Two private waste haulers told Jackson commissioners that an equitable and enforceable Solid Waste Ordinance would go a long way towards alleviating the county’s solid waste problems.

Bill Buscemi of Helping Hands said that commercial garbage at Staffed Recycling Centers (SRC) is a major problem. He told commissioners that a well-written ordinance would put all private haulers on a level playing field and reduce commercial garbage at the SRCs. Buscemi believes that if all haulers were mandated by an ordinance to keep accurate logs, the county would have a record of how and where waste was being disposed.

Buscemi and Tom Vokes of Earthworks Recycling said that figures given to the commissioners at their last meeting by Scott Welch of GDS were inaccurate and misleading. Welch had told commissioners that GDS had recorded 864 trips to SRCs by private haulers in the month of January, and estimated that to be 864 tons of garbage on which the county would have to pay approximately $43,000 in tipping fees.
Vokes said those figures “made my blood boil.” He said county records showed only 622.2 tons were taken to the landfill in January.

Both haulers argue that ethical private haulers dumping at SRCs don’t cost the county anything extra. They pointed out that county residents pay ($60/year) for landfill space and that GDS contracts to the county on a flat fee. According to the haulers, the county would pay the same fee for the same tonnage regardless if it was brought to the SRCs by individuals or private haulers.

Vokes, who is a member of the Solid Waste Advisory Board, also feels an ordinance is needed to address commercial waste and promote recycling.

Chairman, Jay Denton requested that the commissioners sit down with the Solid Waste Advisory Board to come up with a clear, concise ordinance.

 

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