Fort Collins residents might soon be charged more for curbside trash pickup service. City officials have warmed to a proposal that would allow local trash-hauling companies to add a surcharge on customers’ bills to help offset the financial impacts of fluctuating operational costs, including handling recyclable materials.
If approved by City Council as part of a long-discussed revision to city regulations on trash services, the hauler-proposed surcharges would be determined by the individual companies. Gallegos Sanitation Inc., or GSI, Ram Waste Systems Inc. and Waste Management are the three companies providing residential trash service in Fort Collins.
The charge would likely average about $3 per month, said Caroline Mitchell, an environmental planner with the city. The maximum would be 25 percent of what a hauler charges for its smallest curbside trash receptacle.
A surcharge would be allowed but not required under the current version of the proposed Community Recycling Ordinance. “It would be up to the haulers,” Mitchell said. “And there would be no constraints on the frequency of the charges or the amount up to the maximum.”
A dramatic shift in the cost of handling single-stream recyclables prompted haulers to seek a surcharge as part of the discussion around the ordinance, which is intended to increase the amount of waste diverted from local landfills.
Haulers used to receive payments for dropping off materials at the Larimer County Recycling Center. But with the collapse of markets for recyclables such as glass, paper and plastics, haulers have had to pay to drop off recyclables since early 2015.
To read the full story, visit http://www.coloradoan.com/story/money/2016/07/16/new-recycling-regs-could-increase-trash-bills/87075726/.