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SUBJECT/TITLE:Contract with Recology King County for Garbage, Recyclables,
and Compostables Service
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Refer to Utilities Committee
DEPARTMENT: Public Works
STAFF CONTACT: Meara Heubach, Solid Waste Program
Manager
EXT.: 7389
This contract will be funded by customer solid waste rates. The projected overall increase in customer
rates for enhanced services under a new contract with Recology King County is estimated at 15%, which is
11 percentage points greater than projected customer rates under a contract extension with Republic
Services. See rate details in the attached issue paper.
The City of Renton’s ten-year waste collection contract with Republic Services expires on March 31, 2027.
In June 2025, the city issued a request-for-proposals (RFP) to procure a new ten-year solid waste services
contract through a competitive process. In response to the RFP, the city received five responsive proposals
from potential service providers. Upon conclusion of the proposal evaluation process, city staff selected
Recology King County (“Recology”) as the preferred service provider. Staff negotiated with Recology over
ten meetings and have finalized a contract.
Should the city council
1. Approve the proposed final contract for enhanced garbage, recyclables, and compostables
services with Recology and authorize the Mayor to execute the final contract (as recommended by
staff)?
2. Extend the current contract with Republic Services by exercising one of the contract’s extensions
(not to exceed two years)?
3. Reject all proposals and instruct staff to issue a new RFP?
The contract with Recology would provide residential and commercial garbage, recyclables, and
compostables collection as well as processing and marketing of collected recyclables and compostables.
Recology would start providing waste collection services on April 1, 2027, the day after collection services
with Republic Services would end. Recology would provide waste services through March 31, 2027, unless
the city extended the contract up to two additional years. Recology would be compensated at the rates set
in the contract, which would be adjusted annually based on a consumer price index. The contractor’s total
revenue over the 10-year term of the contract is projected to be $241,000,000.
Recology was selected following a comprehensive and competitive procurement process.
Recology is a West Coast-based waste services provider that provides collection services to over 160,000
residential and 15,000 commercial customers in King County.
City Council Regular Meeting
FISCAL IMPACT SUMMARY
SUMMARY OF ACTION
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The attached issue paper provides more details about how and why this contract was procured, which
services the contract offers, and how the contract would impact customer solid waste rates.
Authorize the mayor and city clerk to execute the agreement with Recology King County for the projected
amount of $241,000,000 for garbage, recyclables, and compostables services from April 1, 2027, through
March 31, 2037.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION
DATE:February 23, 2026
TO:Ruth Pérez, City Council President
Members of the Renton City Council
CC:Armondo Pavone, Mayor
Ed VanValey, Chief Administrative Officer
FROM:Martin Pastucha, Public Works Administrator
STAFF CONTACT:Meara Heubach, Solid Waste Program Manager
SUBJECT:Approval of Next Garbage, Recyclables, and
Compostables Service Contract
ISSUE
The City of Renton’s ten-year solid waste services contract with Republic Services
expires on March 31, 2027. In June 2025, the city issued a request-for-proposals (RFP)
to procure a new ten-year solid waste services contract through a competitive process.
In response to the RFP, the city received five responsive proposals from potential
service providers. Upon conclusion of the proposal evaluation process, city staff selected
Recology King County (“Recology”) as the preferred service provider. Staff negotiated
with Recology over ten meetings and have finalized a contract that would provide waste
services starting on April 1, 2027.
Should the city council
1. Approve the proposed final contract for enhanced garbage, recyclables, and
compostables service with Recology and authorize the mayor to execute the final
contract (as recommended by staff)?
2. Extend the current contract with Republic Services by exercising one of the
contract’s extensions (not to exceed two years)?
3. Reject all proposals and instruct staff to issue a new RFP?
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RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommend that Renton City Council approves the garbage, recyclables, and
compostables service contract with Recology and authorizes the Mayor to execute the
contract.
