Trash haulers under review, another one sells

While Springfield is reviewing its open competitive market for waste management services, another company has gotten out of the business.

Strafford-based Hometown Disposal Inc. was recently sold to solid waste giant WCA Waste Corp., according to its website, which redirects to WCAWaste.com.

Hometown Disposal owner Richard Brownsberger could not be reached by deadline, but Springfield Business Journal reported in 2013 Brownsberger was at odds with the city over an 8 percent hike in landfill fees.

Now, Springfield City Council members will decide by April 1 if the city will alter its open competitive market for solid waste collections throughout the city.

There are between 12-15 waste service companies operating in the city and a continuous flux within the industry, said Kristen Milam, communication coordinator for the city.

Springfield’s open system allows for a rainbow of garbage bins down any given street in what some community members and the city’s Neighborhood Advisory Council consider a chaotic, inefficient and problematic way of taking out the trash.

City Council members were fully introduced to the issue at a November luncheon. Before they decide, city officials say they’re seeking a community- and hauler-friendly solution through a survey and public discussion.

Erick Roberts, the city’s superintendent of solid waste, said rumors of the city pursuing a single trash hauler throughout the city can be squashed. He said the move would go against the city’s goals.

“One of the goals is to protect existing businesses as much as possible,” he said.

Hometown Disposal’s Brownsberger sold to Houston, Texas-based WCA a few weeks after a conversation with Bob Craggs, a manager and solid waste management and sustainability consultant with Burns & McDonnell, who is working with the city to come up with solutions to the concerns raised.

“We want to reduce pollution, noise, improve traffic flow, reduce wear and tear on our infrastructure, reduced fuel consumption and increase recycling,” said Erick Roberts, the city’s superintendent of solid waste.

Roberts said the goal is to create a more efficient trash program and create more consistent service times.

“Over the last couple of years, we have heard from different members of the community and the Neighborhood Advisory Council asking if there was a better way to do this or if we could increase services to the community,” he said.

City officials initially attempted to conduct the research themselves, but determined they needed help.

After interviewing firms, Kansas City-based Burns & McDonnell was selected to complete the study for $109,450.

“I think it could benefit all parties involved, including the haulers, if we hear back from everybody,” Roberts said.

Possible outcomes spelled out by Craggs include a change in city ordinances, a consortium of haulers under one contract or service divided by zones.

Milam said the study is still in the public input phase.

“A random telephone survey of residents was completed last week – gathering information from more than 500 random households within Springfield city limits,” she said.

The city held an open house on the topic in November and a second is scheduled in January.

Craggs said Burns & McDonnell has reached out to all haulers in the market to invite them into the conversation.

Burns & McDonnell worked with the city of Sioux Falls, South Dakota a few years ago, which, aside from promoting diversion, shared similar objectives to Springfield. Officials there chose to amend related city ordinances.

“There were some more prescriptive requirements as it relates to minimum services that are offered, as in what kind of containers, how often you collect, offering recycling services, how often you collect recycled materials and they actually created some incentives within the city ordinances and the regulatory structure,” Craggs said.  

He said they created more incentives for recycling, established some minimum safety standards and created less wear and tear on the road.

Burns & McDonnell also worked with Tulsa, Oklahoma, where a consortium of independent haulers got the trash work.

“We developed a request for proposals, and the consortium of haulers was selected to provide the services within the city under one umbrella contract,” Craggs said. “That is one other potential outcome.”

Craggs said according to state law, if the city of Springfield wants to move from the open competitive system, it’ll have to give a two-year notice to all haulers.

“If they choose to make a change, then they give notice April 1 and they have two years to go through a process to make those changes,” he said.

Another possibility Craggs has seen is dividing the city into zones managed by individual trash haulers.

Roberts said some ideas already produced include curbside collection of yard waste, bulky item pickup, alley or back-door service for people who can’t get their trash to the curb, blue bag programs for recyclables and the possibility for shared containers between nearby family or neighbors to decrease household costs.

“There are all sorts of different sets of arrangements that can be picked from,” he said.

Consolidation has been an industry norm for some time. WCA Waste Corp. completed the acquisition of Advantage Waste Services in 2008.

The company also bought Klean Way Disposal and Sunrise Disposal in 2007. More recently, Allied Waste Services of Springfield acquired Karmann Refuse Service Inc. in 2010.

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