Thursday, January 15, 2009

Views From A County Resident; The Handwriting Is On the Wall

I just read the article on your website titled "Recycling Business going Bust".

Right now it is not a good situation here in the St. Louis area as well.

My husband has talked to some of his friends that are in the trash hauling business. When they began this recycling & would take it to the recycling center, they would be paid about $20.00 per ton.

They ( the trash haulers) are now having to pay $35.00 per ton to get rid of their recyclables. Keep in mind that if they take in 5 tons a day that's $175.00 per day, multiply that by 5 days & you are looking at $875.00 per week. That is a lot of money, especially for the small hauler.
Someone is going to have to help pay for this & you can bet it will be the customers again!

While the trash hauler is charging the customer already, thanks to St. Louis County, they do not make enough money to cover the cost of what is happening now.

Thank You St. Louis County!

Also, in this article there was mention of stock piling. This is not a very good idea with some of these materials as they can combust. Just take a look at what happened the other day with the QRS company in South County. This alone will put a burden on the other recycling centers, which some are already busting at the seams. One of my husbands friends told him that he had to sit and wait to dump his recyclables & then when he finally got to, he had to dump it onto the parking lot because there was no room in the building. It may be recyclable items, but I think the law would look at it as littering!

As far as Charlie Dooley & the rest of his gang, I really don't think they will do anything about the mess that they have helped to create. Now that all is done, their comments will probably be, "not our problem anymore, it's up to the trash hauler". It's just like the health department with those containers, they took it upon themselves to get those containers, said that they are the property of St. Louis County Gov., then put all the responsibility onto the trash hauler to maintain them & possibly replace them.

What a mess!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you for your very valuable website and giving people the chance to say how they feel about what is going on in our area.

Respectfully Submitted,
Sherry W.

7 comments:

  1. Anonymous9:27 AM

    I understand why customers/residents would be upset over the cart program, or how the district haulers would be uset because their prices can't be adjusted according to the value of recyclables, but I don't see how that it affects small haulers in the least bit. They still control their own prices and unless they damage a cart they are not responsable for them. I've even heard people complaining that they had their cart damaged and they still weren't responsable for them. Besides the lost business in the districts the small haulers are relatively unaffected by the new laws/programs.

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  2. Anonymous7:10 AM

    AP, why do you think that small haulers, what few there are, are not affected by the same problems?

    Actually the small haulers are more affected. They do not have the resources or the financial strength as the large haulers.

    Once these small haulers are gone, and the few big companies control the waste stream in St. Louis, you can count on the charges to consumers to go through the roof.

    Actually, several large companies conspired with the county to change things the way they did, simply to limit competition and to eventually raise the prices.

    The only "Green" agenda that was going on here, was the color of the money.

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  3. Anonymous5:27 PM

    Mike Roberts said...
    AP you must have your head up your rear or your blinders are completely covering your eyes. Reports from all parts of the country say there is a seriously growing problem with a reducing demand for recyclables.

    Did you read the other articles at this blog? We're in for the green and it's not in our pockets.

    Mike

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  4. Anonymous5:55 PM

    So small haulers can still adjust their prices... And big haulers want them to go up... I'm still not seeing how small haulers are loosing (again besides the lost business from the district program). Even if the value of recyclables goes down small haulers can adapt faster and are allowed to adjust their prices- seems like they have it pretty good compared to the big guys.

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  5. Anonymous7:43 PM

    To AP
    Obviously, you are not a small business owner. Nor do you understand this industry.
    The small hauler can not just up his prices on a whim! There needs to be a pretty good reason as he has to answer to his customers.
    Yes,the small haulers are just as affected by the new laws and programs.
    What you & many others fail to realize is that the small hauler pays more per ton to dump in a landfill than the "big boys". The small hauler is not given a discounted price because he doesn't have a "fleet" of trucks.
    They will also pay more for health insurance & vehicle insurance, they don't have the big "groups" & "fleets".
    They are not shown the same
    considerations as the "big boys".
    The one thing that the small hauler has that
    the "big boys" don't is LOYALITY!

    My suggustion to everyone out there that thinks they know all about this industry, is to call up one of the small haulers & ask to do a ride along for a couple of days or a week. I don't mean you just sit there, get out & pick up a can & heave it. Then you should call one of the "big boy" companies & ask them if you could ride along. Maybe, just maybe then you & others will have a better understanding of this industry.
    One last thing, the lost business from the districts means - out of business! Now put yourself in that situation!!!!!!!!!!!

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  6. Anonymous9:00 AM

    The referance to discounts through large purchasing power was the same before and after the recycling market fall, and the districting program. Again, it seems like bigger companies are hurt more. I understand they're hurting- as almost every industry is right now. I just don't see how they have to worst of it.

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  7. Anonymous10:39 AM

    AP, It seems to me that no matter what anyone says, you will NEVER see the big picture! Re-read the info above & make the calls to see if you can do a ride along - that way you can see what the bigger problems are for the small hauler. You can also ask questions & possibly learn something.
    Just pull your head out of your rear & open your eyes, if possible!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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