Waste haulers putting in bids for Kent garbage contract

City staff soon will sort through proposals from five companies that want to earn Kent’s next garbage and recycling services contract.

Allied Waste, CleanScapes, Greenwaste Recovery, Waste Connections and Waste Management are expected to submit proposals to the city by Sept. 3 for a contract to start in April 2011.

Allied Waste, Waste Connections and Waste Management are large, multi-state companies that serve millions of customers. Greenwaste serves several California cities while CleanScapes just recently received garbage-collection contracts in Shoreline and Seattle.

Exact changes in garbage rates and services for residents and business owners won’t be known until after the proposals are reviewed and the City Council awards a new contract in early 2010.

The city has 16,200 single-family customers, 270 multi-family customers and 2,100 commercial customers.

City staff has asked the companies to submit rate plans that could include weekly recycling and yard-waste pickup, rather than every other week; one rate for garbage, recycling and yard waste rather than the current separate rate for yard waste; and changing garbage pickup to every other week from once a week if enough items are recycled.

“We’re trying to find the best service for the best price,” said Kelly Peterson, city environmental conservation supervisor, who oversees the garbage-contract bids. “We’re asking companies to tell us what they’ve got, what they can provide the city and at what rates.”

The city’s current contracts with Allied Waste and Waste Management expire on March 31, 2011. Under separate contracts with the city, Allied Waste provides residential garbage service while Waste Management serves commercial customers.

Plenty of paperwork needs to be sorted before city staff recommends a company next February to the City Council.

“People wonder why we would make a recommendation to Council a year away from when the contract expires,” Peterson said. “If we have a new contractor, there is a lot of planning involved, from new routes to scheduling and other issues.”

A six-to-nine-member committee of city staff, business representatives and homeowners will start to meet next month to review the proposals and help make a recommendation to the Council.

The city has requested companies to bid for handling both residential and commercial customers.

City staff also asked for the proposals to include the costs of a residential-only collection service as well as a commercial, multi-family only collection service.

The five companies expected to submit proposals are:

• Allied Waste Inc., based in Phoenix, Ariz., is the parent company of Kent-Meridian Disposal, Robanco, Sea-Tac Disposal and Eastside Disposal. The company recently merged with Republic Services and serves more than 13 million customers in 40 states and Puerto Rico.

• CleanScapes, based in Seattle, received its first municipal garbage contracts in the last two years with the city of Shoreline and portions of the city of Seattle. The company beat out Allied and Waste Management for the Seattle contract as well as Waste Management for the Shoreline contract.

• Greenwaste Recovery, based in San Jose, serves about a dozen cities in California, including San Jose, Burbank and Palo Alto.

• Waste Connections Inc., based in Folsom, Calif., serves about 1.5 million customers in 23 states, mainly in the Western and Southern states.

• Waste Management Inc., based in Houston, Texas, serves nearly 20 million customers in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.

Staff will consider proposals for a seven-year contract. with the possibility of two, two-year extensions as well as a four-year, nine-months contract with the possibility of two, two-year extensions.

“We want to consider a shorter contract because of all of the new technology (to increase recycling),” said Peterson, who added the city might also want the option to end a contract sooner than in seven years if things aren’t working out with whichever company gets the contract.

City officials want a company that offers the best services to reduce waste in order to keep the Cedar Hills Landfill in Maple Valley open longer. City garbage is transported to Cedar Hills. Once that landfill fills up, garbage would need to be taken to Oregon or Eastern Washington at a much higher price, Peterson said.

For more information about recycling in the city, go to www.kentrecycles.com or call Gina Hungerford, city conservation coordinator, at 253-856-5549.