The following contains the exact language (italicized) currently found in a standard commercial Waste Management contract specifically related to recycling services. In addition to excerpts from the contractual agreement, we will follow up with a plain-language interpretation.
Company reserves the right, upon notice to Customer, to discontinue acceptance of any category of Recyclable Materials set forth above as a result of market conditions related to such materials and makes no representations as to the recyclability of the materials. (ii) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained herein, Recyclable Materials may not contain Special Waste, Excluded Materials or other materials that are deleterious or capable of causing material damage to any part of Company’s property, its personnel or the public or materially impair the strength or the durability of Company’s structures or equipment. (iii) Company may reject in whole or in part, or may process, in its sole discretion, Recyclable Materials not meeting the specifications. [Plain English: Just because the company actually picks up your recycling commodities from a recycling bin, it does NOT mean they will actually recycle it. At their discretion, they may or may not send items to landfill because there may not be a good market for recycling. This also means they can’t make any money. Also, at any time, the hauler can simply STOP taking anything they don’t want to collect and then, if you continue to throw it into the recycling bin, they will consider the “stuff” excluded materials and then add a contamination fee to the next invoice.]