CITY’S RESIDENTIAL TRASH AND RECYCLING CONTRACT PROCUREMENT

Project Background

The City has exclusive single-family and multi-family refuse and recycling franchise agreements with two haulers, Waste Management of Los Angeles (WM) and Universal Waste Systems, Inc. (UWS).  Each hauler operates in a separate area of the City.  WM has an exclusive contract in the majority of the City (11,500 billed units/accounts or 96% of the City total) and UWS has an exclusive contract in a small (coastal and landslide) area (550 billed units/accounts or 4% of the total). 

The total estimated value of the single-family contracts is approximately $3,000,000 per year.  The existing agreements expire on June 30, 2010.   There are currently no extension options available.

The City prepared a competitive RFP for residential and commercial solid waste collection in 2006.  The City received one proposal from WM (for WM’s service area) and one proposal from UWS (for UWS’s service area).  Due to lack of other competitive proposals, the proposals were rejected. 

Current Services & Programs: 

Services:  Standard WM service for single-family (SF) collection is twice per week manual curbside collection of refuse.  In addition, UWS offers, in limited locations, both once and twice per week backyard refuse collection service.  Greenwaste and recyclables are collected once a week at curbside. Trash and recycling are picked up on the first collection day, and trash and greenwaste are picked up on the second collection day of the week.  Some hard to reach areas (steep streets, narrow streets, and flag lots) of the City are serviced by a Pup (small) truck. 

UWS services approximately 550 single-family accounts and 2 multi-family complexes in the Portuguese Bend Community and the area southerly of PVDS.  UWS offers once and twice a week backyard service in the landslide area and twice a week curbside collection in the PVDS area.  Similar to WM, trash and recycling are picked up on the first collection day, and trash and greenwaste are picked up on the second collection day of the week.

Pilot automated collection and cart program:  Since 2005, the City has conducted a pilot automated 3-cart collection program in two areas of the City, covering 850 homes in WM’s service area.  One area is in the Westside of the City, close to the Soleado Elementary School (Silver Spur, Browndeer area), and another pilot area is in the East side of the City, in the Rockinghorse neighborhood.  Those pilot areas have the same frequency of collection and rates as the rest of WM’s curbside customers.   Mail-in surveys were sent twice to the pilot areas, once in 2005 and another follow-up survey in 2008. Both surveys showed a satisfaction rate of 85-90% with the automated program and carts.   For survey questions and results, please quick link below.

Consultant for Procurement Process:  In preparation for that deadline, on October 7, 2008, the City Council approved a professional consulting contract with HF&H Consulting, LLC to assist staff, the Subcommittee and the Council in determining how to pursue a new solid waste contract(s) and which services would best benefit the City and residents, in addition to providing expertise in dealing with waste haulers, their proposed/ negotiated rates, equipment, containers, and services, and assisting staff in the procurement process.  HF&H was the consulting firm that assisted the City in the 1999 procurement resulting in the current residential contracts the City has.  

Council Subcommittee:  In 2008 City Council formed a Council Trash Subcommittee (Subcommittee) consisting of former Mayor Stern and current Mayor Clark.  When Waste Management (WM) approached the City and expressed an interest in negotiating a new contact with the City, the Subcommittee and staff met twice with WM representatives.  WM made a presentation and preliminary discussions included proposed services, enhanced programs and the benefits of retaining WM as the City’s residential hauler. 

The City’s procurement consultant (HF&H) and the Trash Subcommittee comprised of Mayor Stern and Mayor Pro Tem Clark met and have provided the following recommendations on six key issues for inclusion in the upcoming solid waste contract

Proposed Key Issues & Recommendations

On December 2, 2008, the RPV City Council discussed six issues and recommendations by the Subcommittee and the consultant. The Issues, recommendations and City Council decisions are provided in the link below:

Additional Information

For further information about the City’s residential trash and recycling procurement process, please contact Lauren Ramezani, Sr. Administrative Analyst with the City of Rancho Palos Verdes- Department of Public Works at: 310-544-5245 or via e-mail at: Laurenr@rpv.com

Quick Links

December 2, 2008 City Council Meeting- Decision on Key Issues
December 2, 2008 – Power Point Presentation (PDF format)
October 7, 2008- City Council Meeting- Consultant Selection
August 2008- Pilot Automated Collection Program 2008 Survey Results
November 21, 2006- Future RFP Policy Options
November 21, 2006- Power Point Presentation (PDF format)
November 7, 2006- Approve new Contract with WM & UWS in 2006
November 7, 2006- Power Point Presentation (PDF format)
June 6, 2006- Finalized RFP 2006 document

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