On July 1, waste collection workers at Republic Services, one of the largest waste management companies in the country, went on strike in Massachusetts, leaving communities across the state grappling with overflowing dumpsters. The strike is now in its fifth week.
On July 10, Mayor Ruthanne Fuller and Director of Sustainable Materials Management Waneta Trabert announced that the City would temporarily accept waste from the approximately 180 Newton property owners who contract with Republic Services in order to avoid a potential public health emergency. Under the program, property owners are permitted to bring trash to the City’s Resource Recovery Center for a $100 payment per vehicle trip until the end of the strike.
In a statement to Fig City News, Trabert said that the City had to work across departments, from the Department of Public Works (DPW) to the IT department to the Mayor’s communications team, to get the program up and running quickly. She explained,
“Because the City’s Resource Recovery Center is permitted as a transfer station, DPW had the flexibility to add this service at our site on Rumford Avenue with a temporary policy change. Coordination was needed with our online payment provider to create an online payment process for the fee set for this temporary service. The online payment provider was able to set this up within 24 hours. Communication to the community about this temporary service was coordinated with the Mayor’s office and our IT department, and it went out in the Mayor’s Update and was posted on our website.”
Charles River Regional Chamber responds
President and CEO of the Charles River Chamber of Commerce Greg Reibman said that while he greatly appreciated quick action from the Mayor’s office, the customers of Republic Services continue to face significant hurdles in disposing of their waste.
“It’s a great help, and I recognize that it’s what the City can do right now, but there are a…