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Steamboat Springs — Trash removal is a competitive business in Routt County, and Old West Sanitation is digging for a larger piece of the heap.

The Craig-based company already has customers across the Yampa Valley, owner Benjie Berg said. He hopes to gain more residential clients.

The company has been distributing fliers and advertising throughout Steamboat Springs.

"We've been actually doing Routt County and Moffat County for almost seven years, so we've got quite a few customers in Steamboat," Berg said. "I think word of mouth is getting around, and we're getting more customers."

Other trash service providers said they didn't mind the amplified competition.

Steve and Kay Weinland run Aces High Services, a trash-removal business, and Royal Flush Industries, which provides portable toilets.

"It's quite competitive, but that's not a bad thing," Steve Weinland said. "I don't sit and worry a lot about competition. We're known by the customers we keep, as far as I'm concerned."

His company works to keep customers by getting the job done effectively and on time, he said.

But a decline in construction projects across the valley has caused a slowdown, Weinland said. A good part of Aces High's business involved hauling trash from building projects. The past year has been a challenge, but the company is doing fine, Weinland said.

He said he started the business in 2001 and has had good growth since.

"We also have Royal Flush Industries, which is the portable toilet business that really complements the trash business," Weinland said.

The city of Steamboat Springs doesn't have a franchise agreement for trash collection, Deputy City Manager Wendy DuBord said. Residents can use whatever service they like, as long as it meets city ordinances.

Waste Management provides much of the local service, though spokeswoman Melissa Kolwaite said the company didn't release information about market share. She said the company didn't have an opinion about Old West Sanitation's marketing campaign. Houston-based Waste Management has been in Colorado since the 1970s.

Kolwaite acknowledged that competition was intense for garbage collectors.

"I think it's just the nature of the business," she said. "There's a lot of small to large haulers that are involved in the industry, which makes it more competitive."

The costs also contribute to the competition, Berg said.

"It's a fairly expensive business," he said. "You've got some costs that's not really controlled by you, the landfill and everything. : Our goal is to give the very best service we can at an affordable price."

Also, trash collection companies are going for the same group of people.

"You've got a fixed amount of people you're advertising to, and everyone's fighting for the same customers," Berg said.

Twin Enviro Services also provides trash service, said David Epstein, vice president and general manager at Twin Enviro. Company owner Les Liman founded Downhill Pickup in the early 1970s, which Epstein said was the first trash pickup service in Steamboat. That sold to Waste Management in 1984, Epstein said.

Berg said commercial collection has slowed down but that, that isn't why his company upped its advertising.

"We were kind of set on doing residential from outset," he said.