Trash haulers say deal with Wheaton stinks

Waste Management officials smell something rotten about Wheaton's pending move to a new trash hauler.

Recent city council debates and staff recommendations show Wheaton is likely to hire Veolia Environmental Solutions as its new trash hauler.

The change, which could happen as soon as Monday, is based mostly on the belief that Veolia has the best program to increase recycling in the city.

But Bill Plunkett, a spokesman for the city's current trash hauler, Waste Management, said his company's proposal isn't getting fair consideration.

To start, Waste Management did offer the lowest bid on maintaining Wheaton's trash removal program the way it is.

City staff doesn't dispute that fact. However, they recommended Veolia because its bid on an alternate plan to increase recycling is the cheapest.

That alternate plan, favored by city staff, requires all residents to get new 64-gallon recycling carts.

The carts are much larger than the current recycling bins most Wheaton residents have. Studies show larger recycling carts result in more recycling in communities that have tried them.

To that end, Plunkett said Waste Management would go even further and offer a 96-gallon recycling cart to residents who want it.

Plunkett also said the bidding process wasn't fair because the bids were supposed to be based on 3-year contracts, but Veolia's contract would be for five years. However, a copy of Waste Management's bid clearly shows its proposed prices for a five-year contract.

Beyond that discrepancy, Wheaton's Assistant City Manager Mike Dzugan said Waste Management is being deceptive in not comparing apples-to-apples in the bids.

Indeed, the bids for the alternate program the city wants shows Waste Management offering trash stickers for $3.10 a piece, while Veolia offers a price of $2.92 cents. The lower price offerings Waste Management pitched were not part of its alternate bid, Dzugan said.

"If Waste Management would've been the lower bidder in this alternate, I'm sure we would've went with them," Dzugan said. "They're not telling you the whole story, which is really bothersome."

Dzugan said the key aspect of the new trash program is literally forcing residents to have the larger recycling containers.

"I hate to use the word force, but that's what's really worked," Dzugan said. "We have to force these larger recycling carts on people."

Asked about trying to negotiate reduced trash sticker prices for senior citizens, Dzugan said that just means other residents would pay even more for trash removal.

"Somebody else would pay the difference," Dzugan said. "The trash company is not going to take it in the shorts. I guarantee you that."