First, they built Vermont’s electronic waste collection system.
Then after three years, Good Point Recycling of Middlebury lost to Casella for the state contract to keep it running. Next, the Agency of Natural Resources rejected Good Point’s proposal to run an alternative statewide system to gather up and recycle hazardous “e-waste.”
Now, ANR appears poised to let Good Point Recycling back in.
“I think we’re getting pretty close,” said David Mears, commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation, who supervises the office that runs the state’s e-waste recycling program. The Agency of Natural Resources started renegotiating with Good Point in early October.
“It doesn’t surprise me that people are talking about it, but it’s just not final yet,” Mears said.
What does surprise Mears, he said, is the controversy the contract dispute has sparked.
“It was a pretty straight-up contract negotiation, and it’s just been perplexing to me the way this has played out,” he said.
Mears declined to speak with any detail about the negotiations, citing a lingering threat of litigation. Robin Ingenthron, owner of Good Point Reycling, also declined comment for the same reason. Representatives from Casella did not return multiple phone calls and emails over the past month.
Good Point took ANR to court in September, saying the agency had violated procurement standards. On technical grounds, the case was redirected from Superior Court to the state’s Environmental Court, but a new suit has not yet been filed.
Mears said avoiding further litigation is one of his goals in discussions with Good Point “and with other participants in the e-waste recycling program.”
The solution being hashed out would let Good Point compete with Casella for the chance to recycle used electronics. Since Casella won the state contract and a Superior Court injunction was lifted on Oct. 10, Good Point lost its place in the market and Casella has been the only e-waste recycler in Vermont.
The slow spar over pallets of used computers and trailers full of televisions is invisible to most Vermonters. Solid waste district managers are keeping the recycling system humming at roughly 100 locations around the state, where the public can drop off used electronics for free.
But the back-end logistics have either changed or been put on hold, along with aspects of their economics.
John Hurd runs the tiny Greater Upper Valley Solid Waste Management District, in North Hartland.
“We’re kind of off-the-beaten path,” Hurd says. Cars can get to his site in the woods via Class III roads, but trucks can’t make the low clearance. Their only way in is on Class IV roads, that become harder to pass as snow accumulates.
A small shed that holds four pallets of material is nearly full. “So I’m a little nervous waiting till January to get a pickup,” he said.
“On the other hand, it’s interesting to sit back and watch all this happening.” Hurd, who holds a seat on the board of the Northeast Resource Recovery Association — a nonprofit partner with Good Point — expressed frustration that the negotiation breakdown with Good Point remains a mystery.
Solid waste districts wait for answers
Storing
While they wait, some sites are storing their waste with the hope that Good Point’s plan will be approved and operational by Jan. 1 — though it’s unclear if they’ll be paid for any materials they collect before Good Point becomes a certified player.
Paul Tomasi, executive director of of the Northeast Kingdom Waste Management District, said in early November that his district was storing materials on a trailer owned by Good Point. He said the company traditionally has transported agricultural film, plastic bags, clothing and hardcover books along with electronic waste.
“We’re hesitant to go with the new state contract because Good Point provides us with a number of value-added services,” Tomasi said, adding that his communications with Casella about providing the same services had so far been inconclusive.
Tomasi said his board was been waiting to hear if Good Point’s independent plan would be approved before making any commitments to Casella.
“I think many other solid waste management districts were, as well,” he said.
Working with Casella
Other locations, in particular sites that collect more e-waste than they can store, are having Casella pick up where Good Point left off — even if only temporarily, until Good Point’s plan is approved.
This option — and the uncertainty of its alternative — isn’t ideal for Bob Vahey, of the Hartford Recycling and Transfer Center.
“We were told that yes, Robin (Good Point) has been approved for the opt-out plan but we can’t use him till January first,” Vahey said. “So in the meantime, we’re all forced to use Casella. It’s difficult in the sense that we’re all happy with one, and then it got changed for whatever reason.”
Vahey underscored that, not knowing the substance of ANR’s contract negotiations, he doesn’t have enough information to speak to the agency’s decision to turn the state contract over to Casella.
“If it’s Casella or Robin, whoever gives us the best bang for our buck,” Vahey said. “It all is going to come down to money and service.”
Regardless of the contractor, Vahey said he just wants more information. He and other district managers report not knowing how much Casella will pay for the pounds of electronics they’ve already collected.
Jennifer Holliday, who runs the Chittenden Solid Waste District’s e-waste program, is one of many who have not yet signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Casella. Along with Vahey, she’s operating with the understanding they’ll get at least five cents per pound, more or less in line with the previous minimum payment.
Hurd, from the Greater Upper Valley, is less concerned with cash-flow given the small volume of electronic waste his facility moves.
“I don’t know if a few thousand dollars a year is worth all the chaos we’re having,” he said.
Collaboration
Despite the bumpy and still uncertain transition, some district managers are hoping they’ll be able to work with both Casella and Good Point — though any so-called “shared location” arrangements will have to be agreed on by both parties, which have an uneven history of collaboration to date.
District managers can either call the contractor to pick up their e-waste, haul it to a consolidation facility themselves, or potentially hire a third-party trucker to move the salvage goods. But Casella reportedly has said it will not accept Good Point trucks — a decision ANR says it has no business interrupting.
Mutual site sharing may be a stretch, given that track record. Hurd pointed out that some materials are more valuable to the recycler than others, so it will be tricky to determine which contractor gets how much of what goods.
But Holliday feels that, at this point, the success of the state’s flagship e-waste recycling program depends on Good Point and Casella being able to work together.
Starting Jan. 1, Casella is obligated to maintain 85 collection sites, as will Good Point if its independent plan is ultimately approved and made effective with the new year.
“Eighty-five sites is enough to cover the whole state and have it be convenient for Vermonters,” Holliday said. “One hundred seventy sites is going to be very, very difficult to come by.”
Update: This article was updated at 10:40 a.m. on Nov. 20, 2013.
