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Hoover council gives Santek 3-year extension on garbage, recycling contract

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Photo courtesy of Santek Waste Services

The Hoover City Council tonight gave Santek a three-year extension on its contract to pick up garbage, recycling materials, leaves and other yard waste for residents in the city.

The contract originally came up for renewal in January but was postponed because some residents were expressing problems with the service they were receiving.

The most common complaint is that the workers doing garbage and recycling pickup sometimes leave empty carts in the middle of the driveway, in the street or somewhere else where they are not supposed to be, said Councilman John Greene, who is chairman of the council’s Public Works Committee.

Other people have complained about their streets or houses being missed. Greene said Santek is not perfect, but overall the company does a good job.

The company had 251 complaints in December, but that’s less than 1 percent of their total pickups in Hoover, said Sam Dillender, the head of Santek’s operations in Alabama.

The best thing about Santek is that they are responsive, Greene said. “The complaints they receive, they get right on it and make every effort to correct the problem,” Greene said. “They just go really above and beyond as far as trying to keep service at the 100 percent level, and they’re still striving to do that.”

Dillender told the council during its work session Thursday night that some of the problems they had toward the end of last year were due to changes in schedules related to holidays and inclement weather.

He also said in January that some of the complaints stem from people not understanding what kinds of items can go in the recycling bins. Sometimes workers don’t empty people’s recycling bins because the bins are contaminated with unacceptable items, he said. Often times, those loads end up being picked up and combined with trash on another day because of the contamination issue, he said.

The company that collects recycled goods from Santek charges Santek much more to sort through a load that is contaminated with garbage or other items that are not on the recycle list, such as glass, Dillender said. The charge is $15 per ton for a clean load, $50 per ton for load that is deemed half-contaminated and $100 per ton for a load deemed fully contaminated, he said.

Since January, the company has made extra efforts to help educate residents about what kinds of items are acceptable for recycling and what kinds are not, he said. Santek also has changed some drivers and has a new supervisor helping out in Hoover, he said.

Hoover City Administrator Allan Rice said the company even put cameras on their trucks to monitor employee actions and help with professional development.

Rice noted there were serious problems with leaf pickup in late 2016 and early 2017. Santek completely revamped their leaf pickup schedule, and this past fall and winter season leaf pickup was much better, he said.

Santek officials said they also have started having workers in the field report problems so supervisors can visit homes to discuss the issues with the residents and explain why pickup was not possible. Sometimes the carts are overloaded with very heavy items that if picked up by the truck may tear up the cart, officials said.

The city’s contract with Santek for all its services amounts to about $7.3 million per year, Rice said.

In the Birmingham-Hoover metro area, Santek also provides service to Helena, Gardendale, Trussville and part of Blount County, company officials said.

In other business tonight, the City Council:

Map courtesy of city of Hoover
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