The South End Forum returned to its roots last week.

The neighborhood public forum began 12 years ago to talk about trash and build a long-term partnership with Boston Public Works (BPW), and that discussion continued with an update on the city’s garbage collection contracts, which were renewed in July of last year.

The new contract contains a $15 million budgetary increase over the previous contract, which was negotiated in 2019 just before the impact of COVID-19, lockdown years and accelerated inflation. At the forum, Dennis Roache, superintendent of waste reduction at the City of Boston, covered some of what the budgetary increase has provided for.

During the 2024-2025 fiscal year, public works will be purchasing or leasing 27 new collection trucks, 41% of the total fleet of 66 active trucks daily.

The new contract also budgets for and guarantees the staffing of two sanitation workers per truck, including recycling collection trucks. The $27 million earmarked for 129 dedicated staff members is an increase of 11 more laborers than the previous contract budgeted for.

It also allows for higher wages for staff members and lowers overtime costs by achieving earlier collection finish times since two laborers per truck significantly increases the pace that a truck can complete its route.

According to Roache, trucks now complete their routes at least 3 hours earlier on average. For the South End, that means collection beginning at 6am should now be completed by 2-3pm, ahead of the targeted 3-4pm finish time, instead of lagging behind at 5-6pm.

Roache said that going into negotiation with the contract holder, Capital Waste, their high financial demands were met with proportional demands from the city regarding the service. Late finish times and missed collection has been significantly reduced so far in the first year of the new contract.

The city saw a 27% reduction in complaints of missed trash collection from 2024 to 2025 year to date, and South End collection even did slightly better, seeing a 32% reduction in complaints. Roache said that in his time with BPW these numbers and the average time it takes to respond to missed pickups are the lowest he’s seen.

BPW also acknowledged some of the acute challenges faced by waste collection in the South End.

The early morning start time means the vast majority of residents will set their trash out the night before. When hard plastic and metal containers are not available this means plastic bags and carboard boxes are often left out on the street overnight. Several residents at the forum complained about bags being ripped open overnight and the contents remaining in the street even after pickup on the following day.

The BPW spokesperson said that the Boston Police Department is aware of recurring incidents of people intentionally tearing the bags overnight and is working to identify them. They also stressed the importance of using sealed containers to prevent rats from tearing into bags and said they were working on making more sealed containers available. The BRAP Rat Committee, a cross-departmental effort with the Zero Waste team, is evaluating containerization plans for each neighborhood.

Other city initiatives aimed at waste reduction were also touched on briefly at the forum. Roache expressed that he felt the most important change is the addition of a new director of waste policy and planning to Boston’s Zero Waste team. The new director will be focused on introducing policies with an emphasis on mutual benefit to residents and contractors.