WastAway still wants city garbage
Talk once again turned to WastAway for city aldermen meeting Tuesday night. The talk was prompted by a letter WastAway sent to city officials informing them they are now capable of taking the city’s trash for recycling.
WastAway officials say they hope this is a step forward in obtaining McMinnville’s trash disposal contract. WastAway, a new and innovative company which recycles household garbage into usable products, has already obtained a contract for trash disposal from the county.
However, when WastAway offered the same trash services to the city several months ago, city officials cited two stumbling blocks – cost and smell.
The cost issue appears to be settled, however, the highly publicized smell problem is an obstacle which still remains. After several attempts by WastAway to fix the problem, area residents still complained and a citation for odor was given to WastAway.
Although WastAway initially said it would fight the ticket, the $50 fine plus court costs has subsequently been paid.
In the past few months, in addition to the increase of its trash processing capacity, WastAway officials say they have also continued making improvements in an effort to decrease any smelly emissions which may be coming from the plant.
WastAway officials said they hired an independent firm to check air quality under Tennessee Department of Environmental Service guidelines. WastAway reports it has scored the same or better compared to other industries in this area.
Although the city has not yet decided to transfer its trash disposal services to WastAway, doing so would provide about 320 new jobs to Warren County, according to WastAway.