Homewood makes switch to Amwaste for waste disposal

Aug 18, 2023

by SOLOMON CRENSHAW JR.

August 2, 2023

12:15 AM

Still shot from Amwaste promotional video

An Amwaste truck makes the rounds to pick up garbage.

Tuesday marked a major change for the city of Homewood, as the city quit using city workers to collect garbage and switched to an outside contractor — Amwaste.

Homewood City Council members ended their Monday night meeting trying to give comforting words to residents who might be a little anxious about the change.

Councilman John Hardin called the garbage switch “the biggest change since I’ve been on the council” and said “everybody’s affected 100%, unless you live in an apartment. It’ll be a tough road for the next 30 days probably.”

Councilwoman Barry Smith noted that the days residents receive service don’t change. “If you’re a Tuesday-Friday person, you’ll stay a Tuesday-Friday person,” she said. “If you were a Monday-Thursday person, you remain a Monday-Thursday person.”

Councilwoman Jennifer Andress said the change in garbage service is not a decision the city wanted to make.

“I’m sure we’ll have an interesting few days,” Andress said. “I appreciate everyone hanging in there with us. We’ve watched it in real time decline as far as staffing issues, and here we are.”

Council President Alex Wyatt said the change is not the fault of Berkley Squires or his Public Services Department. “It’s just the fact that we didn’t have enough people.

“We weren’t picking up trash all that well,” Wyatt said. “We were missing a lot because we just didn’t have the people to do it, and now we’re addressing that. This is going to be better, in my opinion.”

Joining the Cahaba Solid Waste Disposal Authority, which in turn contracts with Amwaste, is expected to drop the city’s annual cost for garbage disposal from $3.1 million to $1.57 million.

But the move wasn’t made just to save money, Wyatt said. “It’s because we’re going to have a better equipped staff to do this. Getting there is going to be bumpy at times. It’s going to take an adjustment in our behavior which, as we all know, is one of the hardest things to do. But we will get there once we are there, just like the other cities that have done this; we’ll be in a good spot.”

Residents can visit cityofhomewood.com/garbage-trash-recycle to learn more about the garbage and recycling changes and read a statement from Mayor Patrick McClusky.

The Homewood City Council also on Monday:

by SOLOMON CRENSHAW JR.

August 2, 2023

12:15 AM