Nashville mayor promises improvements to trash pickup process
By MARY ALICE ROYSE
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NASHVILLE, Tennessee (WSMV) — Metro Nashville officials announced Thursday that Waste Management has agreed to step in to help meet some of the residential trash collection challenges around the city.
In a 2:30 p.m. press conference, Mayor John Cooper called the months long trash pileup a public health concern and announced the hiring of two emergency vendors, Waste Management and Waste Pro, to pick up the slack.
According to Metro officials, the local waste provider, Red River, has consistently been unable to meet its residential service obligations. As a result, WM will take over up to 12 daily trash collection routes servicing 49,000 homes under a new, 120-day emergency agreement.
The city placed blame heavily on contracted private company Red Rivers, calling what they’ve allowed to happen a failure. “It’s frankly outrageous that a private company is putting the people of Nashville through this,” Cooper said.
“WM has long enjoyed a good working relationship with Metro Nashville providing recyclables processing, waste disposal, and commercial business collection services, and we are happy to be able to provide some short-term relief to the city and more than 49,000 residents during this uniquely challenging period,” said Eddie McManus, WM Area Vice President. “As always, we are committed to providing safe and sustainable solutions for our customers and will continue to partner with Metro Nashville as the city seeks to find a permanent solution to restore routine waste collection services for all residents.”
The WM Green Team, the unit deployed to Nashville, is a unit of highly skilled drivers and technicians whose sole function is to respond to areas affected by natural disasters and other unforeseen circumstances where additional resources are needed on a temporary emergency basis.
WM officials added that Green Team members are also trained to respond quickly and safely to local crises to mitigate the impact of emergency events and facilitate rebuilding.
This is not the first time Green Team has been deployed to Middle Tennessee. They most recently assisted the area in the aftermath of the devastating March 2020 tornadoes that caused more than $1 billion in damage, WM officials said.
WM will also provide emergency support to the city’s multi-family waste collection services, collecting 741 dumpsters per week for 30 days.
When discussing Red River, Mayor Cooper said the city is responding in a timely manner.
“We will continue to fight Red River in bankruptcy court. We are committed to taking every immediate action possible to serve Nashville’s neighborhoods, and to taking every step we can for a permanent solution in court,” Mayor Cooper said in a tweet.
Red River declared bankruptcy in October 2021. According to metro officials, the company is responsible for 73% of Nashville’s trash pickup. The two emergency vendors will offset some of their route responsibilities. Meanwhile, metro legal said they will continue to fight Red River in bankruptcy court.
Nashvillians are eager to see real solutions. “You look around, and you see trash going down the street that really takes away from what is truly a beautiful neighborhood with beautiful people,” Davina Kraeger said. She and her husband are developing several homes on 11th street in North Nashville, where she says trash is piling up on the corner. “Don’t just say ‘Oh, it’s being done.’ Come and make sure it’s being done.”
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