City approves new waste management contract
Priority Waste earns five-year contract, touts high-tech methods
Eastpointe will employ a new waste management company after the city council unanimously approved a five-year contract to be awarded to Priority Waste in Clinton Township at its Feb. 7 meeting.
The Priority Waste contract begins on July 1, 2023, and succeeds GFL Environmental, which has had the Eastpointe contract for the past 10 years. The GFL contract runs through June 30, 2028.
The total cost of the fiveyear Priority Waste contract is $10.7 million and includes weekly trash, recyclable and compost collection and doorside pickup.
Priority Waste was the lowest of three bidders.
“We are appreciative of the engagement and responsiveness from the Priority Waste team,” said Eastpointe City Manager Mariah Walton. “We look forward to incorporating technology into our waste collection and even more excited to be supporting a Macomb County business.”
Priority Waste Director of Public Relations and Government Affairs Matt Allen said company trucks are all no more than five years old and that its high-tech logistics coordinator system will enable them to provide enhanced service to Eastpointe residents.
“We have a 32-foot long and 9-foot tall screen and multiple logistic coordinators for all of our vehicles and all of our drivers have tablets for communication between our drivers and our coordinators,” said Allen. “We have six cameras on every truck; one in the cab that allows the driver to talk to the coordinator, one on each side of the truck, cameras on the front and back and one in the hopper we can utilize to flag contaminated loads.”
If someone inadvertently puts something in their recycle bin that is not to be recycled, the truck cameras will be able to identify that, flag the load and capture the address from which the item came. Priority Waste will then generate a notice to that resident with information about items that are not recyclable.
Allen also said there is a GPS feature that will show which streets have had their waste picked up and which are still waiting.
“We are overjoyed to be in Eastpointe and are really looking forward to making the transition,” said Allen.
The Clinton Townshipbased firm has service contracts in Washington, New Baltimore, and Utica in Macomb County.