WastAway helps county obtain grant money
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The money will be used to purchase sanitation equipment and pave roads at county convenience centers, according to County Executive Kenneth Rogers.
WastAway’s process converts household garbage into a usable material called “fluff” which can then be used as is for mulch, or pressure molded into materials for construction or various other applications. State environmental officials were so impressed with the WastAway process, they awarded Warren County the 95 percent recycling figure, a state high, when WastAway took over processing the county’s household waste last year.
WastAway does not currently process the city of McMinnville’s garbage, lending support to the allegation city leaders are not forward thinking or concerned with creating local jobs or protecting the environment.
Rogers said the high recycling figures played a big part in getting the grants, which are coming from the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.
“I think the fact we have WastAway doing the recycling, that puts us up at the front of the line as far as getting grants,” said Rogers.
Two separate grants have been obtained, one for $281,000, with $196,700 from the state and $84,300 from the county. This grant will be used to purchase a sanitation truck with a front-end loader and pave the county’s convenience centers. The other grant is for $36,520, with $25,000 from the state and $11,520 from the county. This will be used to purchase a scale which will be used to check the tonnage on the county’s waste so the county will be able to verify the charges for its disposal.
“This is so we can weigh and double-check to make sure we’re not being overcharged for our tires and our household garbage we’re taking in,” Rogers said.
The $281,000 grant will be split, with $150,000 going to the purchase of the truck, and $131,000 toward paving the county’s 13 convenience centers. The $36,520 will go entirely to the purchase of the scale.
The grants have already been approved, and once the funds are received, Rogers said the county will put out bids on all three projects, including the paving, which is separate from the county’s road paving contract, currently held by APAC.
Rogers said he was very pleased with the influence the county’s recycling figures had on getting the grants, and felt they would continue to have a beneficial effect well into the future.
“We could never have gotten this truck if we hadn’t been recycling 95 percent of our household garbage. By doing that, we were able to get it,” Rogers said. “Other counties were not. We’re at the head of the stream right now as far as getting this kind of grant and saving tax dollars.”