The Solid Waste Disposal Authority of Baldwin County, Alabama 鈥� one of the fastest-growing counties in the country 鈥� is investing in their solid waste and recycling collection operations with a new forward-thinking approach to cart management services. In an effort to achieve greater efficiency and improve customer service, The Solid Waste Disposal Authority of Baldwin County made the transition to National Cart Services (NCS) – a dedicated garbage cart management firm – effective October 1, 2025.
鈥淩esidents today expect the same level of speed and convenience they get from Amazon and other everyday service delivery providers,鈥� says Terri Graham, CEO of the Solid Waste Disposal Authority of Baldwin County. 鈥淭his service model is about meeting those expectations while preparing for what鈥檚 coming next in our industry. We realize cart management is a critical component of our operations. SWDA has seen a 42% growth in residential customers in the last 15 years.聽 Ensuring we maintain exceptional customer service is critical to our mission.聽 Allowing National Cart Services to partner with SWDA helps us diversify our operations and more strategically align our resources.鈥�
Why Unbundling Matters
Since the introduction of plastic carts in the late 1980鈥檚, waste collection and cart management typically have been bundled together and managed by the residential collection service provider. But NCS sees inherent flaws with this approach, as carts aren鈥檛 a hauler鈥檚 core business and often are not a high priority, so service and innovation potentially suffer.
By unbundling cart management and waste collection services, SWDA is ensuring it is focused on current operations and its newest mission – providing recycling services to all citizens in Baldwin County.聽 Supporting the Baldwin County Commission鈥檚 Strategic Plan of Protecting our Natural Resources, SWDA was charged with constructing and operating a Material Recovery Facility, six (6) CHaRM sites (Center for Hard to Recycle Material) and providing curbside recycling to more than 80,000 Baldwin County residents. This new service opportunity for SWDA created the perfect opportunity for NCS to partner with SWDA and provide dedicated resources to cart management. Outsourcing non-core functions to specialized providers is how companies like Apple, which has never manufactured a smartphone, optimizes value for its customers.
But this shift is more than operational efficiency. It鈥檚 about treating carts as critical infrastructure: assets that need oversight, tracking, lifecycle planning, and a system designed to maximize their use.
Leading the Industry Transformation
SWDA鈥檚 innovative approach is part of a larger trend redefining how municipalities including Ft. Worth, Texas and Hillsborough County, Florida think about solid waste and recycling collection operations. Communities and private haulers that embrace the new innovative and unbundled model not only deliver higher levels of customer service, but will also reduce costs in the face of rising cost pressures on collection and disposal expenses.
鈥淚n my opinion, this isn鈥檛 just a short term or one-off solution,鈥� says Graham. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the approach that will soon become the common practice in our industry. By taking this step today, SWDA is making sure we鈥檙e not reacting to change 鈥� we鈥檙e leading it.鈥�
Preparing for Tomorrow鈥檚 Waste Streams
As recycling programs expand into separate food and yard waste streams and multi-stream recycling takes hold, the proliferation of carts will follow and the complexity of managing these assets will only grow. And at $60 for a 95-gallon cart, the costs of mismanagement quickly become unsustainable.
鈥淢anaging multiple cart types efficiently requires a dedicated system and a completely different operating model, not something bolted onto collection by default,鈥� says Dave Piejak, President & CEO of NCS. 鈥淲e鈥檝e built NCS to manage this complexity today so that Baldwin County is ready for tomorrow.鈥