BACKGROUND
Upon the conclusion of a competitive RFP contract procurement process in 2016, the
city awarded a ten-year comprehensive garbage, recyclables, and compostables
services contract to Republic Services. The contract with Republic Services expires on
March 31, 2027. The city, at its sole option, may extend the contract twice in increments
of up to two years each.
City staff and leadership elected to forego extending the contract with Republic Services
and proceed with a competitive RFP process due to several factors:
The city’s requirement to comply with an unfunded state mandate requiring the
standardization of waste cart colors across the state and the separation of food
waste from garbage for all commercial customers.
An opportunity to procure and offer new state-of-the-art and innovative services
to Renton’s residents and businesses coupled with long-term rate affordability,
value, and service reliability.
An opportunity to integrate new contractual provisions and services to support
and implement the goals and strategies in the city’s draft Zero Waste Plan.
Republic Services’ failure to substantially meet the city’s contract performance
expectations, fully comply with the terms and conditions of its contract, and fulfill
commitments made to the city. Performance has been particularly poor in the
following areas, as the city’s Solid Waste Program Manager presented to the City
Council Committee of the Whole on January 26, 2026:
Education and Outreach
o Republic Services is required to visit or support 100% of multifamily sites
per year and 100% of commercial sites every two years. Republic
Services has provided less than 5% of the required multifamily support
and less than 8% of the required commercial support.
o Republic Services has failed to provide timely and accurate basic
education, such as annual residential guidelines. For the past three years,
these guidelines have been late, had inaccurate key information, or been
sent to the wrong customers.
Community Involvement
o Republic Services has not fulfilled its commitment to partner with
community organizations via cash and in-kind contributions and to work
alongside volunteers in Renton. In the first three years of the contract,
Republic Services made efforts to follow through on this commitment by
sponsoring and providing outreach at four to seven community events per
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year. However, they have shown almost no such support in the last five years.
Communication and Responsiveness to the City
o Republic Services has been slow to deliver upon many simple and
complicated requests from the city. For instance, when city staff
requested Republic Services update incorrect information on their website
about the cost of special item recycling, it took six requests from staff and
four months for Republic Services to update their website. In another
instance, city staff requested (in November 2024) that Republic Services
review and approve updates to their inclement weather plan for waste
collection. Over a year later, and with seven additional requests from the
city, Republic Services approved the 2025 updates to the plan in
February 2026.
Strike Response and Recovery
o The city’s residents and businesses have experienced three driver strikes
during the contract. During this period, no other local waste collection
providers had any strikes.
o During the most recent 12-day strike in July 2025, Renton received
disproportionately lower service compared to other cities served by
Republic Services. Renton received the fewest waste-collection events of
cities of similar size; Renton was the last city to receive customer credits;
and the city only recently received a partial payment of $180,000 for the
$270,000 in strike-related performance fees that the city assessed to
Republic Services.
RFP PROCESS
Community Survey Summary
In advance of releasing the RFP, city staff conducted an online, 17-question community
survey of single-family residents about their service preferences for the city’s next waste
services contract. The city released the survey in April using the Your Voice Renton
platform and received 244 responses. Key responses included residents’ desire for
reliable service and affordable rates; general satisfaction with the relative affordability of
every-other-week garbage and recycling collection; majority support of EV collection
vehicles; significant support of education and cart tagging tactics to reduce recycling
contamination; strong support for continuing to offer the Clean Sweep program and the
collection of unlimited quantities of recyclables and yard waste; and a general interest in
potential new no-cost curbside collection services such as small electronics, expanded
polystyrene (Styrofoam™), and textiles.
