Four Dallas County recycling roll-offs will remain in their current locations and not be removed thanks to an 11th-hour contract struck Tuesday between Waste Management and the Dallas County Supervisors and negotiated by Metro Waste Authority, which administers the solid waste planning area for Polk and Dallas counties
Roll-offs will continue to be located in Linden, Perry, Redfield and near the Washington Township School. Roll-offs in Adel and Woodward were recently removed, and the Waukee roll-off was removed in 2018.
When Waste Management proposed increasing its recycling rates in the new contract, the Dallas County Board of Supervisors was spurred to seek a new service provider, and Ted Trewin, Dallas County Environmental Health director, informed rural residents in mid-June that all county roll-offs would be removed July 1.
The new contract with Waste Management will make the removals unnecessary, and the county will start paying not a higher but a lower rate than under the current contract.
Michael McCoy, Metro Waste Authority executive director, negotiated the new contract with Waste Management and confirmed the new rates and the four continuing recycling points at Tuesday’s supervisors meeting.
“We went back to Waste Management and asked them what were the issues with this account and why the price was so high in our view,” McCoy told the supervisors. “After discussion on that, they have lowered your price not just from the new contract they presented you, which was about $320 on your renewal — your current one was $263.82 through July 1–and after some discussion with them, they put the new price at $250. So we went down from even your current contract, which I think is a pretty good step in the right direction.”
McCoy said a new cardboard recycling dumpster will also be introduced alongside the county roll-offs as part of a pilot program. The cardboard bins will have a narrow slit in front, requiring users to break down cardboard boxes prior to inserting them in the dumpster.
“Your pulls will be a lot less,” McCoy said. He said Metro Waste Authority uses its own staff members and trucks to pick up cardboard, which is now the only recyclable material with any market value.
Two additional recycling sites are always available to rural residents in Dallas County:
- Metro Park West Landfill, 2466 337th St. in rural Perry
- Metro Northwest Transfer Station at 4105 S.E. Beisser Dr. in Grimes
Trewin said the Dallas County Rural Resident Recycling Program website will continue to provide updates on county recycling.
It’s amazing what can be accomplished with just a little bit of talking to one another. Just a few days ago these roll-offs were going because the rates were increasing instead of decreasing.