In a report Feb. 8 to Whitehall Township Board of Commissioners, Mayor Edward D. Hozza Jr. said further advances to the new garbage and recycling collection system, put in place in 2015, will be implemented later this year when municipal solid waste carts (MSW) are delivered to residents.

“Recycling tonnage increased from 1,852 tons to 2,035 tons,” Hozza stated, in detailing the success of the new recycling toter program. This is a plus, Hozza said, because less material is going into a landfill and more material is being recycled.

The township receives a state subsidy on the tonnage of recycled materials it collects.

“With the new collector carts, monthly tonnage increased from an average of 160 tons per month to 230 tons in December (2015). With the limitation on the amount of trash and the wide use of the yard waste collection, municipal solid waste tonnage decreased from 7,650 in 2014 to 7,302 in 2015. Tonnage should decrease further when the new MSW carts are rolled out in late 2016,” Hozza said.

In other news, the township civil service commission held testing for police officers eligible for promotion consideration to the rank of lieutenant. Eleven candidates took the written test, but no one received a passing score, the commissioners were advised.

“Thus, promotional testing for this rank will cease. The civil service commission will need to resolve the matter at an upcoming meeting,” Hozza said.

The township is also continuing negotiations with the Teamsters Union, which represents the township’s public works employees, in attempt to reach a new pact. The former contract expired Dec. 31, 2015.

“A tentative contract should be reached in the next several weeks,” Hozza said.