Industry Review Process
Once the draft RFP and contract were complete, prospective proposers were given the
opportunity to participate in an industry review process. This inclusive process is unique
to solid waste contract procurements and offers service providers in the solid waste
industry the opportunity to ask questions about, submit comments on, and request
changes to the pre-release drafts of the RFP and waste services contract. In response, a
city may clarify, revise, add to, or delete contract terms and provisions in advance of the
official release of the RFP to ensure the final RFP documents are clear, fair, and
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attractive to all potential service providers. The city released the draft RFP and contract
in May 2025 and received 69 comments from prospective providers. When the RFP was
officially released in June 2025, the city included responses to all 69 comments and
incorporated feedback from some of the comments into the draft contract.
RFP Priorities
The following priorities were stated in the final RFP. They were strictly observed and
woven into all elements of the contract procurement process:
1. Maintain robust and reliable services
2. Minimize customer rate increases
3. Provide convenient customer interactions
4. Support strategies in the city’s draft Zero Waste Plan
5. Foster a strong city and contractor partnership
6. Conduct a fair, open, transparent, and competitive RFP process
RFP Response
The full RFP was released on June 18, 2025. Potential proposers were offered two
additional opportunities (in July and August) to submit written comments and questions
before the due date for submitting proposals. The city received and submitted written
responses to 182 questions and comments during that time.
The proposal due date was September 4, 2025. On this date, the city received five
responsive proposals from the following service providers:
FCC Environmental Services
Recology King County
Republic Services
Sound Sustainable
WM (Waste Management)
PROPOSAL EVALUATION PROCESS
As stated in the RFP, proposals were scored on a 100-point system, with up to 45 points
for qualitative elements and up to 55 points for the rate proposals.
Proposal Evaluation Team
The team charged with evaluating and scoring the qualitative elements of the proposals
consisted of four city staff from Public Works and Finance. All evaluation team members
signed an evaluation committee member statement in which members attested to having
no conflicts of interest and committed to objectivity, confidentiality, and diligence to
ensure the integrity of the evaluation process.
The staff evaluation team was supported by consultant Hans Van Dusen, who provided
contract preparation services, advisory support, and a review of wholesale base rate
proposals. Another consultant, Sound Resource Management Group, provided
preliminary retail rate analyses as well as contract review. The combined local, county,
and state government work experience of the six-member team is 99 years, with 139
years of work experience in the solid waste industry, from providing on-the-street
operational support to procuring and managing contracts.
Qualitative Evaluations (45 points)
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Proposers could receive up to 45 points for the following elements of their proposals:
20 points for proposed and prior operational and environmental performance;
15 points for proposed and prior customer support and diversion approach; and
10 points for pricing, experience, and innovation of proposed alternatives and
variations.
Activities of the evaluation team included the following:
Individual review and scoring of each proposal.
11 site visits to proposers’ operations centers, recycling processing facilities, and
compost processers as well as 1 virtual site visit to one proposer’s operations
facility.
In-person interviews of all proposer teams.
Reference checks with 13 jurisdictions or companies served by the proposers.
The rating criteria used by the evaluation team included the following:
Operations (base of operations, fleet management, environmental aspects,
containers, route management, and missed pick up response).
Recycling and Composting Operations (contamination reduction work, recycling
and composting facilities, and commodity markets).
Local Management and Experience (operational experience, staff qualifications,
prior litigation, proposed subcontractors, and support of own staff).
Customer and Billing Support (customer support options, call center staffing and
performance, billing support, transition operations, and customer outreach).
Recycling and Composting Support (special item recycling, recycling diversion
performance, outreach staffing, and strategies to support the city’s draft Zero
Waste Plan).
* It is important to note that evaluation team members were not allowed to view rate
proposals before or during their qualitative review process to avoid introducing bias into
the qualitative scoring.
