Garbage options given to businesses that lost service – However, convenience centers can’t be used
A meeting of the Health and Welfare Committee last week provided a ray of hope for 13 county businesses after Allied Waste, formerly BFI, sent them a letter announcing the company would no longer offer them trash pickup service.
Representatives from several of the businesses affected by Allied’s decision attended the meeting to discuss alternative methods of handling their garbage. County Executive John Pelham, who had initially hoped the county could allow the businesses to use the county convenience centers on a temporary basis, was subsequently informed by sanitation director Steve Hillis there are some issues concerning sanitation grants that prohibit that action.
As a result, Pelham reluctantly informed the businesses the county could not allow them to use the convenience centers ‘ even on a temporary basis.
Despite this setback, there is a ray of hope which came in the form of three private commercial haulers who attended the meeting and offered their services to the disenfranchised businesses.
Two of these private haulers, B&W Sanitation, owned by Chad and Jane Moody, and Tree City Trash, owned by J.T. Best, are local. The other, ATFAB Industries, is based in Smith County. Also on hand was D.J. Hennessee of Southern Central, currently the only local company accepting commercial garbage, which is where the local haulers report they are taking the trash from their customers.
All three of these companies say they are ready to begin serving the local businesses dropped by Allied. However, during the meeting both B&W and Tree City stated their businesses currently don’t offer the large dumpster-type container service Allied provided, though B&W owner Chad Moody said his company planned to purchase a larger side-loading truck, similar to the ones in service in the city, sometime in the future.
This presented a problem for some of Allied’s former customers, like Cumberland Caverns, The Reserve at Collins River and Bouldin Nursery, all of which prefer the larger containers, something ATFAB president Don Wood said his company would be able to supply immediately, provided there is enough customers in the county to support it.
‘We have to know we have enough work in the area to justify us coming,’ Wood said. ‘I’m thinking 10 to 12 businesses would justify us starting out.
‘The problem is we’re 60 miles away,’ Wood added. ‘Doing the work once we get here isn’t a problem, but we have to have enough business here to justify coming.’
In addition to the larger containers, ATFAB offers other services, such as recycling of a variety of materials, including cardboard, aluminum and even plastics.
According to former customers, Allied’s prices varied widely, with some paying more than twice what other businesses of similar size were paying. Wood says he plans to avoid that situation.
‘We’re going to standardize price quite a bit more,’ Wood said. ‘There are situations where it is necessary to charge a person more, but it has to do with volume or weight or special circumstances. But say you have two nurseries dealing with the same waste stream, dealing with recyclable materials in the same way, their billing should be the same.’
ATFAB currently serves seven Middle Tennessee counties, including Smith, Macon, Trousdale, Sumner, Wilson, Jackson, and part of DeKalb.
Though Pelham says he supports local businesses, and has informed Wood of that, he understands ATFAB may be able to provide the type of service, such as the larger containers, that some county businesses need.
Contact information for the three companies is as follows:
‘ B&W Sanitation: 939-2022
‘ Tree City Trash: 474-4119
‘ ATFAB Industries: 615-677-6354