Trash Survey: Only 20% Say They Are Satisfied With Scott Waste, Majority of Those Surveyed Want Options

Close Results Between 4 Survey Choices

Darren Doyle, story:
The Edmonson Voice opened a survey on August 9, 2022, the day after an Edmonson County Fiscal Court meeting where the renewal of the county's exclusive trash collection agreement with Waste Connections (formerly Scott Waste) was discussed.

The survey ran for 10 days and resulted in 434 entries being submitted and calculated in the final total.

Overall, only 20% said they were satisfied with Scott Waste, and while the other three options were close in numbers, it still means that 80% of those participating in the survey are either not happy with their current trash collection option or are looking for other options.

In total, 38% (two categories combined) say they want to keep Scott Waste, although nearly half of those choosing to keep them are still unsatisfied with their service, as 48% of this group  say they are not willing to gamble on a worse option (85 votes for being satisfied with SW and 79 votes to keep them, although they are not happy).

Nearly a third of those surveyed are willing to pay more for trash service, or are willing to chance having Scott Waste win the bid again, this time at a higher price, if it means having even the possibility of another provider as an option.

The Judge Executive's Office told us last week that at least one other company was currently interested in placing a bid for exclusive service for the county and that magistrates were seeking options available in other counties.

The results were as follows:

• 34% (138 votes) Allow individuals to choose their own company but lose franchise and grant money
• 30% (132 votes) Open up bids for one exclusive provider, even though the price might be higher, or that Scott Waste could still be awarded the bid at a higher price than the current price
• 20% (85 votes) I am satisfied as a Scott Waste customer, let's keep them
• 18% (79 votes) I am NOT satisfied with Scott Waste, but I don't want to risk getting a worse option, let's keep them

The top vote getter (34%) was the option to discontinue an exclusive agreement with any company and allow individual trash collection companies to service county residents as individual residents choose. The county has been against this option in times past due to losing the benefits of the Kentucky's Waste Management Plan, which requires a sole provider.

As we previously reported on August 9th, a renewal with Scott Waste's current contract would guarantee that they could not raise their prices by more than 3% per year; however, many residents are dissatisfied with the service they receive from the trash company. There are multiple scenarios that are possible, should the fiscal court decide changes need to be made.

The first is to simply renew the contract and continue with the same as things have been since 2008. Waste Connections would be the sole trash collection provider for all of Edmonson County at the current rate, with the possibility of a maximum annual 3% cost of living increase per year.

The second, is for the county to open up bids to any and all trash collection companies; however, it's possible that another company--including Waste Connections--to submit a higher bid than what county residents are currently paying. It's also possible that Waste Connections could submit the lowest bid while raising prices from where they are now. It's also possible that with another company, the countywide cleanup would be discontinued, as SW/WC provides all the dumpster services for the annual event in their current agreement.

The third option would be to allow individual residents to utilize any company they wish that agrees to provide trash collection at their address for whatever price is charged by the company. Again, with this option, the county would no longer be part of Kentucky's Waste Management Plan, which requires one sole trash collection provider. This would mean the county would no longer receive a franchise fee from one sole provider (approx. $50K per year), and they would also lose grants for the litter abatement program (approx $28K/yr) and the annual tire amnesty program ($4K/yr). There would also be no oversight on individual companies; however, many would argue that Scott Waste has none or not enough now, as the sole provider. This could also mean someone in a pickup truck or trailer, or by other unconventional means could provide trash collection service in the county.