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Terrebonne Council introduces ordinance to raise commercial recycling fees amid concerns over contamination and cost
Summary
The Terrebonne Parish Council voted 9-0 to introduce an ordinance that would add commercial recycling disposal charges and allow an annual CPI increase. Council members and solid-waste staff debated rising costs and contamination levels that limit actual recycling.
The Terrebonne Parish Council voted 9-0 to introduce an ordinance amending Article 2, Chapter 11 of the Terrebonne Parish Code to add disposal charges for commercial recycling and to allow an annual increase tied to the Consumer Price Index. The council set a public hearing for May 28, 2025.
Council members said the county’s recycling program is costing the parish more than anticipated and that much of what is placed in public recycling bins is contaminated and ends up as regular waste. Clayton Hawkins, Solid Waste Director for Terrebonne Parish, told the council that the current operations result in a loss for the parish and that staff proposed a commercial fee to reflect actual disposal and handling costs. “This is what it's costing the parish to, dispose of 1 ton of recycling material,” Hawkins said, explaining the need to raise the commercial rate to cover labor, compaction and transportation.
The ordinance language and numeric details were corrected on the floor after staff and the council identified typos in the draft. Council members and staff clarified that the ordinance as introduced will include corrected numerical figures; the ordinance will proceed to public hearing with the corrected figures.
Council members pressed staff for operational detail during debate. Several members noted parish expense figures presented in the discussion: participants said the parish spent roughly $256,000 on recycling in 2024 and projected roughly $290,000 for the current year, figures cited during the meeting discussion. Council members also said contamination is high: speakers said only about 20% of materials placed in recycle bins are ultimately recycled because mixed or contaminated loads must be diverted to the regular landfill.
Councilwoman Kim Chauvin was blunt about the trade-offs: “This is crazy to me that we're gonna waste $290,000,” she said, urging the council to consider pausing or redesigning the program rather than continuing at current cost and performance levels.
Hawkins and other staff explained the local market constraints. He said there is only one facility in Louisiana routinely accepting the parish’s recyclable material, and that market conditions have changed since the parish began curbside recycling (notably China’s reduced acceptance of U.S. recyclables). He described the parish’s process for contaminated loads: if a bin is contaminated when collected, the material is shipped as regular waste instead of recyclables. Hawkins also outlined that commercial accounts previously were not charged and that the proposed fee is intended to prevent parish subsidies for out-of-parish or commercial generators.
The council left the ordinance in introduction and set the public hearing on May 28, 2025. Staff was asked to provide clearer written numbers and any supporting contract or vendor data for the public hearing, and to clarify how existing hauling contracts and downstream processors handle and track material.
Votes at the introduction: motion to introduce the ordinance by Councilman John Amity, seconded by Councilman Danny Babin; vote 9-0 to introduce. The ordinance will return after the May 28 public hearing for further council action or adoption.
