Fall River, MA is Trying to Save Money on its $9 million Annual Trash Bill

SEATTLE (Waste Advantage): It costs big bucks for a community to manage its municipal waste, and Mayor Paul Coogan’s administration and the City Council are looking for ways to cut its $8 million to $9 million annual bill while still collecting and disposing of trash and recycling. Changes have already begun, through efforts of the solid waste team Coogan assembled about 1½ years ago.

The city’s special counsel, Matthew Thomas, Director of City Operations Al Oliveira and Department of Community Maintenance Director Charlie Denmead last week briefed members of the Committee on Health and Environmental Affairs on those changes and its plans to reduce trash and disposal costs.  Thomas said the city isn’t trying to make a business out of waste management.  “But that doesn’t mean the city can’t act businesslike,” Thomas said. “And so, slowly but surely, the way we handle solid waste in the city is going to be more businesslike.”

Thomas said the team took a holistic approach to reviewing all aspects of the city’s waste management policy. The first task was to perform maintenance on the hundreds of trash and recycling carts citywide. And it’s been talked about for a long time, but the city finally pulled the trigger on following its own ordinance by ending trash and recycling pickup at commercial properties and non-residential nonprofits. Between February and April, owners of over 500 of those properties were notified that the city would no longer haul their trash as of April 5.

Courtesy: www.wasteadvantage.com