Solid Waste associations debate privatization in waste services
Do privatized waste and recycling services provide a significant cost savings over those provided by the public sector? Do they provide a safer, more environmentally friendly alternative as well as increased environmental benefits. According to the U.S. based National Solid Wastes Management Association (NSMWA) they do. The Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) disagrees. Here are views from both organizations.
— NSWMA: what they said.... According to a recent study from the National Solid Waste Management Association (NSWMA): “Privatized waste services generate significant cost savings and lower financial risks for budget-stretched municipalities, and they are safer and more environmentally protective than their public sector counterparts.”
“During a time when municipalities are facing declining revenues and severe budget shortfalls, waste collection, recycling and disposal are among the services most ideal for privatization,” said NSWMA President and CEO Bruce J. Parker. NSWMA represents the private sector waste industry in the U.S. According to the NSWMA study (available at www.everydayenvironmentalists.org/privatization), privatizing waste offers communities many benefits. It encourages greater innovations and efficiencies that save money and reduce environmental impacts. Among the study’s findings, privatized waste collection lowers costs, protects recycling rates, and is safer for workers.
The organization points to “cities with the highest recycling rates – including San Francisco and Seattle – which have fully privatized recycling. NSWMA says this is largely because private sector recyclers have more experience and financial ability to assume and manage risks in volatile commodities markets. The private sector, the organization says, is also responsible for innovations like single-stream recycling, which have helped to double American recycling rates in the last 20 years.
In addition to these documented advantages of private solid waste management, the study describes how cities can privatize their garbage collection, disposal and recycling programs while protecting the environment and often while maintaining employment. NSWMA says the private solid waste sector is one of the fastest-growing adopters of alternative fuels and hybrid vehicle technologies to reduce emissions, and is more likely than the public sector to use further energy-saving technologies, such as on-board route management software.
The NSWMA is a sub-association of the Environmental Industry Associations, and represents for-profit companies in North America that provide solid, hazardous and medical waste collection, recycling and disposal services, and companies that provide professional and consulting services to the waste services industry. Visit www.everydayenvironmentalists.org for more on the NSWMA.
— SWANA: how they responded... “In response to many inquiries, the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) is providing the following comments on the March 2011 release on privatization of solid waste management services issued by the National Solid Waste Management Association (NSWMA).”
“Solid waste management decisions must reflect community values and are therefore an essential prerogative of local government,” said John H. Skinner, Ph.D. SWANA’s Executive Director and CEO. “Solid waste management is, first and foremost, strongly grounded in the need to protect public health, safeguard the environment and conserve and recover material and energy resources. It is not a commodity like soap detergent or cable television that can be left to the whims of short-term profit and loss decisions.”
Skinner added, “SWANA certainly supports privatization efforts that are supportive of local government’s public service authorities – but in the absence of that support, privatization will not be successful.”
“This release was authored by an organization that has a clear bias toward the private sector, which funds most of its activities,” said Dick Sprague, a SWANA International Board Member. “It could be directly countered with numerous ‘managed competition’ articles that demonstrate the exact opposite: when public and private parties bid under defined terms and conditions, the public party almost always wins, even in highly unionized utilities. SWANA members have published many articles that show how the public sector succeeds in solid waste, wastewater and water fields.”
SWANA concluded their response by saying: “A more thorough analysis of data would be required before any conclusions can be drawn about the efficiencies and effectiveness of public versus private solid waste management services. The most important factor is that all entities work toward improving their services.”
The mission of the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) is: “to advance the practice of environmentally and economically sound management of municipal solid waste.” SWANA serves nearly 8,000 members and thousands more industry professionals with technical conferences, certifications, publications and a large offering of technical training courses. For more information, visit www.SWANA.org.