River Hills Recycling Center
Metro Water Services will be halting curbside recycling pickup as long-standing problems with the city’s trash contractor continue to pile up.
In a release Monday, MWS said the city’s recycling trucks would be diverted to trash pickup, leaving residents temporarily on their own getting recyclables to recycling facilities. Red River, a waste service contractor, has not been able to complete trash collection for all Metro customers on the collection day for the past three weeks, and service delays are getting longer, the Metro Water release notes.
“Recycling is important, but the health and safety of the community will always be our top priority,” Metro Water director Scott Potter says in the release. “In light of the current situation, this is our best option while we establish a permanent solution. We appreciate your understanding and continued patience.”
The goal is to resume recycling pickup in late January or early February.
Nashville already lags behind other cities around the country in terms of recycling. One recent study found that Nashville recycles 24 percent of its waste stream, compared to a national average of 35 percent in cities.
District 15 Metro Councilmember Jeff Syracuse has sought to apply pressure to Red River before, including with a resolution calling out the company for delays. Syracuse says the problems cannot exclusively be blamed on the pandemic.
“These issues predate the pandemic,” Syracuse says. “When I crafted my resolution last year, I was careful to chronicle each of the issues with Red River dating back to 2017.”
He says the city entered into the contract with Red River because they submitted the lowest bid.
“This is a prime example of you get what you pay for,” Syracuse says.
Syracuse says it would cost the city tens of millions of taxpayer dollars to abandon the agreement with Red River and try to secure an emergency bid from another vendor. Holding the third party accountable has proved increasingly difficult, especially after the group filed for bankruptcy, adds District 19 Metro Councilmember Freddie O’Connell.
There is one silver lining, according to Syracuse. The contract specifically states that Metro is to bill Red River on their level of service. In short, if Red River fails to collect trash from an area, they don’t get paid.
Both Syracuse and O’Connell believe that the city needs to make a move to try and handle trash operations internally.
