Medford Residents To Weigh In On Future Of Trash And Recycling Services

Residents will be able to ask questions and provide feedback following a presentation later this month.

By Benjamin Pierce, Patch Staff

Nov 2, 2026 3:47 PM EST

MEDFORD, MA — Residents will have an opportunity to learn more about the future of the city's waste collection system later this month.

Medford is holding a virtual public meeting at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 18, to discuss trash, recycling, and composting services, according to a release from the city and Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn. City staff will present research collected following earlier community input sessions and explain which collection options emerged from that process.

Residents will be able to ask questions and provide feedback following the presentation. The city said comments will help inform plans for future waste collection services and program improvements.

The meeting comes after Medford announced plans last year to move municipal trash collection to an every-other-week schedule beginning July 1, 2027. The latest release does not specify whether the options being presented would change that previously announced arrangement.

Under that plan, one 64-gallon trash cart and one 96-gallon recycling cart would be collected every other week. Weekly collection of a 12-gallon food-waste cart and 20 weeks of annual yard and leaf collection would remain available. Residents would no longer have the option of weekly municipal trash pickup, according to the city's published program information.

The current service guide lists weekly trash collection and every-other-week recycling through June 2027, along with seasonal yard and leaf collection and an opt-in weekly composting program. City-funded collection generally serves residential addresses with four units or fewer, while buildings with five or more units must arrange private collection.

Medford calls the planned arrangement a Pay As You Throw, or PAYT, program. Basic service would be provided without an additional charge. Residents needing more capacity could lease additional carts or purchase overflow bags.

The city's detailed FAQ lists the following rates beginning July 1, 2027:

$12.43 per month for an additional 64-gallon trash cart.
$5.54 per month for an additional 96-gallon recycling cart.
$9.99 for five 33-gallon overflow trash bags.
$9 per month for an additional 12-gallon food-waste cart, plus a one-time $22.50 cart fee.

The meeting announcement does not identify changes to those previously published rates.

City officials have cited rising disposal costs and waste reduction as reasons for changing the collection system. Medford projects more than $1 million in annual collection savings and approximately $13 million in combined collection and disposal savings over eight years under the previously announced plan.

The planning effort began in 2022 with the creation of Medford's Solid Waste Task Force. The process included a community survey, outreach at the public library and farmers market, and a "Medford Talks Trash" workshop. Every-other-week trash collection was discussed with the City Council in July 2023, according to the city. The task force is no longer active.

Medford later launched its free municipal curbside composting program with Garbage to Garden on July 1, 2024. Eligible residents must enroll to participate. The program accepts food scraps, meat, dairy, bones, and napkins. The city says bins are delivered after enrollment, with collection beginning the following week.

A $105,000 state grant helped purchase carts for the program's launch. In November 2025, Medford announced an additional $200,000 grant from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection to purchase more organics carts and expand participation. That announcement also outlined the July 2027 trash collection change.

The city has held additional public discussions on waste collection, including a Jan. 28, 2026, community meeting documented in the mayor's February newsletter. That newsletter reported more than 8,100 participants in the composting program and 2 million pounds of waste diverted through the service.

Community members can attend the Nov. 18 meeting through the Zoom link provided by the city.

Residents unable to attend will be able to view the meeting on the city website and through community media. Comments can also be submitted afterward via email. The city said written updates on waste operations will be provided following the meeting.