Behind the Struggles to Implement Residential Recycling in San Angelo

The new trash contract that started August 1 last year promised curbside recycling pickup. The date for implementing of the recycling program still seems far off, now slated for mid-July. What is going on?

Republic Services’ Robert Searls briefed the San Angelo City Council about his company’s progress on implementing recycling in San Angelo at the March 17 session. When he was finished, Councilwoman Elizabeth Grindstaff asked why the program she said was promised in March wasn’t going to start until mid- to late-July?

“Robert, as you know when I as running for council only a year ago, this was a pretty hot topic. And unfortunately for you I heard a lot of negative feedback on the proposed trash changes. And that makes me somewhat a receiver of continued criticism, because I didn’t vote for it. I keep getting comments on why is this taking so long? We kind of all went through this process, and we were told, I thought, that recycling was going to start in March. And then it was April. And now I see its go live [date] is in July. And the contract itself commenced…August 1^st. So we’re looking at one month shy of a year implementing something?” (Watch on Youtube)

Searls responded by explaining that there were many moving parts in implementing recycling. He detailed the challenges Republic has endured, including bad weather and the unanticipated delays obtaining permits for the subcontractor, Butts Recycling, to start building a facility to handle the larger volume of recycling anticipated.

Republic wouldn’t talk to us for this article, but through interviews with other sources, some off-the-record, we’re able to explain why Republic will have taken a year to implement the recycling program.

What the Contract Requires.

Section 8A of the executed agreement between the City of San Angelo and Republic Services of Texas stipulates that recycling will be implemented within nine months of the effective date, August 1, 2014. That means that recycling should have started by the end of this month. However, the contract also gives Republic up to three (3) three-month extensions, all the way until Feb. 2016 for implementation.

If the mid-July promise is kept, Republic will have only used one of the three-month extensions.

Higher Fees for Service Not Delivered

A common criticism leveled at Republic, and echoed somewhat in Grindstaff’s remarks in mid-March, is that Republic is already charging the higher fees, but because recycling isn’t implemented, Republic is ripping the citizens off by not providing services promised.

According to the contract council approved, Republic is operating well within the contract’s parameters. It gives Republic the increased fees but doesn’t absolutely require recycling to start until Feb. 2016.

But if Republic isn’t providing recycling yet, are they making a mint off the San Angelo water customer?

Not really. The old style, three-man crews and older trucks are much more expensive to operate than the brand new, automated trucks with a one-man crew and a mechanical arm that grabs and empties the single 96-gallon containers. The current situation with the older trucks sees Republic picking up all garbage at the curbside, no matter how many cans of trash are left out.

The promised automated trash pickup system only requires Republic to pickup the single 96-gallon container. If you continuously generate more weekly garbage than one 96-gallon container can hold, you are expected to rent additional containers for $5 per month each. That can generate more revenue for Republic that they aren’t realizing today.

The new system allows the trash contractor to more accurately estimate the amount of trash that will be picked up each run, improving scheduling and allowing more locations to be serviced per truck run.

Republic’s costs are likely reduced with recycling by cutting truck labor to one-third, and using the 96-gallon container sets a volume limit for each residential customer. Also, one garbage pickup per week cuts in half Republic’s tonnage costs at the landfill.

Searls said at the March 17 council meeting that Republic would be running just six trucks for trash pickup and maybe five trucks for recyclable pickup, depending upon the demand for it.

Don't Blame it all on Butts

Butts Recycling, the family-owned local business, is the sole source subcontractor hired by Republic to receive residential recycling matter. Although Butts has a thriving recycling business from processing recyclables from local commercial businesses already, they weren’t setup for such a large volume of recyclables when the City and Republic inked the trash deal in July 2014.

They still aren’t. But according to Fred Preston, the owner, it’s not because of a lack of effort.

In the March 17 council meeting, Searls said that negotiations with Butts did not begin until October. Preston said that his agreement with Republic wasn’t finalized until December.

With a contract in hand, Preston’s family began the process of putting together a single-point recycling center to be built in a small, 8,000-square-foot metal building next to their current location on W. 11^th St.

In a bout of irony, it was city ordinances that delayed Butt’s building of the new recycling center. According to Preston, when he approached the city about constructing the new building, he was informed by city planners that new construction there will require the establishment of a new subdivision at the end of 11^th St. And with this, W. 11^th St. would have to be paved. Preston explained that the cost of paving 11^th St. made his deal immediately, and possibly forever, unprofitable. Besides, Preston said he didn’t have the money to pave the street. So, in order to proceed without paving, Preston needed a variance with the planning commission. It was the law.

Preston received a variance from the commission in March and ordered the construction of the building to house the single-point recycling center immediately thereafter. He said he expects the structure and new equipment to be in place sometime in July, and that is when he can accept the first truckload of Republic’s residential recycling matter.

Despite the delays, Preston remains confident that the recycling service will work well for the city and said that everyone is working well together to launch the service, including the help he received from the city planning department.

“This is the first single-point recycling center ever built in west Texas, and I think that’s exciting for the community,” Preston said.

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Jim Turner pointed out that a replatting and variance to not pave the road would come from the planning commission. We have corrected the story.