The City of Laredo has
invested a lot of money into its current recycling program. In the past, they
had partnered with Southern Sanitation, and the partnership produced negligible
results at best. When Southern Sanitation declined to renew their contract with
the City, the recycling program fell entirely within the scope of City of Laredo operations. To the
surprise of no one, the program blossomed and produced better results than it
did while in partnership to a privately owned business. This is why it is so
surprising that City Management would insist on allowing a private business to
sabotage the recycling program once again.
The amounts of recycled materials reported for
fiscal years 2011 and 2012, by the City of Laredo to the Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality (TCEQ) were about 1% of the total residential trash
collected for those years. In other words, to realize a savings of one year’s
worth of air space in the Landfill, it would take 100 years of recycling efforts
at the current pace.
Given
these stats, I was enthused when the City announced it was implementing a
mandatory recycling program citywide. My enthusiasm was short lived, as a
partnership soon formed between the City and the company First Recycle. I found
this partnership particularly disturbing because I saw no reason to privatize a
program that City services could manage alone, with potential profits never
realized during their partnership with Southern Sanitation. The fact of the
matter is the City owns the Material Recovery Facility (MRF) and the trucks
that collect and deliver the recyclables. The City also pays for the fuel and
maintenance of these trucks. Further, City employees collect the recyclable
materials and City revenues pay the $1.25 per-ton fee the City must pay to the
TCEQ for all rejected materials that must be landfilled.
The
commitment City Management has made to this endeavor and their partnership with
First Recycle is one which is not to be taken lightly. The City has invested $8
million of a $12 million bond acquired for this purpose. The City has invested
$2 million dollars in purchasing blue bins and an additional $6 million in
modernizing the MRF with updated equipment. What has First Recycle invested in
this program? Not one dollar! Of course this is such a sweetheart deal that
First Recycle has recently extended their
current 3 year contract with the City to a five year contract .Why do
City Management and our elected Council members insist on supplying all the
necessities of running a successful enterprise yet insist on allowing a private
business to profit? The answer—special interests.
It
is regrettable that a program with so much potential has been reduced to
nothing more than a Trojan horse. The program appears excellent, but it
actually hides a deep, exploitable flaw. In its current form, the recycling
program is now nothing more than taxpayer subsidization of private business.
Can council members really defend this decision?
Youre so cool! I dont suppose Ive learn something like this before. So good to seek out anyone with some unique ideas on this subject. realy thanks for starting this up. this web site is one thing that's needed on the net, somebody with somewhat originality. helpful job for bringing one thing new to the internet! online casinos
ReplyDelete