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City signs deal with new trash service

Justin Addison, Editor/Publisher
Posted 5/25/21

The City of Fayette has entered into a contract with a new trash service company. RTS Waste Services LLC, of rural Slater, will begin collecting trash in Fayette on June 1. The decision to change …

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City signs deal with new trash service

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The City of Fayette has entered into a contract with a new trash service company. RTS Waste Services LLC, of rural Slater, will begin collecting trash in Fayette on June 1. The decision to change waste collection companies was made by the Board of Aldermen at a special meeting held on Tuesday, May 18. Fayette’s contract with Waste Management, formerly Advanced Disposal, expires on May 31. 

The new contract will increase monthly rates by $2.20, from $11.30 to $13.50 for the first year. That monthly fee includes a $1.50 charge by the city, with $1 going toward street repairs and 50 cents for administrative costs. Had the city accepted the bid from Waste Management, the monthly rate would have increased even more to $15.30 per month.

RTS delivered the lowest of two bids for trash service. For $13.50 per month per household, the company will pick up trash one day per week, but will not collect recycling or yard waste. Each residence is allowed to put out up to three 35-gallon trash cans, or five bags of trash per week. One bulk item per month will also be collected. The charge to households will increase by $1 per year over the following two years. The contract is for three years.

The bid from RTS totaled $430,128 per year. Another option that would include yard waste pickup once per month was bid at $489,456 and would cost households $15.50 per month.

Up until now, yard waste has been collected on Thursdays, but only if it was set out in brown paper yard waste bags which could be purchased from City Hall. Aldermen decided to drop yard waste collection because of the higher cost and cited that it is seldom used. The city continues to operate a place for yard waste disposal beside the shooting range at D.C. Rogers lake at no charge.

David Kruger from RTS told the council that only one community in more than 25 he serves has yard waste collection. “It doesn’t work very well. It’s a pain in the neck and I don’t think many people use it.”

The bid from Waste Management was considerably higher at $467.603.52 for weekly trash pickup without recycling or yard waste collection. That bid was $37,475.52 higher and would have cost households $15.30 per month.

Since June 1, 2015, trash in Fayette has been collected by Advanced Disposal. On October 30, 2020, the company was acquired by disposal giant Waste Management for $4.6 billion. Since then, City Hall has received numerous complaints from residents that the quality of trash service had declined. Complaints alleged that trash had not been picked up, or some had been left inside the cans, and that bulk items were not being picked up.

The large rolling trash cans are owned by Waste Management. Unless a deal is made to sell the cans to RTS, they will be taken back by Waste Management. In the event RTS purchases the cans, they will be left here and an additional $1 per month will be added to the charges.

In July 2020, Advanced Disposal announced it would no longer pick up weekly recycling, citing the closure of recycling centers across the nation after the bottom fell out of the industry. In January of this year, Waste Management announced it had installed cameras on its trucks that take time-stamped photos. Trash not out at the time the truck is ready to make the pickup is not collected.

David Kruger from RTS told the council that it is normal procedure for the trash collection worker to stop into City Hall on pickup days to see if there are any issues or missed pickups that need to be addressed. “We go back and pick them up and everybody’s happy,” he said. 

RTS is a family-owned and operated company, founded in 2000. It collects trash in several area communities including Glasgow, Kirksville, Centralia, Slater, and Carrollton. It recently secured a contract to begin serving Marceline beginning July 1.

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