History of Solid Waste & Recycling Services

The first contract for handling, collecting and disposing of garbage in the City was entered on August 15, 1923 (PDF) between the Longview Corporation and J.H. Kelly of Kelso, and the exclusive contract was for a period of one year.

Private Residences

Private residences that availed themselves to the garbage services provided by J.H. Kelly were charged $0.75 per month. The first established landfill was, “located on what is known as the ‘hill road’ five miles in a northwest direction from Longview, which farm it is mutually agreed is well located for and adapted to the said purpose of a feeding farm and dumping ground, shall be used by the said Contractor for the said purpose during the time of the existence of the privilege herein given, but no longer.”

Documents & Letters

Documents dating in the mid-to-late 1920s show considerable discussion between Mr. SM. Morris, Vice President of the Long-Bell Lumber Company and Mr. Wesley Vandercook, Chief Engineer, about finding a new location for the landfill.

Illegal Dumping Letter

Additionally, in a letter dated January 16, 1936 (PDF) to City Engineer Vic Nystrom, Mr. SM. Morris was concerned about illegal dumping going on along California Way between the plant of the Straw Board Company and the Pioneer Bridge. He cited such conditions “looks very bad, especially to tourists coming into Longview.” As a possible solution, Mr. Morris offered a reward of $25 for the arrest and conviction of anyone caught dumping trash. Mr. Nystrom consulted with the city council, police judge and police chief and the reward offer was accepted and was published in the Longview Daily News on Saturday, January 25, 1936.

Waste Control & Recycling Program

Since that time, and numerous independent contractors later, the City took over the garbage collection in the early 1950s until 1989 when the City Council approved a contract with Waste Control Recycling Incorporated to provide garbage collection services. In 1992, the City Council approved an amendment to the contract with Waste Control to provide the current curbside recycling program.

In June 2020, Waste Connections, a company based out of Woodland, Texas with districts throughout Washington, acquired Waste Control.  This acquisition retained Waste Control as its own entity with the same name, leadership and employees.