NATCHEZ, Miss. – Four waste companies are in the running for the city’s trash collection and disposal business as the mayor and aldermen face a May deadline to finalize a deal.
The city’s current garbage collector – Arrow Disposal Services – wants to be retained while Waste Pro, Hometown Waste and WM (formerly Waste Management) have also submitted proposals for city officials to consider.
Meeting Tuesday, Natchez Mayor Dan Gibson and the Board of Aldermen didn’t discuss the four companies’ initial proposals on what they would charge the city for the specific trash collection and disposal services they can provide. Those terms will be subject to more review and negotiations in the coming weeks, Gibson said.
Arrow won the city trash-collection contract in 2018 to replace Waste Pro. Arrow’s contract expires in May.
The Alabama-based company provides Natchez three-times-a-week curbside trash collection service (one pickup for recyclables) with each household also getting two large, wheeled garbage containers to separate the disposables and recyclables.
City residents now pay $24.15 a month per household to have their trash collected and disposed of. The fee is attached to their monthly bill from the Natchez Water Works for water and sewage services.
The city’s garbage and disposal expenses totaled about $1.5 million this past year, with Arrow getting $1.4 million of that for collecting the city’s trash. The remaining funds went mostly to WM and Greenway Environmental Services for landfilling the garbage in their waste dumps.
Arrow’s trucks haul city residents’ disposable garbage to WM’s south Adams County landfill after years of taking it to Greenway’s Jefferson County waste dump, which has encountered various financial and environmental problems in the past year or so.
Natchez’ recyclable trash is taken elsewhere, although an Arrow executive noted last year that it’s become more difficult to find a processor that will take recyclables.
Arrow Vice President Jimmie Moore also said a lack of garbage workers has handicapped its operations as finding people wanting to be trash collectors has become more difficult. Arrow’s labor shortage and truck breakdowns last summer resulted in Natchez residents’ garbage not being picked up occasionally on their appointed days.
Gibson said the trash collection and disposal proposals submitted by Arrow, Waste Pro, Hometown and WM will be made public as he and aldermen review them in upcoming meetings.
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