out who's available. There aren't that many garbage companies out there that can handle more volume," Wise said. "It's going to be a couple weeks before we all figure this out."

Contact Valerie Myers at vmyers@timesnews.com. Follow her on Twitter @ETNmyers

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie area municipalities, residents scramble for garbage, recycling service