A Kentucky company agrees to fine and restitution over false recycling program. The state of Kentucky’s Attorney General Greg Stumbo announced a consumer protection settlement with Dixie Sanitation Inc. related to the company’s deceptive recycling disposal activities. Dixie Sanitation Inc. has agreed to pay $6,515 in restitution to its customers and $5,000 in civil penalties for failing to properly dispose of recyclable materials collected from its customers.
The Attorney General’s investigation revealed that starting in 1997, Dixie Sanitation, a waste management company operating in Louisville Metro, began offering to collect pre-sorted recyclable materials from its customers for an additional fee of $5.00 per month. However, for most of that time – more than 5 years – the company simply disposed of the recyclables with the rest of the garbage headed for the landfill, rather than delivering the materials to a recycling facility. After the practice came to light as a result of an investigative television report, Dixie voluntarily paid refunds for fees collected for an 18-month period between 2002 and 2004. However, the investigation revealed that although Dixie did dispose of the materials appropriately for 12 months during 2001 and 2002, no recycling occurred for an additional 51 months beginning in 1997.
“These environmentally-minded customers were paying extra in order to have materials recycled rather than being dumped in a landfill. They sorted their newspaper, glass and aluminum to help protect the environment. Unfortunately, rather than live up to its bargain, the company chose to dump the materials with the rest of the garbage to increase their profit. This settlement demonstrates that if you take advantage of customers and get caught, you’re going to pay,” said Attorney General Stumbo.
Under the terms of the settlement, customers identified through the investigation will be mailed refunds within 30 days. Other customers may also be entitled to a refund if they can demonstrate that they paid for recycling during the periods when Dixie failed to dispose of the materials correctly.