Priority Waste takes over refuse hauling in Farmington Hills

METRO DETROIT — The lime green trucks picking up refuse in your neighborhood have turned to yellow.

Green For Life Environmental, the waste management company that has contracts with many municipalities in metro Detroit, recently sold the residential trash collecting assets to Priority Waste. News of the sale hit social media before GFL was able to put out its official statement.

“Social media got ahead of the process,” said Matt Allen, Priority Waste’s director of public relations and government affairs.

The change was set to take place July 1.

Residents of these communities will still be able to use their GFL bins. Garbage collection dates will remain the same.

GFL will retain its commercial contracts.

“This sale encompasses assets and collection operations within Oakland, Washtenaw, Livingston, Macomb, Genesee, and Wayne Counties,” John Addison, GFL General Manager for Wayne, stated in a letter to employees. “It includes the transfer of contracts with 75 municipal customers as well as 70,000 homeowner’s associations and subscription residential customers.”

According to a press release from the city of Farmington Hills, community members should not anticipate a disruption in service delivery, with collection schedules and route days remaining the same, although the time and day may shift in some cases.

The release states that Priority Waste has committed to improving service levels in all communities, and will deploy additional resources such as drivers, trucks and management, as necessary.

Garbage goes to the Waste Management Woodland Meadows landfill or the GFL Arbor Hills landfill, both of which have historically received trash from Farmington Hills.

Yard waste is sent to the Spurt facility in Wixom, with recyclables continuing to be delivered to the Materials Recovery Facility in Southfield, the release states.

Although the transition is in its early stages, Farmington Hills City Manager Gary Mekjian said, “All seems and appears to be well.”

“We’ve had a very good transition process between the leadership of Priority Waste and those folks from GFL,” said Mekjian, who acknowledged Resource Recovery and Recycling Authority of Southeast Michigan General Manager Mike Csapo for helping communities with the transition. “It’s my understanding that many of the folks that were in leadership with GFL have moved over to Priority, so it appears to have been a relatively seamless transition.”

According to Mekjian, the contract that the city had in place with GFL was effectively transferred to Priority Waste.

“For the current fiscal year we’re in, it’s about $3.94 million,” he said. “(It) is a five-year contract with three one-year extensions. So we’re two years into it right now, and four years to go. So the contract will end in June of 2028, and there’ll be an option for council to extend it for another two one-year additions.”

Mekjian shared his evaluation of GFL.

“I thought they performed adequately,” he said. “It wasn’t without its challenges, but … they adjusted pretty well.”

Residents can contact the Division of Public Works with questions or concerns by visiting fhgov.com/trash or calling (248) 871-2850.

“We’re excited to partner with Priority Wate,” Mekjian said. “I have every reason to be confident with Priority Wate’s service and that the transition will help us meet our commitment of providing high quality service … to our residents.”

Allen said talks for the acquisition began earlier in 2024. The Detroit transition to Priority Waste from GFL happened earlier in June. In Sterling Heights, the company is about a month into its changeover. According to Allen, the transition in both communities has gone well so far.

Hundreds of GFL employees impacted by the switch will be terminated, though they will be able to reapply for their jobs with Priority Waste.

“Our understanding is that Priority intends to extend offers to the majority of employees, as it will be imperative to maintain continuity of service,” Addison stated in the letter.

Allen said the company is working to make the transition a seamless process so there are no interruptions in service. He said the company has bought approximately 500 pieces of equipment from GFL. This equipment will be assessed by Priority Waste in the coming months.

“We’re going to do an overhaul of their fleet,” Allen said. “It’s a very deliberative process. We’re going to overhaul, rebuild, evaluate each one based on age and hours of running time.”