1A, Residential Curbside Recycling - Contract Discussion

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after processing costs for most materials. The revenue share is used to buy down the cost of the recycling service and directly lowers the cost per resident in the City. The cost of the recycling program is charged back to the residents through their property tax statements. This means that the more the residents of Arden Hills recycle the more revenue is shared with the City, which directly lowers the cost of the service for the residents. Base Cost/ Average Actual Cost/ Year HH/Month Revenue HH/Month Share/Month 2008* $2.95 $1,683.27 $2.29 2009 $3.06 $267.95 $2.96 2010 $3.06 $1,719.74 $2.36 2011 $3.11 $3,078.27 $1.85 2012 (YTD) $3.20 $1,633.77 $2.52 *Contract began March 1, 2008 Not all recycling providers offer revenue share as part of their contract. If the Council chooses to go out for bids on recycling services, the analysis of the responses should take into account whether the proposals offer revenue share or not, and, if so, how much revenue share is proposed. According to analysis done by the County, the City, with revenue share, pays slightly below average rates to Eureka than compared with other municipalities in Ramsey County. Eureka Reeyelint! Eureka Recycling is a non-profit organization whose mission is to demonstrate that waste is preventable, not inevitable. They are a zero-waste organization, meaning they do not collect materials that they cannot sell to a market that can certify that the materials purchased from Eureka are being recycled. This approach is distinct from for-profit commercial recycling providers whose companies are driven more by customer service. Other commercial recycling providers often accept a broader mix of materials because those materials that do not have a post- consumer market can then be discarded in the regular waste stream(i.e. landfills, incinerators) or sold in unsorted bulk to post-consumer markets who in turn discard the materials into a regular waste stream. The upside to the for-profit recycling providers approach is that there is an inherent convenience to residents built into the way they collect recycling. For-profit recycling haulers tend to collect using a single-stream system, meaning residents have one bin or cart that all recycling materials go into. The recycling carts can then be mechanically picked up and dumped into trucks. This tends to be more efficient and, due to the larger capacity recycling carts, is usually collected bi- weekly rather than weekly. Eureka, on the other hand utilizes a dual-sort approach using bins that are hand picked up on a weekly basis. This allows drivers to visually inspect materials and remove items that do not P:TlanninglRecycling&Garbage 12012109-24-12-Work Session-Memo-Recycling Contract Discussion.doc Page 3 of 7