Residents of five Centre County townships will soon begin receiving new refuse carts ahead of an upcoming change in trash haulers.
Carts from Burgmeier’s Hauling will be delivered to residents in Benner, College, Ferguson, Harris and Patton townships between Feb. 17 and March 24, according to the Centre Region Council of Governments Refuse and Recycling Program. Carts will be delivered to each residence and placed at the curb, indicating where residents should place the cart weekly for collection.
Burgmeier’s contract for weekly curbside refuse collection in the townships does not begin until April 1, and residents should not begin using the carts until then. Once Burgmeier’s begins service, refuse will be collected through an automated system using the hauler-owned refuse carts, which will replace bag limits.
Carts will come with card hangers that explain where to place the cart to ensure collection, the day of service for the address and what can and cannot go in the carts. Township residents who do not receive a cart by March 24 should contact COG Refuse and Recycling at 814-234-7198 or recycler@crcog.net, or the Centre County Recycling and Refuse Authority 814-826-2722 or cogcs@centrecountyrecycles.org.
Residents were invited to select which size cart they wanted last summer and fall, and those who did not register a choice were assigned the largest, a 95-gallon cart.
The Centre Region Council of Governments approved in March 2024 a five-year contract with Burgmeier’s as regional trash hauler for the five participating townships beginning April 1, 2025. The Altoona-based company will replace Waste Management, whose contract is expiring and whose bid was higher than Burgmeier’s.
Neither State College Borough nor any other Centre County municipality are part of the new contract.
Monthly fees for refuse and recycling for the first year of the new contract will be:
• $31.09 for a 95-gallon cart and unlimited recycling;
• $29.83 for a 65-gallon cart and unlimited recycling; or
• $28.01 for a 35-gallon cart and unlimited recycling.
While Burgmeier’s will handle trash hauling under the new contract, the Centre County Recycling and Refuse Authority will be responsible for billing, payments and related customer service, which COG staff found to be most cost effective.
The CCRRA also will continue weekly collection of recycling in the red bins.
The first invoices for the new service will arrive in the mail in mid-March from the CCRRA and will detail payment and online account options. The COG Refuse & Recycling newsletter mailed with the invoices will provide information on recycling refuse cans residents no longer need and for disposing of bulk items, as well as listing changes in the collection schedule for 2025.
