In August 2015, the City of Redmond negotiated a new solid waste contract with Waste Management.
The contract went into effect Jan. 1 and along with increased collection options, customers may also have experienced increases to their solid waste bills. According to a city press release, residential rates increased between 13 and 20 percent, depending on container size.
Jerallyn Roetemeyer, environmental quality section supervisor for the city, said for a 35-gallon garbage bin, the rate has gone from a base rate of about $12.97 to $15.44, plus taxes and other fees.
She said with the old contract, customers’ garbage rates only increased by the consumer price index or inflation. The press release states that this was even as Waste Management’s operations and processing costs outpaced it.
The press release states that while garbage rates increased under the new contract, they will not rise more than 2.8 percent each year for the next four years nor exceed the rate of inflation for the next 10 years of the new contract.
Eberley Barragán, solid waste program administrator for the city, said while the new contract went into effect in January, with the way the billing cycle works, customers may have been retroactively billed at the end of 2015. So their last bill of last year would have included the new rates and been higher than they were expecting.
Customers can view garbage rates at www.wmnorthwest.com/redmond or call Waste Management at (800) 592-9995 with questions about their solid waste services or bill. For specific questions about recycling, contact solidwaste@redmond.gov or call the city’s recycling specialists at (425) 556-2832.
Roetemeyer said the old contract included garbage collection as well as recycling and food and compostables for residential, commercial and multi-family customers and the new contract includes all of this, as well.
“It doesn’t cost (customers) anything extra,” she said about the recycling and compostables services.
She said this is to encourage customers to use these services.
There will be additional services for customers with the new contract.
Roetemeyer said residents will now have pickup for food and compostables each week, whereas it had been once every two weeks previously.
In addition customers can order a small, 25-gallon food and compostables container for customers who live in a town home or cottage-style units with limited yard space. This is compared to the typical 96-gallon container.
Another benefit is increased recycling capacity for commercial and multi-family customers from 150-200 percent of garbage capacity.
For example, Roetemeyer said if customers have a four-yard garbage dumpster, they were previously limited to a six-yard recycling dumpster. The new contract allows customer to go up to an eight-yard recycling dumpster if needed.
“It’s an option,” Roetemeyer said about the different bins. “So they would have to call Waste Management and order that.”
In addition to solid waste collection for Redmond homes, businesses and multifamily properties, the city has also contracted with Waste Management to continue providing service to city facilities, parks, street cans and community events.
Kimberly Nuber, communications and marketing administrator for the city, said it is now built in their contract with Waste Management for the latter to be a sponsor for city events such as Derby Days.
