Customers May Pay More for Waste Service

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Wells said the increase may mean a price increase for his customers. Private waste carriers disposing of house hold waste at transfer centers recently received an increase in drop-off costs. Transfer centers provide an intermediary service between private carriers and landfills. Once private carriers drop off waste at transfer centers, waste is then transferred to landfills.
On June 14th, owner of Wells Waste Disposal Greg Wells received notification of a price increase at local transfer centers. The transfer centers where he drops off are managed by Advanced Disposal. The notification Wells received on Tuesday the 14th stated that the charge for disposing trash at the centers would be increased from $47 to $49 per ton. According to the notice, the change would be effective Thursday June 16th.

In a phone interview with FYN this week, Wells said the increase may mean a price increase for his customers. So far, he said, he’s been able to absorb the high cost of gas, so his customers could avoid an increase in their bills. However, he said he may not be able to absorb the transfer center price increase as well as high gas prices for too much longer. As such, in the wake of the increases, he said he may raise his customers’ monthly bill. Where Wells Waste customers currently pay $20 a month, they may now pay $22 a month. Wells spoke with Site Manager Bobby Bright at Advanced Disposal last week about the increase. Bright told Wells that the increase at the transfer centers was a response to an increase at the landfills.

FYN also spoke with Billy at Backdoor Sanitation, another local private waste carrier. Billy told FYN that he did not receive any formal notice of the price increase. He learned of the increase only when he saw the sign at the transfer center weighing station, showing the increase in price. The sign did not state the reason for the increase. Backdoor Sanitation also said that it had tried to absorb the costs of gas prices to keep customers’ cost reasonable, but the increase at the transfer centers may also drive Backdoor to increase the price to its customers.
In a statement this week, Community Affairs Manager for Advanced Disposal Marcia Kreager confirmed the increase in price at the transfer centers. She said the increase is a response to high gas prices, noting that Advanced has not increased prices since 2008. However, the reason seems curious since gas prices have gone down in the last few months.
In May, the average price of gas in Georgia was $3.96 per gallon and in June it was down to $3.61. As of July 5th, gas was cheaper still, at $3.45. So, like Wells Waste and Backdoor Sanitation, did Advanced Disposal simply absorb high gas prices for the last two years? If the current increase is due to high gas prices, why did Advanced Disposal raise prices now, when prices have dropped 35 cents since May? Or, are other factors responsible for the increase?
FYN will continue to follow this story as it develops.

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