New Baltimore’s City council members voted unanimously to award a new waste hauling contract to Priority Waste. The Clinton Township-based company, relatively new to waste hauling in Macomb County, beat out two other bidders for the contract: GFL Environmental Inc., which acquired Rizzo Environmental Services in 2016, and the city’s current waste hauler, Waste Management Inc. Despite the change in haulers, residents will likely see no major changes in service.
Residents can continue using their waste bins if they already own them or can purchase a new bin, officials said. One large item per week will be picked up. Large items, including mattresses, will not have to be separately wrapped. If a resident’s garbage is missed, the company will have two pickup trucks available to retrieve it on the same day, said Robert Huth, a Clinton Township-based attorney representing Priority Waste.
As to recycling carts, Huth said the company would pick them up during the transition period if it cannot make an arrangement with Waste Management to purchase them. Before the vote, Mayor Pro-Tem Flo Hayman questioned whether the company would have enough trucks and employees in place to start serving the city Sept. 1. “I have some real concerns about a new company being our waste hauler,” she said.
Huth said the company has secured four rental trucks while it waits to receive four new trucks, and currently has enough employees to service New Baltimore. “We’re ready to hit the ground running,” he said. “The only way that Priority will be successful is if we can go to other municipalities and say … we made their transition seamless.”