Cave Creek dumps recycling subsidy plan
Staff reports

CAVE CREEK – A good idea gone bad.

That was the consensus among Cave Creek Town Council members Monday night, when they voted 5‑1 to rescind the recycling program passed last year.

“It sure seemed like a good idea when we came up with the idea,” said Councilwoman Grace Meeth. “It was a good idea that went bad.”

The idea was to provide a means by which the town could encourage residents to voluntarily recycle through subsidizing the cost for refuse companies to collect recyclable items.

Last year, the council passed an ordinance that Cave Creek would pay up to 50 percent of the cost for residents to have their waste removal provider haul away recyclables. The town set the maximum rate it would subsidize at $4 per haul per customer.

The town would have subsidized the cost to haul recyclables over a five‑year span, reducing the amount it would subsidize by 10 percent each year.

The plan, which was slated to go into effect this month, backfired when the largest waste removal company that serves the community, Waste Management Inc., sent letters to its Cave Creek customers informing them they had this choice–have Waste Management haul away trash and recyclables or cancel their service subscription and find another provider.

Waste Management charges $8 per haul for recyclables. Curbside, the other area provider, charges $11 per recycling pickup.

Waste Management representative Don Cosano told council members his company’s action was strictly “a business decision” that applies to all Waste Management customers throughout the Valley.

“We made a business decision because what you offer here is competition can come in and do business ... we are not holding any of our customers from going with any competitor,” Cosano said.

The trash company has 500 customers in Cave Creek and received 11 cancellations after it sent the letters announcing the recycling program, according to Cosano.

The way in which the letter was worded “gave the impression” that the recycling program was mandatory and not voluntary, he said, adding the letter was sent only after the town approved it.

Cave Creek resident Bob Miller told the council he never received a letter and wasn’t told the company was going to deliver a 90‑gallon recycling bin to his property.

“Waste Management, I guess, didn’t really make an attempt to call their customers,” Miller said. “I called and canceled. I have no room for it (recycle bin).”

Carefree Councilman Bob Coady, who has been active in promoting recycling, said his town’s periodic voluntary collection efforts can’t handle the overflow from Cave Creek. “It’s going to have an impact on my program,” he stated.

Coady advocated Cave Creek and Carefree officials combine their efforts to seek funds from the state for recycling. “Money for these projects is available ... All we have to do is put our heads together,” he said.

The two towns in the past collaborated to collect recyclables, but Cave Creek ended its joint collection efforts when town council came up with and approved the subsidy plan. Cave Creek struggled for years getting enough volunteers to make its program a success.

Vice Mayor Dick Esser, who cast the dissenting vote, said, “It’s sad that after seven years we’re not going to be able to do something together.”

Councilman Tom McGuire expressed his dismay at the unintended consequences of the town’s subsidy plan.

“I’m very sorry to see what’s happened here ... I feel badly about this,” McGuire said.  

Councilman Ernie Bunch was absent from the meeting.