KSHB 41 reporter Rachel Henderson covers neighborhoods in Wyandotte and Leavenworth counties. Share your story idea with Rachel.
Residents in the Armourdale neighborhood in Kansas City, Kansas, say they want answers, not more delays when it comes to a decision on a waste solutions facility in their neighborhood.
The issue was on the Unified Government's planning commission agenda on Monday, but no action was taken because Reworld asked for a 60-day extension.
“All we’ve ever had is extensions, extensions,” said Betty Paz, a longtime Armourdale resident who lives across the street from the proposed site. “We don’t even have a chance to fight this…like last night. I always thought [the commissioners] worked for the residents in the community. That didn’t make any difference either.”
Reworld, a New Jersey-based waste solutions company, wants a special use permit from the UG to operate a materials processing and transfer facility (MPF) at 808 South 14th St. That part of the area is already a heavy industrial district.
“They need to go to a place where it’s all industrial,” Paz said. “Not half families, not neighborhoods just across the street.”
According to Reworld, the facility will process and transfer non-hazardous waste and recyclables from local businesses that include industrial and commercial facilities and covert them into useable products or materials. The facility can also prepare them for recycling, energy recovery, or final off-site disposal.
The company also has plans to install a wastewater pre-treatment system to prepare non-hazardous industrial waters to be sent to the local wastewater treatment plant for final treatment.
“What they do and the concept of their business is just not a good fit for this neighborhood or this community,” said Katie Rico, a lifelong Wyandotte County resident who lives less than a mile from the site in the Argentine neighborhood.
KSHB 41 reporter Alyssa Jackson spoke with Rico in May when Rico's neighborhood experienced extreme flooding.
Rico’s still waiting on answers on what caused that flooding and says the Reworld delays create a similar pattern.
“The most vulnerable, our elderly population and our children, are at stake,” Rico said.
Reworld is adamant it will only accept and process non-hazardous recyclables inside its facility.
Those materials include paper, cardboard, plastic, coolants, latex paints, soaps and detergents.
The company claims it will not accept biomedical wastes, radioactive wastes, food waste and other readily degradable wastes or any types of batteries.
KSHB 41 reached out to Reworld on Tuesday, and a spokesperson sent KSHB 41 a statement:
"Reworld™ requested additional time from the Planning Commission to complete a comprehensive traffic study and an independent environmental and community impact report. These studies, which go beyond what the City requires, will provide clear third-party data to help address questions raised by residents and commissioners and confirm that the facility will not adversely affect the community."
"We take community concerns seriously. The proposed Materials Processing Facility (MPF) will only accept non-hazardous materials, will be regulated at the local, state, and federal levels, and is being designed to operate safely and responsibly. Reworld is committed to engaging openly with residents and ensuring that the facility brings value to the community without adverse impacts."
For Paz, Armourdale is where she's built a life for 50 years.
“We can’t pick up and leave,” Paz said. “We’re stuck here. We’re not going to give up houses we’ve had most of our lives.”
She says this is the first community issue that’s compelled her to speak out.
“It scares me,” Paz said. “It actually does scare me.”
Paz’s bright red home sits on the corner of a busy roadway for trucks.
“We have a lot of trucks that already go by, we don't need 30 more,” Paz said while laughing. “Sometimes they hit that corner, and my whole house shakes.”
She knows that comes with the neighborhood, but that doesn’t mean she wants more.
“It’s part of our life,” Paz said. “We’re used to living next to different industries, but not like this.”
That’s one of the reasons why she opposes Reworld operating a facility in Armourdale.
“When you look on the internet, there’s so many bad stories about them,” Paz said. “About odors, about fires, about the toxins that come out in the air.”
Reworld rebranded its name from Covanta in 2024
That raised eyebrows from residents like Paz, who were already weary of the company's track record in other cities.
KSHB 41 reached out to Reworld on Tuesday, and a spokesperson shared information from a handout the company passed out at a July neighborhood meeting.
“We changed our name because we have evolved from primarily a Waste-to-Energy company to a diversified sustainable solutions company. Over the last five years, we have grown from 65 to nearly 100 locations. Our strategy involves focusing on converting waste/materials into valuable resources through advanced technologies enabling the reduction, efficient reuse, recycling, and recovery of diverse waste streams…Overall, we rebranded to reflect our new, broader mission and capabilities. This change from Covanta to our new name shows our progress and commitment to sustainability.”
Paz says further distrust comes from Reworld’s communication — or lack thereof — during this process.
Reword says its outreach has spanned across three dates: a July 24 Armourdale Renewal Association (ARA) meeting, a July 28 public meeting hosted by the company’s engineering partner and the August 11 city planning commission meeting.
“They had one community meeting that was held on a workday and on Minnesota Avenue,” Rico said in response to a question about Reworld’s presence.
Neighbors say not every resident recalls receiving a notice for the July 28 meeting.
Neighborhood residents are concerned about the facility’s proximity to the local elementary school.
“It's extremely concerning for the community that there would be the possibility of additional contamination,” Rico said. “The most vulnerable, our elderly population and our children are at stake.”
Paz feels Armourdale’s Hispanic population and its low-income population make it a target because not every resident feels comfortable speaking out publicly.
“We’re very low income, so why choose here?” Paz said.
KSHB 41 visited the exterior of the facility Tuesday, which shares a lot with three other industrial entities.
Though KSHB 41 did not see any people on Reword’s property, Paz says she and her granddaughter have taken photos of what appears to be activity and progress on that property.
“They almost act like they have a done deal, that’s how I feel,” Paz said.
They also have taken photos of what truck traffic has already done to the roads in the community.
Reworld addressed concerns about activity on the property in a statement Wednesday morning:
"Reworld signed the lease for 1413 Osage Avenue in Kansas City in February of 2025. We only recently gained access to the property as the previous tenant officially vacated at the end of August. Reworld has not begun any activity or operations on the property."
The next hearing is scheduled for November.
Both Rico and Paz say they plan to continue the fight to keep the company out of their neighborhood, no matter how difficult things get.
“It seems like they’re getting way ahead and we’re just falling farther and farther behind,” Paz said. “Sometimes I just feel like we're fighting a losing battle.”
