Our View: Problem could have been avoided

For Wyoming Waste Systems, a lot of the headache over recycling could have been avoided with a simple statement.

“Due to circumstances beyond our control, recyclable materials collected by Wyoming Waste Systems’ curbside recycling program in Green River will be sent to the Rock Springs Landfill until further notice.

We are working to alleviate the situation as quickly as possible and remain committed to recycling in Green River. We will update residents when we’re able to provide recycling services again.”

However, after we published an article about WWS sending its recycling bins to the landfill, Green River’s residents have gotten upset about the revelation.

We’ve received a few phone calls about recycling in Green River and we know city hall has gotten some as well.

It isn’t hard to imagine WWS receiving similar phone calls from concerned residents.

Maintaining transparency is important for any organization, regardless of if it’s a public, governmental entity or a private business. The moment that transparency is questioned, trust in the organization erodes and concerns about what’s really going on run rampant. With social media, those concerns take a life of their own as any plausible explanation, as well as a few unlikely ones, proliferate regardless of how truthful they actually are.

When the transfer station fire last year impacted its recycling services, WWS should have come forward and told residents.

Yes, there would have been some people upset with the decision, but residents would have appreciated being kept in the loop and trust would have been better maintained.

Yet, nothing was said and it took us publishing a story after hearing rumors about the city’s recycling being dumped at the landfill to get the information out.

However, for WWS, we don’t think the trust between the company and Green River’s residents is irreparable.

They contacted us after our story was published and offered an explanation as to why they needed to send those materials to the landfill. After talking to WWS’s site manager Michelle Foote, we don’t think they’re intentionally trying to mislead customers.

But as we stated at the start of this piece, a lot of the headache could have been avoided.