Mayor John Cooper today announced curbside recycling will resume February 1, thanks to the dedication of Metro Waste Services employees.
“Today’s news is about city employees getting innovative to solve problems,” Mayor Cooper said. “I want to thank Metro Water Services and the employees at its Waste Services division for working long hours to cover for the failures of a private company and get curbside recycling back on schedule. I am committed to starting every-other-week recycling by the end of this fiscal year.”
Due to the extensive delays in trash collection by Red River - a third-party contractor that filed for bankruptcy in October last year- it was necessary, beginning in late December, for Metro Waste Services to redirect efforts from recycling collection to trash collection for the health and safety of the community.
Public health and sanitation are Metro’s top priorities, so trash collection came at the temporary expense of monthly curbside recycling in January.
However, thanks to the hard work of Metro Waste Services employees during this period, Metro took over five of Red River’s weekly trash routes, and services were increased at the four Metro convenience centers and ten recycling drop-off sites. Metro also opened multiple pop-up recycling sites around Davidson County.
“We are proud of our community for their commitment to recycling and are pleased to report that recycling remained robust through the use of convenience centers and recycling drop-off sites, where recycling collection increased more than fifty percent,” said Metro Water Services director Scott Potter.
“Metro Waste Services expanded hours and capacity at the convenience centers to make this success possible. Thank you to everyone who continued to recycle by bringing your sorted recyclables to Metro’s convenience centers and recycling drop-off sites,” he added.
Metro is filing a motion in bankruptcy court, requesting that Metro be allowed to assign some of Red River’s trash routes to an alternative provider to ensure that all trash is collected timely. Through this effort, Metro is working to find a solution to the delays in trash collection while also resuming curbside recycling until such time as issues with Red River are resolved.
Working through their own staffing issues and national supply chain constraints that make acquiring vehicles difficult, Metro Waste Services continues to take steps to begin every-other-week recycling later this spring - delivering on Mayor Cooper’s commitment that is already funded and staffed in his latest operating budget.