Rate Proposal Evaluations (55 points)
Service providers submitted their proposed wholesale contractor rates in a standardized
format. Rate proposals included rates for providing all base collection services identified
in the contract as well as pricing on three alternative services for staff to consider adding
to the base contract: changing single-family garbage and compostables carts to meet
the new state requirements for waste cart colors, purchasing and deploying four battery
electric collection vehicles, and shifting to weekly single-family recycling service. During
the proposal evaluation process, proposers were offered the opportunity to reduce their
initial pricing to further minimize rate impacts to customers. Three proposers submitted
lower rate proposals, with Republic Services and WM electing to decline. The proposer
with the lowest overall annual revenue requirement, exclusive of the alternatives,
received the maximum of 55 points. Points for the other four proposals were adjusted
and awarded as a relative percentage of the lowest pricing proposal.
Table 1 below summarizes the proposal scores. Rate increases shown in the table were
calculated as increases relative to Republic Services’ 2026 wholesale rates in the
current waste services contract.
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Table 1: Proposal Scoring Summary
Overall
Ranking Proposer Qualitative
Points
Rates Points, Annual
Revenue
Requirements (in
2026$), Wholesale
Rate Increases (%)
Total Score
53.7 points
$18.2M*1 Recology 38.2
points 18%
91.9
points
52.3 points
$18.7M2Sound Sustainable 35.6
points 22%%
87.9
points
55 points
$17.8M3Republic Services 25.4
points 16%%
80.4
points
39.3 points
$24.9M4FCC
Environmental Services
31.7
points 62%%
71
points
32 points
$30.6M5WM
(Waste Management)
37.1
points 99%
69.1
points
*The Recology rates presented in this table do not reflect the lower final negotiated rates
discussed later in this issue paper.
While Republic Services’ base rates proposal was the lowest by a slight margin, its low
qualitative score (the lowest of all five proposers) was a serious concern of the proposal
evaluation team and is considered a key predictor of Republic Services’ future
performance under an extension or a new contract. Coupled with Republic Services’
demonstrated past poor performance in Renton, the low qualitative score further
validated staff’s recommendation not to extend Republic Services’ contract and to
instead recommend award of a new contract to Recology.
FINAL CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS AND RATES
Based upon the qualitative evaluation and final rates divulged upon the conclusion of the
qualitative evaluation process, all members of the evaluation team recommended
Recology as the preferred solid waste services provider.
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More about Recology
Recology is a 100% employee-owned company that provides solid waste services to 12
cities in the region with over 160,000 residential and 15,000 commercial customers.
Recology has an operations facility and recycling center in south Seattle and will
subcontract with Cedar Grove Composting to process Renton’s organic materials. Over
the past 17 years, Recology has successfully conducted 19 contract implementations
and renewals. Recology has separated itself from its competition through demonstrated
excellence in operations, sustainability, education and outreach, and dedicated
involvement in the communities Recology serves.
Contract Negotiations
After completing the evaluation process, staff briefed the Mayor and informed City
Council of the recommended finalist. In November, contract and rates negotiations
began with Recology. The negotiation team consisted of the Public Works Administrator,
the Solid Waste Program Manager, a Sustainability Specialist, and the city’s contract
procurement consultant. Over the course of ten negotiation meetings, the city’s
negotiation team and representatives from Recology collaborated to revise, clarify, and
add contract terms and services; incorporate into the final contract all commitments
made by Recology in its submitted proposal; negotiate terms for the purchase of new
residential garbage and compostables carts; develop an option to purchase and deploy
two residential battery election collection vehicles by 2031; strengthen work stoppage
protections and customer credit protocols; and finalize the wholesale rates.
Final Wholesale Contractor Rates
During final contract negotiations, Recology’s annual wholesale revenue requirement
(shown in Table 1) was reduced by $260,000 per year. Recology’s annual wholesale
revenue requirement (projected for 2026) decreased to $17.9M, which is 16% more than
Republic Services’ current 2026 wholesale revenue requirement and within 1% of
Republic Services’ proposed wholesale revenue requirement under a new contract.
