Enfield’s Trash Outsourcing Report: Keep It In-House

This table is from a consultant’s report prepared for the town of Enfield by Mercer Group Associates and BridgeGroup. RRM refers to the town’s Refuse and Resource Management division. The table also notes that 2025 is an election year, hinting at possible political considerations.

Enfield has released the final consulting report on the possibility of outsourcing trash hauling — and it recommends keeping the service in-house.

The report by Mercer Group Associates and BridgeGroup LLC says the town would see only “limited” cost savings by outsourcing its Refuse and Resource Management (RRM) services. But the town also provides a level of service that many other municipalities don’t necessarily offer.

It describes RRM as having an “experienced, committed staff” with a “strong work ethic,” and warns that outsourcing could mean losing that expertise. At the same time, the consultants say the town could improve efficiency and productivity through better management, equipment replacement, and operational changes.

Enfield’s Refuse Service Goes Above and Beyond

The report highlights the distinctive nature of Enfield's trash services, calling the current system an “all-inclusive service model” that is “uncommon in Connecticut.” Beyond standard trash and recycling pickup, the RRM division also handles:

-- Bulky waste collection

-- Seasonal leaf and yard waste collection

-- Transfer station operations

-- Support for snow plowing and municipal grounds maintenance

The Town Council hired the consultants to explore privatizing trash collection, a model many towns use. Council members received a draft report earlier this year but did not release it.

(I filed a Freedom of Information Act complaint with the state, arguing that drafts aren’t exempt from disclosure. The town disagreed and said it would release the report once finalized. Mayor Ken Nelson sent me the final report today. The town plans to post the full report; when I have the link, I’ll add it.)

Why Cost Savings Are Limited

Most of the major expenses don’t go away under outsourcing:

-- Tipping fees (about 50% of the budget) still have to be paid, no matter who collects the trash. Tipping fees are the charges the towns pay to dispose of trash. 

-- The Town has promised no layoffs, so employees would retire over time or be reassigned — meaning payroll costs wouldn’t drop much right away.

-- A private hauler’s price would still include fuel, maintenance, and truck replacement — just built into the contractor’s bill.

The consultants estimated that outsourcing trash collection could produce about $200,000 in annual savings based on Enfield’s $2.1 million operational budget, not including the $2.2 million spent on disposal and tipping fees. That’s roughly a 9.5% savings, but the report emphasizes this figure is only possible, not guaranteed. Actual savings would depend on contractor bid prices, staffing changes, and other factors. The estimate also doesn’t account for the Town’s no-layoffs policy, which would delay payroll savings, and excludes fixed costs like disposal fees that would remain regardless of who provides the service.

Customer Satisfaction — But Room for Improvement

The report noted that residents are generally happy with current service, and outsourcing could erode that satisfaction if contractor performance slipped or made bulky or yard waste pickups harder. Selling off Town trucks could backfire if they’re needed later for snow plowing or other work.

To boost efficiency and control costs, the report recommends steps such as regularly replacing aging trucks and optimizing collection routes using GPS and tonnage data.