Reno, Nevada, monitors its recycling contract

In recent financial reports, Waste Management Inc. (WM), Houston, has acknowledged difficulties in generating profits in its recycling operations. Some city officials in Reno, Nevada, are expressing concern that WM may be cutting corners in that area at the city’s expense.

An article in the Reno Gazette-Journal quotes one city council representative and two city department directors who are taking varied positions concerning WM’s commitment to its recycling contract.

In 2012 the Reno City Council awarded WM an exclusive franchise agreement to collect residential and commercial waste and recyclables in Reno, which triggered legal action from at least one competing recycling company, according to the article.

Those competitors may be behind complaints about Waste Management, including “whether recycling material is being sent to landfills,” according to the Gazette-Journal.

At an August meeting, Reno’s Deputy City Attorney Jonathan Shipman “declined to say publicly whether he believes the trash company is meeting its obligation [and] said he could brief the council in a confidential attorney-client meeting,” reports the Gazette-Journal.

Critics of the contract say WM has not fulfilled a requirement to build an “Eco-Center” or material recovery facility (MRF) in Reno to sort its single-stream recyclables and provide other recycling services. Reno’s contract reportedly allowed WM to increase rates in part because WM agreed to construction of the MRF by March 7, 2015.

A WM attorney says the company is on track to finish building the MRF by the end of 2016 and the contract required construction to begin by March 7, 2015.

Reno Councilwoman Naomi Duerr says she wants to assure her constituents that WM is recycling the material it is says it is. “I really would like to have some methodology so we can give some assurance to our citizens that the numbers you are reporting are good,” she said to WM at the August meeting.

Duerr reportedly recommended surprise inspections or the use of a third-party monitor, and WM expressed willingness to work with the city of Reno on a system.