Gwinnett trash hauler adds fee before its contract expires

Gwinnett County’s new waste disposal and recycling program won’t go into effect for another six weeks, but some residential customers may pay more before it kicks in.

Atlanta Waste Industries notified customers this week that it will charge them an additional $23.50 for discontinued service when it pulls out of the county Dec. 31. The fee, according to a letter sent to customers, is to cover benefits to workers who will be affected when the company closes operation in Gwinnett County. The county is taking over waste collection in January and has tabbed Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful, the not-for-profit agency, to manage the program. Two firms, Advanced Disposal Services of Atlanta and Waste Pro Georgia will service the county’s 180,000 property residences. The contracts run through 2015 and spell an end to business in Gwinnett for the seven residential haulers now serving property owners.

While the move is designed to collect more trash, it’s leaving behind some hard feelings.

“My biggest concern right now is I’ve got 46 employees that are without a job in six weeks,” said Mike Ingle, vice president for Atlanta Waste Industries. “The unfortunate thing is we’ve been providing service in Gwinnett County for the past 13 years, and we were led to believe that we had nothing to worry about.”

Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful Executive Director Connie Wiggins said her agency selected the two companies that consistently submitted the lowest bids and presented the best credentials for quality service.

Under the new plan, which includes expanded recycling, residents will pay $20.45 per month through June. Then, the charge drops to $17.86. Yard waste will be $10 extra.

Copies of the contracts and bidding process are available at the Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful office, 750 South Perry Street SW, Suite 310, in Lawrenceville.

Wiggins said that while her agency has no jurisdiction over Waste Industries’ business practices, the county has some clout.

Chuck Huckelberry, deputy director of finance for Gwinnett County, said haulers put up a performance bond of $150,000 to be licensed in the county, and they are required to operate under its conditions.

“We have not requested a legal opinion on this,” Huckleberry said, “but there are provisions concerning rate increases and what notices have to be provided. The general feeling here is it sounds like they’re increasing their rate.”

Ingle said he may have to contract for help in collecting the roughly 30,000 carts he still has out in the field.

Haulers are not the only industry affected. Because the program requires the new haulers to bring recycling materials to Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful-operated facilities, private recycling centers are liable to feel the pinch. The agency uses labor from the county detention center for many of the collection and sorting tasks.

S&P Recycling Co., which operates a facility in Lawrenceville, is likely to lose 25 percent of its metro Atlanta market share because of the change, according to Fred Johnson, corporate director of operations.

“To us it’s a big deal,” Johnson said. “The rub we have with it is that it’s going to cost taxpayer jobs and turn them over to prison labor.”