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Roseville's environmental goals to decrease waste and increase recycling fit well into the State's hierarchy. However this waste manage- ment order of preference is not being met. Organized Collection Some of our neighboring cities use a system of organized collection to meet environmental goals and the needs of residents. Cities contract for service on behalf of resi- dents with either one hauler as is done in North St. Paul and or a group of haulers as is done in Little Canada and Vadnais Heights. Cities do this for a number of reasons includ- ing lowering costs to residents, lessening truck traffic on city streets, designating a disposal facility for the garbage in order to meet envi- ronmental goals, setting enforceable customer service standards and expanding the number of services available to residents. Some committee members were surprised to learn that Roseville's open hauling system in which garbage companies compete against each other for customers does not offer the lowest rates. Residents in cities with organized collection pay $3.25 to $5.75 a month less than Roseville residents for garbage and recycling service. Recommendation: Committee members unanimously recommend a garbage system that rneets the City's environ- mental goals and the members' top priority of environmentally preferred management of waste. That system should also follow the State hierarchy. Of the methods studied by the Committee, an organized collection system run by private haulers appears to give the City the best, and perhaps only, means to meet the City's and State's environmental goals and balance citizen interests and concerns. The majority of Committee members believe the best way to achieve environmentally preferred management of waste is through a contract with a consortium consisting of all the current haulers in Roseville (as was done in Vadnais Heights and Little Canada). These consortiums typically divide the cities into zones with one hauler assigned to each zone. However, Roseville may require more than one hauler per zone in order to preserve customer choice. Such service may cost residents more than a single hauler per zone system. That contraet is the only way where the City can specifY that waste be managed using what is currently the environmentally preferred waste method: a resource recovery facility. Additionally, the Committee strongly believes the City should monitor developments by the State, County and private sector to determine if a future alternative might better meet the City's and State's environmental goals and balance citizen interests and concerns. Furthermore, the Committee believes a waste management system consisting of a consortium of current private waste haulers in collabora- tion with the City could also provide the following benefits to Roseville residents: o Negotiated lower rates to customers (the top priority of the majority of residents surveyed - 53%) o Preserve customer choice (the second highest priority of residents surveyed - 40%) o Limited truck traffic that reduces wear and tear on streets, thus reducing or delaying property tax assessments for road maintenance or replacement o Limited truck traffic that reduces air pollution, noise pollution and improves 6