A local recycling company is petitioning the Reno City Council, hoping to be allowed to stay in business.
The city has a franchise agreement with Waste Management to handle all commercial and residential recycling. Green Solutions Recycling is a small, local business that was in operation when that agreement went into effect in 2012. Green Solutions says the city was supposed to allow them to retain their clients and stay in business, but now they say the city is fining their clients for not using Waste Management, and it's putting them out of business.
"The spirit of the agreement was still supposed to be that it would never be a detriment to a business like Green Solutions Recycling," Green Solutions Spokesperson Mike Draper said, "which is losing clients every day because of how now the agreement is being interpreted."
The recycling operations are still running at Green Solutions for now. They still have about 50 employees and a handful of commercial clients, but they say those clients are fighting tough battles themselves, avoiding fines from the city.
The city is legally allowed to make a franchise agreement like the one with Waste Management that gives exclusivity, partly because it limits issues like fleets of different garbage trucks driving through neighborhoods. But Draper says a little competition is a good thing.
"If people want a choice in their garbage and recycling, which lowers cost, increases innovation," Draper said. "If people want choice, they need to let council hear it."
The Reno City Council is discussing this issue at its meeting Wednesday. That's happening at 1:30 p.m. and is open to the public.
Channel 2 did reach out to the City of Reno and to Waste Management to provide their sides of this issue, but both said they were not available for interviews.
