Waste Management Inc. will begin servicing select communities and the unincorporated areas of Cache County on Oct. 1, replacing services previously provided by Logan City.
CACHE COUNTY – Blake Leonelli, the local manager for Waste Management Inc., updated members of the Cache County Council on its countywide waste collection service that will begin on Oct. 1.
“Although this project may be new to our people,” he explained during the council’s regular meeting on July 11, “we’ve been looking at expanding into Cache Valley for the past four years … We also look at this project as something that may grow over time.”
Leonelli said that Waste Management’s goal is to make the county’s transition to its new service as seamless as possible.
“A lot of what you have now is not going to change,” he assured the council members. “Rather than having a blue truck making collections (in front of your house), it will now be a green truck.”
Leonelli added that Waste Management will also be purchasing some trucks that Logan City now considers surplus to its needs, the trash bins and even hiring the same local drivers whenever possible.
In February of 2022, after years of cooperation in terms of environmental services between Cache Valley’s largest governmental entities, Logan Mayor Holly Daines announced that city officials intended to bow out of that arrangement.
“Our thought,” she explained “is that we will continue to provide collection service for the next two years – until the end of 2023 if necessary – to allow everyone to develop a smooth transition to alternative collection services.”
By “everyone,” Daines meant officials of Cache County and the valley municipalities to which Logan City had provided trash, recycling and green waste collection services.
Not all of the valley’s cities have since opted to join in the countywide contract with Waste Management, however.
The cities of Lewiston, Richmond and Smithfield have all entered into separate contracts with Econo Waste Inc. for trash collection.
In Providence, the city council recently voted to continue receiving service from Logan while officials acquire new garbage trucks to be operated by city employees.
While acknowledging that its current agreement with local cities and the county does not include green waste services, Leonelli said that he and County Executive David Zook have been discussing ways to provide that service in the spring.
He added that Waste Management will begin sending flyers and postcards to county residents explaining the transition process starting on July 17.
Waste Management traces its history to 1893, when a Dutch immigrant named Harm Huizenga began collecting trash in Chicago for a small fee.
In 1968, Harm’s grandson Wayne Huizenga and two other investors, Dean Buntrock and Larry Beck, had a vision. They wanted to serve their community by properly managing the waste produced by a rapidly growing population consuming more and more products built for convenience.
In the 1970s, Americans started to embrace a more environmentally friendly mindset. WM was already professionally and responsibly disposing of waste, but began to expand its commitment to the environment by beginning to address complex specialized waste.
By 1982, WM had become the world’s largest waste disposal company, with more than $1 billion in sales. It was one of the first truly integrated waste disposal companies, not only collecting waste but also responsibly managing landfills.
WM was also one of the first to recognize the burgeoning recycling movement, building robust collection, materials recovery and materials marketing infrastructures to ensure that more of America’s waste finds a second life.
Waste Management Inc. already services numerous Utah town, cities and counties along the Wasatch Front.