UPDATE: Tennessee city to replace Inland Waste with Waste Pro one month early

UPDATE: Due to recent service issues with Inland Waste, Germantown will bring Waste Pro on as its new waste collector on June 1—one month earlier than originally scheduled. Inland will continue to service the city until May 31.

Although the company will start earlier than expected, Waste Pro has ensured the city that it will provide a high level of service from the start.

"We owe it to our customers to do everything we can to alleviate the issues with trash collection and this was a solution that was favorable for all parties, Inland, Waste Pro and the City," said City Administrator Patrick Lawton to LocalMemphis.com

Dive Brief:

Germantown, TN has approved a $3.9 million, five-year trash collections contract with Waste Pro of Tennessee. The contract shows a double-digit increase in price over the current service provider, Inland Waste Services, which the city is discontinuing after a series of upsets to citizens’ services and associated fines and fees the city incurred to resolve them. The new rates include a 34% hike in yard trash.
Residents who are now charged $22.50 for trash service will only pay an estimated $4 more each month the first year and as much as another $2 a month thereafter, with the city subsidizing for now, according to The Commercial Appeal.
Each customer will receive a new 96-gallon garbage cart and 64-gallon recycling bin.

Dive Insight:

It has been said that you get what you pay for. Germantown is willing to see if this is the case after a disruptive experience with Inland Waste that resulted in an onslaught of customer complaints, as well as fines to the city and fees paid to other carriers.

"Our citizens have been dealing for some time with a great deal of frustration and angst over our waste service," Alderman Forrest Owens said to Waste Pro as reported in Commercial Appeal. "As their representative, we have taken quite a bit of heat for that. We feel the need for some peace and serenity. Can you let us know you are going to respond to complaints in a timely manner?"

Waste Pro answered affirmatively, pointing to the positive feedback from its references. The company is one of the fastest growing privately owned solid waste collection companies in the country, with a seemingly good track record.

Germantown is hoping that another plus will be the new carts, speculating that some missed pickups stemmed from the fact that many of the old carts were in bad shape.

The city is also thinking ahead to try and keep its trash system running smoothly into the future, arranging for a compostable bags option, as the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation will likely soon set a 40% landfill diversion rate.