Table 2 below shows the average wholesale rate increases resulting from recent
municipal contract procurements in local cities that set their own solid waste rates. The
final column in the table represents the average wholesale rate increases across all
customer sectors. Some cities experienced significant wholesale rate increases, largely
linked to inflationary rises in labor costs, goods and services, and fuel. Renton’s final
negotiated wholesale rate increase of 16% is the lowest achieved since 2021. It is
important to note that a true side-by-side comparison of solid waste rate increases
between cities is inherently challenging to achieve due to a variety of factors, most
notably the differences in services provided.
Table 2: Average Wholesale Rate Increases in Recent King County
Procurements
City Year Awarded Contractor Average Wholesale Rate Increase
(%)
City of Renton 2026^Recology 16%
City of Auburn 2021 Waste Management 48%
City of Kirkland 2022 Waste Management 53%
^ Contract award depends on direction from city council
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Preliminary 2027 Retail Rates
The retail rates billed to Renton’s residents and businesses are adopted on a biannual
basis by the Renton City Council and are distinct from the wholesale rates the city pays
each month to the contractor for solid waste collection services. Several important
factors that will influence the final 2027 retail rates are unknown and have been
estimated to calculate the preliminary retail rates. These unknown factors include
increases in the 2027 King County per ton disposal fee; the 2027-2028 biennial
Sustainability and Solid Waste Section operating and interfund budget; the 2027 annual
percentage increase in the consumer price index (CPI-W); and the scale of cross
subsides between service sectors. Each of these factors were estimated and included in
the projected 2027 retail rate increases shown below in Table 3. The projected 2027
retail rate increases are relative to the 2026 retail rates and are projected and
preliminary and subject to change. Staff will calculate the final proposed 2027-2028 retail
rates through a detailed rate analysis in fall 2026 and will present a proposed rate
ordinance for the city council’s review and adoption in October as part of the 2027-2028
budget adoption.
Table 3 shows the difference in the overall projected retail rate increases between
extending the city’s current contract with Republic Services or approving a new contract
with Recology. Under an extension, 2027 retail rates are projected to increase by 4.0%
on average. If new single-family garbage and compostables carts are provided, as
recommended, 2027 retail rates are projected to increase by 15.4% on average under a
new contract with Recology. Contracting with Recology for enhanced services and
replacing the single-family carts that do not match state requirements equates to a 11.4
percentage point increase over extending Republic Services’ contract.
Table 3: Projected 2027 Retail Rate Increases (%)
Sector
2027
Republic
Services
(extending
current contract)
2027
Recology
(new contract)
Increase
(percentage points
[pp])
Single-Family Residential +4.6%
+18.7%
(+17.0% w/o new
carts)
+14.1 pp
(12.4 pp w/o new carts)
Multifamily/Commercial
(carts and 1-8 yard containers)+3.5%+11.5%+8.0 pp
Drop Box*
(10-40 yard containers)+3.4%+17.7%**+14.3 pp
AVERAGE +4.0%
+15.4%
(+14.5% w/o new
carts)
+11.4 pp
(10.5 pp w/o new carts)
* Drop box retail rates do not include the cost of garbage disposal. Garbage disposal can
be 50-90% of bills for drop box services.
** One of the drivers of the increase in drop box rates is the requirement under the
Recology contract for solid covers on all drop boxes. Under the current Republic
Services contract, solid covers are optional and cost $102.81 per month (in 2026 $).
Table 4 below shows estimates of how much more the average Renton single-family,
multifamily, and commercial customer may pay per month under a new contract with
Recology.
