This morning I received the below press release from The National Waste & Recycling Association. Even though the second line of the release stated, "Warrick County Residents May Use Any Hauler for its Waste and Recycling Service," I had to call the NWRA for myself to CONFIRM that I didn't misread or misunderstand. Christopher Doherty, VP of Communications of NWRA, assured me that Warrick County residents can choose their own trash management company but the injunction is temporary. They aren't sure of the next steps.

As a Warrick Co. resident, I am so glad to see that we once again have a choice - at least in our waste management services. When all of this happened, we used Freedom Waste and Recycling LLC. The owner/operator, Johnny always went above and beyond. He'd even go up to the house to get our bin if we forgot to leave it out and I could text him if I had a large item that I needed to have picked up. The company who currently picks up our waste frequently dumps the bin sideways on the ground which looks kind of trashy. (Pardon my pun.) In any event, I was livid that this mandate from the county diminished my former trash collector's business. Last time I checked, Warrick County is still part of the United States which, from what I understand, supports capitalism.

Warrick County Residents May Use Any Hauler for its Waste and Recycling Service

The United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana (“the Court”) today issued a temporary injunction against the Warrick County Solid Waste Management District (“the District”) striking down its plan to establish an exclusive curbside waste and collection service that would have restricted competition and create a de facto monopoly for the processing of waste and recycling in the County.  The complaint for an injunction was brought by the National Waste and Recycling Association (NWRA) on November 13, 2015 on behalf NWRA’s Indiana Chapter.  The Court also rejected the District’s counterclaim for a preliminary injunction against NWRA in the matter.

 

In granting NWRA’s motion for a preliminary injunction, the Court found, among other things, that “NWRA’s members will suffer irreparable harm absent the preliminary injunctive relief.”  The Court enjoined the District from enforcing its plan against any NWRA member or other party that wishes to compete to provide waste and recycling collection services in Warrick County.  The plan, which was enacted by the District, was known as Resolution 2015-03.  NWRA had detailed in its complaint that Resolution 2015-03 violates both the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution and various Indiana statutes.

 

“This is a victory for  the citizens of Warrick County,” commented Terry Guerin, chairman of the Indiana Chapter of the NWRA. “Competition is good for consumers, and residents of Warrick County are free to choose who will provide their curbside collection.”

 

This Case No. 123456789, which can be accessed at http://www.insd.uscourts.gov/case-search-information.

ABOUT NWRA

The National Waste & Recycling Association is the leading organization providing leadership, advocacy, research, education and safety expertise for the waste and recycling industries. NWRA advocates at the Federal, State and Local levels on all issues of importance to our member companies as they provide safe, economically sustainable and environmentally sound services to communities in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The Indiana Chapter of NWRA represents the private waste and recycling industry statewide.  For more information visit wasterecycling.org.

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