By: Samantha Weideman & Daniel Kingery
Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert was “stunned” last week by Firstar Fiber’s $4 million bid to process Omaha’s recycling through 2026, and city officials are scrambling to find other options.
Currently, the city pays Firstar $25.92 per ton to process recycled materials, but if they accept Firstar’s bid, Omaha will pay up to $200 per ton.
This would not be unreasonable if Omaha residents paid a separate garbage pickup fee, like other cities in Nebraska (Bellevue, Papillion or Scottsbluff), said Joe Norris, Certified Public Accountant at Firstar.
According to the city of Omaha’s website, Omaha, as Nebraska’s only metropolitan city, is required by law to provide garbage pickup for its residents free of charge.
Norris said if Omaha required its residents to pay a separate pickup fee, the $4 million-dollar bid would break down to $2 per month per household.
“That’s why $4 million becomes a label on a page, because you can’t actually adjust it to that reasonable number,” Norris said. “It becomes one big lump sum tax that has to go against real estate, along with a whole host of other city services. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be a big deal.”
Some city officials, like Aimee Melton and Brinker Harding, have suggested the city budget for recycling costs, yet both Melton and Harding expressed concern about Firstar’s processing price tag. The council members said they wanted to ensure the services were reasonably priced.
The mayor and city officials recently approved a bid with FCC for waste pickup. Stothert said their “reliable trash pickup” is worth $7 million more a year than their contract with Waste Management, putting their contract at $22.7 million.
“Is Waste Management a Nebraska company? No,” Norris said. “The money we’re spending is basically staying in Nebraska. It’s a real possibility that we could be more of a regional processor and do better recycling for the region.”