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Table 4: Projected 2027 Monthly Retail Rate Increases
Sector Service Level 2027
(Republic)
2027
(Recology)Increase (Month)Increase
(Year)
Single-
Family
35-gallon cart
(every other
week)
$33.48 $37.94 $4.46
(13% increase)$53.52
Multifamily 35-gallon cart
(weekly)$41.11 $44.31 $3.20
(8% increase)$38.40
Commercial 4-yard container
(1x week)$477.75 $515.01 $37.26
(8% increase)$447.12
COLLECTION SERVICES DISCUSSION
New Services and Contractual Provisions
Through the RFP process and final contract negotiations, city staff were able to secure a
package of significant, meaningful, and attractive new services and contract provisions
that offer affordability, value, service reliability, and enhanced customer service to the
city and its residents and businesses. Below are selected highlights of the over 60 new
services and contract provisions that would be in effect on April 1, 2027. Additional new
services and provisions are detailed in Attachment A to this issue paper. New service
highlights include the following:
A new fleet of 21 renewable natural gas-powered (RNG) collection vehicles
An all-electric fleet of contractor support and cart delivery vehicles
An option to purchase and deploy two electric collection vehicles by 2031
A return to city billing for solid waste services
Implementation of a state requirement to standardize garbage and compostables
cart colors
Two full-time Waste Zero Specialists dedicated to Renton
Sunday call center hours
Improved strike recovery provisions
Retained Services and Contractual Provisions
Numerous services and contractual provisions were retained from Renton’s current
contract and would continue to be offered, including the following:
Every-other-week residential garbage and recycling collection with weekly
compostables collection
Weekly “premium” residential garbage collection
Weekly year-round yard waste collection
Unlimited quantities of recyclables and yard waste
Variable rates and container sizes
Hiring preference to drivers displaced and not retained by Republic Services with
the transfer of driver pay and benefit accrual rates
Direct payment of disposal fees to King County
Clean Sweep Program for residential customers
No-cost waste collection services to city facilities and street containers
On-call collection of bulky waste and special recyclables
Holiday tree collection for single-family and multifamily residents
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Deleted Services and Contractual Provisions
Some curbside recycling services were removed from the new contract to reduce costs
and avoid duplication of services already offered to residents for low or no cost at city or
Recology store drop-off locations, through the private sector, or through expanded
producer responsibility (EPR) programs. These services include curbside collection of
compact fluorescent bulbs and tubes, household batteries, and plastic bags and film.
There are two other non-essential services that are offered in the current waste services
contract but would have added additional costs and were therefore excluded from the
new contract:
Procuring and installing up to 20 new sidewalk-mounted public garbage or
recycling containers.
Providing no-cost collection of up to 12 drop-box containers per year to support
abatement efforts.
CITY COUNCIL COMMUNICATION
The city council has been briefed on the contract procurement process throughout all
phases of the project. The table below represents all major staff touchpoints with the city
council to date.
Council Body Action/Task Date
Committee of the Whole Introduction to the procurement process June 2, 2025
Utilities Committee Update on the procurement process July 7, 2025
City Council
Communication Provided names of five proposers September 8,
2025
City Council
Communication
Provided summary of proposal evaluation and
name of selected finalist (Recology)October 27, 2025
Utilities Committee Proposal evaluation overview December 1, 2025
Committee of the Whole Procurement process summary January 26, 2026
City Council Meeting Introduction of final contract with Recology and
referral to Utilities Committee February 23, 2026
Utilities Committee Proposal evaluation overview March 2, 2026
City Council Meeting
City council action to award contract to
Recology or provide alternative direction to
staff
March 2, 2026
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IMPLEMENTATION AND COMMUNICATIONS PLAN
If council approves the proposed contract with Recology, Recology will immediately
order Renton’s new fleet of collection vehicles. Manufacturing the collection vehicles will
likely take at least eight months, with additional time needed to deliver, test, and install
software on the trucks, so ordering the fleet vehicles is the first step in implementing the
contract. Within 90 days of executing the contract, Recology will also develop and
submit to the city a Transition and Implementation Plan, which will include specific
deadlines for tasks such as developing residential routes, ordering new carts, uploading
customer data from Republic Services, and mailing welcome packets to customers.
