Nesquehoning officials are looking to see if they could reach an agreement with the trash hauler to make changes to recycling.

Councilman Louis Paul, chairman of the sanitation committee, said council has been in discussions with Larry Wittig of Tamaqua Transfer, who holds the current sanitation contract for the borough, regarding possibly discontinuing the recycling portion of the contract.

“We all know recycling has been a headache,” Paul said.

He noted that based on projections from Wittig, the borough could see a monthly savings of $2,229 a month and an annual savings of $26,748 if the borough can get out of the recycling contract.

Council noted that talks are preliminary and nothing has been settled on by either party.

“This is only the beginning,” Paul said. “We are making a move right now to help us get rid of this nightmare for us and for him.”

Councilman Frank Jacobs, who has wanted to get rid of recycling, pointed out that in November, Tamaqua Transfer collected 9.9 tons of recycling and questioned the cost to continue it or wrapping it into the regular trash.

Council said that it plans to continue discussions with Wittig to see if anything could be changed in the future.

In other sanitation matters, Paul suggested council discuss the possibility of having twice-a-year town cleanups if they get rid of recycling, citing the progress the code enforcement officer is having in cleaning up problems in the town.

“We’re making headway with cleaning up this town, and if we have a cleanup twice a year, maybe we can move ahead with this,” he said.