Rethinking Refuse in La Grange

With sales of waste stickers declining in La Grange and changes happening in the waste hauling industry, La Grange is once again at a crossroads when it comes to disposing of resident’s refuse.

At a village board meeting on Sept. 12, a report from the Environmental Quality Control Commission (EQCC)—which considers environmental issues in La Grange—laid out the options. The bottom line: things are going to have to change.

The Village of La Grange was a leader in the early 90s when the Village moved to a volume-based refuse collection system and implemented curbside recycling services. A volume-based system—as the majority of residents in La Grange have now—works by having residents pay a single, unit cost for each container of waste they put on the curb and is funded through the sale of waste stickers.

Where it was once a leader, La Grange is now falling behind, according to the EQCC. It is one of the last remaining municipalities in our area to have a volume-based system for trash collection.

“As the volume of sticker sales goes down, we have experienced an increase in the actual tonnage of refuse,” said EQCC Chairperson Glenn Wentink. “Which means the payment goes down, but the cost of providing collection goes up.” 

The EQCC cited the decline in sticker sales in La Grange to residents more aggressively recycling, maximizing the size of their garbage cans and by switching over to the village’s monthly tote (wheeled cart) subscription plan.

Waste haulers also have been pushing for a change toward a tote-based system. According to the EQCC, 60 percent of the costs associated with hauling refuse are fixed, meaning the cost is largely determined by what it takes to send the truck down the street, Wentink said.  The EQCC is suggesting La Grange trustees consider moving to a either a monthly subscription program, or a hybrid system between a monthly and volume-based model—if they can find a waste hauler who’s willing.

The EQCC believes it will be difficult to find a waste hauler who will be interested in a contract with the village if the volume-based system continues. The Village’s current contract expires in April 2012.

“We probably won’t be able to get a hauler that will want to go strictly on sticker sales,” Wentink told the board.

Waste haulers prefer the tote system because it offers stabilized rates and works with automated collection technology on garbage and recycling trucks. With the automated system, the garbage can is no longer lifted by the operator, but is lifted by the truck. If the Village wants to continue a volume-based system, they might have a harder time finding a hauler who wants to do it, and might have to pay more for it.

A survey commissioned by the EQCC in 2007 showed that residents in La Grange largely prefer the current program—75 percent of respondents voted to keep the current system.  At the time, only 12 percent preferred to move towards a tote system. However, in the last two years, participation in the toter program in La Grange is up about 17 percent, according to the EQCC.

A major benefit of moving to the tote-based system would be seen in recycling, Wentink added. After a review by the EQCC, the commissioners found that a switch to totes from bins for recycling saw as much as a 33 percent increase in recycling.

“It’s an outstanding number,” Wentink said.

The toter program would look better in the village too, Wentink said, because the secured lids would keep recyclables from blowing out into the street, as sometimes happens with the bins.

“I do have concerns with the fact that in 2007 the community spoke—and spoke loudly—that this is not what they want to do,” Trustee Mark Kuchler said. “And, the residents currently, if they want to go to a toter, can, so anybody who doesn’t have a toter, doesn’t want a toter.”

Wentink responded that the commission had shared those concerns, but following their discussions with the West Central Municipal Conference, worried the village would be unable to find a hauler interested in contracting for such a complex system, where some residents would have the toter and others would be using a sticker system.

Kuchler also asked if the EQCC knew the cost of about what the toter program would be if it were mandatory in La Grange. A 96-gallon tote costs about $26 a month currently for residents that choose the monthly subscription plan over waste stickers. Sticker prices are currently about $4 per 35-gallon garbage can.  Wentink said he was not sure how much a mandatory toter system would costs residents before the contract is put out to bid.

The board's biggest worry was whether the tote system would fit the diversity of need in La Grange. Trustee Michael Horvath asked if a variety of sizes in totes would be available, at different rates, depending on your refuse output.  Wentink said that was something the EQCC had wondered as well, and the commission would be interested in getting feedback from residents about what size of tote they might need.

The EQCC hopes to start surveying residents in November, with the hope the village can put out a new waste hauling contract for bid in December.