Wake Forest, N.C., Rejects Recycling Refund

The board of commissioners for the city of Wake Forest, N.C., rejected an offer from Waste Management to reimburse the county for failing to recycle materials collected through the city’s curbside program. Waste Management is the vendor for a curbside collection program in the city.

The waste management concern reportedly had been landfilling recyclable materials that it had been collecting from town residents. The practice had been going on for between 13-14 months before an ex-employee of Waste Management reported the landfilling.

Waste Management Inc. proposed to reduce recycling charges by 10 percent for as long as the company collected recyclables in town and to forgo a rate increase expected to take effect next month. The discount would have amounted to about 20 cents per household per month, which commissioners said wasn't enough. The company charges $2.20 a month per household to collect the recyclables. An additional concern is that with the contract with Waste Management ending in 12 months, if the company does not win the next contract the refund amount would be minimal.

A spokesman for the town said that the refund would take around 6 years to balance out the money WMI charged for the recycling program. The company claimed that it was unable to find a processor to handle the collected material.

While Wake Forest rejected the offer, two other North Carolina towns affected by Waste Management’s dumping of recyclables, Garner and Morrisville, have yet to vote on whether or not to accept the offer.