NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — The Nashville mayor's office announced Tuesday curbside recycling will resume at the beginning of February.
“Today’s news is about city employees getting innovative to solve problems,” Mayor John Cooper said. “I want to thank Metro Water Services and the employees at its Waste Services division for working long hours to cover for the failures of a private company and get curbside recycling back on schedule. I am committed to starting every-other-week recycling by the end of this fiscal year.”
Metro officials said they took over a five-year contract from Red River, a third-party contractor that filed for bankruptcy in October last year. Because of that, Metro officials said they needed the time in January to sort out how they would move forward.
“We are proud of our community for their commitment to recycling and are pleased to report that recycling remained robust through the use of convenience centers and recycling drop-off sites, where recycling collection increased more than fifty percent,” said Metro Water Services director Scott Potter. "Metro Waste Services expanded hours and capacity at the convenience centers to make this success possible."
Metro is filing a motion in bankruptcy court, requesting that Metro be allowed to assign some of Red River’s trash routes to an alternative provider to ensure that all trash is collected timely, according to a press release from the mayor's office. Through this effort, Metro is working to find a solution to the delays in trash collection while also resuming curbside recycling until such time as issues with Red River are resolved.