At least 120 calendar days before the start of the contract, all Republic Services drivers
currently serving city collection routes will be provided the opportunity to apply for driver
positions at Recology through Recology’s website. Recology will notify the two
Teamsters locals that contract with Republic Services to ensure Republic Services’
drivers are made aware of the hiring opportunity. Driver pay and benefit accrual rates will
transfer to drivers’ new positions at Recology. Recology has also committed to informing
the city of how many drivers from Republic Services’ Renton routes followed their work
to Recology.
Throughout the transition and implementation period, city staff from Public Works,
Finance, and Communications will work together to develop internal operating plans for
city billing of waste services as well as robust plans for communicating the service
changes to all customers. City staff will regularly brief city council on the status of
customer communications and Recology’s service transition work.
Attachment A: New Contract Services and Provisions
Category Service/Provision Details
Cost Consumer Price Index Annual CPI percentage increase in contractor rates capped at 6%
(current Republic Services contract caps CPI increase at 8%)
Cost Recycling and Organics
Costs
Separate unembedded contractor rates for recycling and compostables
collection. This lowers state refuse tax obligation and aids in calculating
future Recycling Reform Act reimbursements.
Customer Service City Billing Customers will be billed monthly by the city for waste collection services
Customer Service Call Center
Call center hours offered on Sundays, 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM. Call center
staff live locally and can connect customers to interpreters and a relay
service for hearing-impaired customers.
Customer Service Expanded Special Item
Recycling
Added no-cost recycling collection of textiles and small electronics.
Expanded special item recycling to multifamily residents.
Customer Service Recology Store Access
Residents provided access to Recology’s network of stores to drop off
difficult-to-recycle items such as Styrofoam, fluorescent bulbs/tubes,
and small propane cylinders at no cost
Customer Service Clean Sweep Clean Sweep offered to single-family customers year-round (added
January and February service)
Customer Service Missed Collections Allows performance fees and customer credits for three or more missed
collections at same service address in a six-month period
Customer Service Improved Inclement Weather
Response
To expedite recovery from extensive weather-related service
disruptions, Recology may suspend weekly compostables collection
and redirect those collection vehicles to collect garbage
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Attachment A: New Contract Services and Provisions
Category Service/Provision Details
Customer Service Second Recycling Cart Additional recycling cart available for nominal fee
Customer Service Improved
Communications
App-based messaging allowed. Contractor required to use automated
dialing services, app-based alerts, and/or texts to communicate holiday-
related service changes.
Customer Service Disabled Customer
Carry-out Service
Single-family customer applications for no-cost disabled carry out
service will be managed by city for consistency with other utility
discount programs
Customer Service Contractor Website
Website must be accessible to customers with impaired vision and
comply with Website Content Accessibility Guidelines. Time-sensitive
alerts must be posted on website within 3 hours.
Customer Service Customer Privacy Contractor shall not sell or provide customer information collected on its
website, mobile app, or other electronic media to third parties
Customer Service Responsiveness to City
During office hours, contractor must respond to questions from city
within 4 hours of city leaving or sending a message. If after office hours,
contractor must respond by noon on following business day.
Customer Service Appliance Collection No annual limitation on number of old appliances that may be collected
Education Waste Zero Specialist Two full-time contractor Waste Zero Specials dedicated to providing
education, outreach, and contamination monitoring services
Education Annual Service Guides
Contractor required to mail service guides to all residents and
commercial customers each year by January 1. Performance fees for
each day guides are late.
Education Special Events Contractor required to provide outreach at Renton River Days and up to
3 additional community events each year at no additional cost
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Attachment A: New Contract Services and Provisions
Category Service/Provision Details
Education Tote Bags Recycling tote bags provided to multifamily customers at no cost
Education Outreach Materials
Contractor provides flyers, stickers, signage, and door hangers. All
translated material required to be transcreated to capture the essence,
tone, and cultural nuances of the source content while adapting it to suit
the target audience's language, culture, and context. Required
translations/transcreations include Spanish and Vietnamese.
