Helping Hands’ primary business is waste collection and disposal in Jackson County. I, Bill Buscemi, own Helping Hands and we have been in business more than 5 years. Our intent is to provide the commissioners with accurate information on how private haulers handle all types of waste - residential, commercial, recyclable materials, gray box materials and white goods.

Many of the residential customers are located in areas which are impossible to reach by large compactors. Therefore it is necessary for many to use smaller trucks. It would not be time or cost efficient to take each small load to Macon County’s landfill. The extra costs incurred, quite possibly, could put some haulers out of business while causing others to inflate prices. Many of our customers who greatly need this service would no longer be able to afford it.

We believe the following precedent has been set: tipping fees for residential trash are paid from taxes collected by the county. Each residential property owner pays $60 in annual landfill user fees. Residents of the county are assured a place to dispose of their waste, be it the SRC or the landfill. If the waste goes to the SRC (by means of a private hauler) and is placed in the compactor, it should not be any more costly to the county since GDS is paid a flat monthly rate for hauling of the compactors. GDS’ proposal to ban private haulers from using the SRCs for residential waste may indeed reduce the number of hauls they make; however, it would in no way increase or decrease the cost to the county.

Now we would like to approach the subject of recyclable material. Private haulers have more influence over where these materials go than the county commissioners may realize. When we sign up a new customer, one of the first questions we ask is “do you recycle?” Since there are no laws which make it mandatory, all we can do is recommend to our cu, 30 percent of our customers do recycle. For these customers we collect their recyclable material on a separate day from their solid waste. Helping Hands takes the recyclables to the facility known as Webster Enterprises. This is the same facility to which GDS hauls recyclable material collected from SRCs. GDS charges the county a flat monthly rate which includes the pulling of residential solid waste and recyclable material. We do not understand how private haulers recycling in the SRCs could possibly cost the county additional money.

Commercial waste is where much of the dispute between GDS and the private haulers lie. By commercial waste we mean waste that is created in the process of doing business for a profit. Less than 10 percent of our customers are commercial. The commercial waste that we collect is hauled by compactor to Macon County where we assume all tipping fees. Typically, businesses generate more waste than residents; therefore we charge more for commercial services. We also strongly believe that he who creates the waste should pay for its disposal. Even though businesses are assessed a landfill user fee, they are prohibited from using the SRCs for solid waste disposal, as indicated on your sign which reads “Commercial Solid Waste is prohibited.”

However, we have been unable to find a law or ordinance to substantiate such a prohibition. Your obvious intention is for commercial solid waste to go to the landfill; however, a great deal of this type of waste is going to the SRCs. We know many business owners, and we know where they take their solid waste. Under the present system, it is highly questionable whether SRC staff is able to differentiate between commercial and residential waste.

Finally, there is the issue of items prohibited from either being placed in solid waste compactors or containers for recyclables, i.e., gray box materials and white goods. Private haulers play a vital part in keeping this type of waste from ending up on our county’s roadways or tossed over embankments.
Look at it this way: If we pick up the two old couches from the Smith’s porch and deliver them to a convenient location (such as an SRC), we can do so at an affordable cost to the Smiths. However, if the county requires us to take those same couches across Cowee Mountain to Macon County’s landfill, we incur additional time, vehicular costs and tipping fees on those items The cost to the Smiths becomes much greater. Again, possibly more than they could afford. So now the Smiths call on Jim, the guy down the street. Jim tells the Smiths he will remove the couches for $20. (The same price we would charge if we could use the SRCs.) The couches still end up at the SRC, or maybe the couches end up over the embankment down the road from Jim’s - or maybe the couches get put on Jim’s brush pile and burned. You see, now the county would have no control over where those couches end up. Considering Jim hauled those couches for compensation, is he a private hauler? If so, how would the SRC staff recognize him as such? Now, what if Jim decided that this was a great way to make some extra money and hauls more rubbish for his neighbors? Say he stops at the SRC with a pickup load of rubbish once a week. We feel that unless Jim stated that he was hauling for profit it would be some time before it became noticeable.

Stopping gray box use by legitimate, private haulers that already exist and are recognized by both the county and GDS deprives the Smiths of being able to responsibly dispose of their couches at an affordable cost. It also discriminates against legitimate haulers and holds the door wide open for Jim and many more like him. Please think long and hard before coming to a decision on this matter. We do realize the County incurs an $80 fee for each gray box pulled, but we feel the responsible handling of this material, in the long run, will save the county money as well as protect our environment.

In conclusion let us summarize. The amount the county pays GDS is not affected by private haulers putting residential solid waste into the compactors. Recyclable material brought to the SRC by private haulers would not affect the county. There is no enforceable, commercial waste management plan in effect. By allowing private haulers to use the gray boxes, the county is assured this type of waste is disposed of properly. We believe we have shown that there is a need for regulations pertaining to private haulers and also that regulated use of SRCs by private haulers will not greatly affect costs to the county and will allow us to continue to provide a much needed service to the citizens of Jackson County.

Bill Buscemi
Helping Hands Service Company
Jackson County

 

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