Memphis to rebid Inland solid waste contract

Action comes after long delays in trash collection

The city of Memphis plans to rebid Inland Waste Solutions’ solid waste contract this fall after some customers saw weeks-long delays in garbage and trash collections.

The contractor, a subsidiary of Sarasota, Fla.-based Bobcat North America, fell behind on garbage cart and curbside trash collections in April, sparking residents’ outrage and a personal apology from Mayor Jim Strickland who called the backlog “unacceptable.”

The city will rebid the contract in September and notify the winning bidder by December, with the contract taking effect six months later. The contractor serves more than 35,000 customers on the city’s eastern side, Public Works Director Robert Knecht said.

Inland most recently won the contract in 2014 with a low bid of $4.3 million annually, beating out proposals from Canada-based Waste Connections ($5.1 million); New Orleans-based Metro Service Group ($5.7 million); Republic Services of Phoenix ($6.6 million); and Longwood, Fla.-based Waste Pro ($9.3 million). Inland is allowed to bid on the project this September.

Inland’s agreement is to collect garbage and recycling from carts within seven days of the collection date, and curbside trash within 21 days. Inland serves about a fifth of the city’s 174,000 solid waste customers.

The city has considered scrapping the contract, but the high cost to buy the additional equipment and hire more

employees makes outsourcing the better option, Knecht said.

“It’s the start-up costs and the start-up time,” he said.

Inland’s recent troubles, which required Inland to bring in Waste Pro as a subcontractor to catch up on collections, may have resulted from the company losing a number of key employees at the peak of “spring cleaning,” Knecht said.

The city could levy fines against Inland for the delays, but not for the first time: The city fined Inland $141,000 in July 2016 and threatened to end its contract after the company missed collection deadlines.

Germantown has also withheld more than $500,000 in payments to the company since 2014 to cover fines and the fees to bring in other contractors.

In a recent weekly email to constituents, Strickland said his administration is working on a long-term solution to solid waste issues. Elaborating, Knecht said service level changes could mean increased fees, as proposed last year, if approved by the City Council.

“I’ve tasked our team with digging in on the issue from the root and proposing how to overhaul it with one goal in mind: delivering you better service,” Strickland said. “We’ll get this right.”

Inland Waste representatives didn’t return calls seeking comment.

Reach Ryan Poe at poe@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter at @ryanpoe.