A Belleville-based hauling company is suing Walgreens and its Illinois recycling company partner for over two years of unpaid invoices.
In a lawsuit filed with St. Louis County last week, Pallet Distribution and Hauling, LLC, through its attorney, claims that it has not been paid over $350,000 for picking up and transporting bales of cardboard.
According to the suit, Pallet Distribution was contracted by Walgreens and The Astor Company, a Chicago-based waste management company, to pick up bales of cardboard from 59 Walgreen stores in St. Louis County and parts of Illinois and take the collected cardboard to a recycling facility in Hazelwood.
Starting in 2020, Pallet Distribution agreed to retrieve cardboard twice a month from each store. Since 2021, all parties involved agreed that Pallet Distribution would be paid $150 a store, the lawsuit reads.
Walgreens and The Astor Company paid Pallet Distribution $164,700 toward invoices from March 2021 through May 2022. However, Pallet Distribution says that it has not gotten paid for work done from June 2022 through December 2024 and is owed $355,050.
Pallet Distribution said in the filed petition that it would usually take two weeks from when the company submitted an invoice to The Astor Company to receive a check from Walgreens. But, eventually the payments started to be delayed for greater periods of time.
A representative from The Astor Company confirmed that the company had received the invoices and Pallet Distribution would be paid. The Astor Company representative encouraged Pallet Distribution to continue the pick ups despite the delayed payments.
In August 2022, Pallet Distribution became aware that another service was picking up bales of cardboard at certain Walgreens stores. Soon after, representatives for The Astor Company and Walgreens stopped responding to calls and texts from Pallet Distribution.
Pallet Distribution is asking the court for $355,050 in addition to legal fees and interest from the invoices.
Neither the Astro Company nor Walgreens immediately responded to a request for comment.
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Hannah Wyman | Post-Dispatch
Retail Reporter
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