Education Performance Fee Contractor may be assessed a performance fee for failure to meet at
least 50% of multifamily and commercial outreach requirements
Education Reporting
Reported community engagement activities must be directly related to
community education and outreach and should not include attendance
at regional forums such as SCA or SWAC
Environment All Electric Support and
Delivery Vehicle Fleet
All electric support vehicles for operations staff, outreach staff, cart
deliveries, bulky waste collection, and special recycling collection
Environment Electric Route Trucks
Option to purchase and deploy two all-electric collection vehicles on
routes by 2031. Savings of $60k/year for length of contract by using two
older trucks in interim period.
Environment Cleaner Burning Gas All collection vehicles will be fueled by natural gas with a low carbon
intensity (50% or less of the state low-carbon standard)
Environment Recycling Markets
Domestic markets prioritized for recyclables. Plastics required to be
recycled in North America. Requirement to comply with Basel
Convention prohibiting the export of hazardous wastes. Destination
countries of recyclables must be reported.
Environment Spillage Reporting Contractor required to immediately clean up all spills and notify city spill
hotline and the Department of Ecology
Issue Paper - Approval of Next Garbage, Recyclables, and Compostables Service Contract
Page 15 of 16
Attachment A: New Contract Services and Provisions
Category Service/Provision Details
Environment Contamination Monitoring
and Education
Contractor required to inspect recycling and compostables containers
for contamination each year at all multifamily and commercial
properties. Contractor provides corrective support when contamination
observed.
Environment Recycled Content All educational materials required to be printed on 100% recycled paper
Environment Solid Drop Box Lids Requires solid lids on drop box containers (10 to 40-yard containers)
Environment Container Lids
Added performance fee for container lids that are not closed after
service is provided, particularly for lids pinned next to a wall or
enclosure
Environment Wildlife-Resistant Carts Residential wildlife-resistant carts available for an additional charge
Operations Route Collection Vehicles New fleet of 21 side-load residential, front-end load commercial, and
drop-box collection vehicles
Operations New Garbage and
Compostables Carts
New or reconditioned garbage carts(gray/black) and compostables
carts (green) to harmonize waste container colors within city, region,
and state
Operations Strikes
Includes same-week recovery of missed collections (if possible),
defined formulas to calculate customer credits, expedited credit
calculation and credit reimbursement to the city, and automatic
deductions for performance fees.
Operations Operations Plan Requirement to develop an annually updated operations plan
Issue Paper - Approval of Next Garbage, Recyclables, and Compostables Service Contract
Page 15 of 16
Issue Paper - Approval of Next Garbage, Recyclables, and Compostables Service Contract
Page 16 of 16
Attachment A: New Contract Services and Provisions
Category Service/Provision Details
Operations Overweight Collection
Vehicles
Requires monthly reporting of overweight vehicles and performance
fees for each overweight vehicle
Operations Slotted Recycling Lids Optional lockable slotted lids for multifamily dumpsters to prevent
bagged recyclables and contamination
Operations Mini-can
Upsized current mini-can size from 13 gallons to 20 gallons to provide
additional capacity, reduce inventory challenges, and achieve
compatibility with collection equipment
Operations Multifamily Countertop
Food Scrap Containers Available to all multifamily properties and households
Operations Public Garbage Cans
Contractor must collect overflow garbage next to public cans.
Geolocated map of all public trash containers serviced by contractor to
ensure consistent service and ease of collection for substitute drivers
Operations City Facilities
Quarterly reporting of tonnage collected from dedicated route serving 5
largest waste-generating city facilities to help track waste reduction
goals
Operations Recycling Reporting Annual recycling composition study of loads collected from single-
family, multifamily, and commercial routes
Operations Compostables Reporting
Monthly reports of multifamily and commercial customers not
subscribed to compostables service. Monthly reports of total
contaminated containers. Reporting on estimated amount of garbage in
collected compostables.
Operations Collecting from
Suspended Customers
Performance fees for collecting from customers who have been
suspended for non-payment