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GREENSBORO — By the March 2010 deadline, the city will have more ideas for how to deal with its trash.

The City Council decided Tuesday to continue its plan to accept proposals from companies on how to deal with the waste.

The decision was against the recommendation of City Manager Rashad Young , who suggested the city first do a request for qualifications from companies and then select a particular disposal option.

Councilman Mike Barber , who is not seeking re-election next week, pushed his colleagues to stay the course.

“It also will shorten the process,” he said in the Tuesday council briefing. “And we struggle to get things done in a pace that really makes sense.”

The trash debate was prompted last year by Barber’s concerns that the city had wasted money by closing the White Street Landfill to household waste at the request of people living nearby.

Greensboro ships its garbage to an out-of-county landfill.

In recent months, various groups have approached council members with their ideas for new technology projects or for using the White Street landfill in alternative ways.

Now, those companies and others have until March 1 to formally tell the city how it should dispose of its trash.

The city’s request for proposals will not specify what approaches are acceptable. But the waste proposals must use a proven technology with specific performance guarantees and must meet state environmental requirements.

Companies also must show they have the financial backing and skills to run the operation.

The plans must include a way to engage the neighbors, Deputy City Manager Bob Morgan said.

Cico LLC, a group led by Bob Mays , asked the City Council to issue the request for proposals. On Tuesday, he gave City Council members a hint of Cico’s plans. The group is recommending a composting process that would produce gas and a shredded material that can be used as fuel.

Up to $1 million of proceeds from the operation would go to a nonprofit organization devoted to improving east Greensboro, Mays said.

Contact Amanda Lehmert at 373-7075 or amanda.lehmert@news-record.com