Press Room
RECYCLING AND GARBAGE COLLECTION SERVICES DRAMATICALLY OVERHAULED FOR NEARLY HALF A MILLION SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA RESIDENTS
Recology San Mateo County Replaces Allied Waste as Franchised Service Provider for 92,000 San Mateo County Households and 10,000+ Businesses
SAN CARLOS, CA – December 31, 2010 – Residents throughout the RethinkWaste service area in San Mateo County will be kicking off the new year with the official start of the much-anticipated new CartSMART weekly Recycle, Compost and Garbage collection services in the 12 Member Agencies that comprise the South Bayside Waste Management Authority, known as RethinkWaste. Recology San Mateo County (Recology), who takes over as the service provider on January 1, 2011 from Allied Waste of San Mateo County (Allied Waste), will roll out its new fleet of 127 automated collection vehicles to service over 92,000 homes starting Monday, January 3. Allied Waste and its predecessor companies have held the local garbage collection contracts since at least the 1970s.
The launch of the greatly expanded and more convenient collection services has taken more than five years of planning and preparation to ensure that the transition is as seamless as possible for customers and the RethinkWaste Member Agencies. The transition is also one of the largest in the nation of its kind, and the first for this service area – totaling over $110 million in new capital investment in the form of collection vehicles, rolling stock, carts and containers, and recycling and transfer station capital improvements.
In preparation for the launch of the new collection services, Recology has delivered nearly 440,000 new wheeled carts between August and December of this year to the 92,000 homes and 10,000 businesses that make up the service area. Recology's capital investment for the new services totals nearly $57 million, of which approximately $37 million was used to purchase collection and support vehicles, and $19 million for new carts and containers.
"Starting with the RFP process in 2007 through contractor selection and implementation this has been one of the most complex overhauls of any solid waste collection systems in the country with annual contract revenue over $80 million," remarked Kevin McCarthy, Executive Director of RethinkWaste. "Through years of planning and support by local elected officials, city and agency staff and Recology San Mateo County we're excited to finally launch these new services."
The new CartSMART program entails a convenient, three-cart system for residents for their recycle, compost and garbage needs: blue cart for Recycle, green cart for Compost and black cart for Garbage. It includes having single-stream recycling, where all recyclables are placed into one cart instead of having to separate them, and the ability to place food scraps and food- and beverage-soiled paper products with their yard trimmings for composting. What makes the program especially customer-friendly and easy to use is that all three carts will now be collected weekly, replacing an outdated system of every other week collection of recyclables and yard trimmings, using a combination of tubs, carts and customer-provided cans for the services. The current Allied Waste residential services are delivered using non-automated trucks with two-person crews and provision for side and backyard services.
Residents were given the opportunity to experience some of the convenience of the new program through "soft launch" that began at the end of August of this year when Recology began delivering the three carts to each single-family home. So that residents would not have to store the new wheeled carts until the official start in January, RethinkWaste, Recology and Allied Waste negotiated a plan that enabled residents to use the carts as soon as they received them, with Allied Waste providing the service using leased equipment from Recology. This meant that residents could take advantage of the single-stream recycling right away, however, both the recycling and yard trimmings stayed on an every other week collection schedule. In addition, food scraps could not be added until January. Recology concluded its cart delivery to residents on December 16. Recology was back out in December delivering two-gallon kitchen pails to residents for in-home use in preparation for the launch of the food scraps collection.
"We are thrilled to finally arrive at this moment after five years," enthused Mike Sangiacomo, CEO of Recology. "As innovators in waste reduction, we look forward to continuing our hard work with the Member Agencies and RethinkWaste to increase recycling and composting and significantly facilitate landfill diversion."
Recology also took over the commercial recycling program from Allied Waste on July 1, 2010 in an effort to boost recycling activities at businesses, and multi-family complexes, which include apartments, condominiums and townhomes. Through the roll-out of the new BizSMART commercial program, businesses and multi-family complexes also received the new color-coded carts and the convenience of single-stream recycling. Recology has a commercial recycling outreach team consisting of one manager and eight recycling coordinators, making it one of the largest franchised commercial recycling efforts in the country.
In addition to purchasing new carts and pails, Recology acquired new trucks that will be used to service residents and businesses, including 127 new collection vehicles and 22 support vehicles. The trucks that will be used to service the carts are automated, using a mechanical arm to lift and empty the cart. The new vehicles will also have the latest technology with on-board computers, allowing for real-time customer service data and routing information.
RethinkWaste and Recology also launched an extensive public outreach and education campaign on the new services that included information sent to homes and delivered with the carts and kitchen pails, instructional videos, movie theater and TV commercials, bus signs and bus shelter ads, banners in downtown areas and print advertising, among others. Representatives from both were also at over 100 community events, meetings and presentation to help spread the word about the changes to the services.
Recology, formerly Norcal Waste Systems of San Mateo County, was recommended to be the next service provider by RethinkWaste in October, 2008 following an extensive Request for Proposals process. Each RethinkWaste Member Agency holds its own individual exclusive franchise agreement with Recology for collection services, replacing Allied Waste whose contract expires on December 31, 2010. The term of Recology's contract is 10 years, with the option of two five-year extensions. Total revenues over the ten year contract period are expected to be over $800 million.
The rollout of the CartSMART and BizSMART services includes the transformation of the Shoreway Recycling and Transfer Station in San Carlos into the future Shoreway Environmental Center. The Shoreway Facility, which is owned by RethinkWaste, is currently undergoing $47 million in capital improvements, including a new 70,000 square foot Materials Recovery Facility (MRF), where the single-stream recycling will be processed, an expanded transfer station; a new education center; and significant traffic and customer service improvements. Once in full operation, an estimated 432,000 tons of material will make its way through Shoreway annually. Construction is expected to be completed in late Spring 2011.
South Bay Recycling (SBR) will be the new facility operator on January 1, 2011, taking over from Allied Waste whose operation contract also expires on December 31. SBR's capital investment exceeds $7 million, primarily for new transfer trailer trucks and rolling stock.
Visit www.RethinkWaste.org or www.RecologySanMateoCounty.com for more information on CartSMART.
RethinkWaste
Formed in 1982, RethinkWaste is a joint powers authority comprised of 12 Member Agencies (Atherton, Belmont, Burlingame, East Palo Alto, Foster City, Hillsborough, Menlo Park, Redwood City, San Carlos, San Mateo, the County of San Mateo and the West Bay Sanitary District) in San Mateo County and is a leader in implementing innovative waste reduction and recycling programs. RethinkWaste also owns and manages the Shoreway facility in San Carlos consisting of a permitted solid waste transfer station and a recycling processing facility. The Agency's legal name is the South Bayside Waste Management Authority (SBWMA.) For more information on RethinkWaste, please visit our website at www.RethinkWaste.org.
For Further Information:
Monica Devincenzi, RethinkWaste
Phone: (650) 802-3509
Email: mdevincenzi@rethinkwaste.org
The launch of the greatly expanded and more convenient collection services has taken more than five years of planning and preparation to ensure that the transition is as seamless as possible for customers and the RethinkWaste Member Agencies. The transition is also one of the largest in the nation of its kind, and the first for this service area – totaling over $110 million in new capital investment in the form of collection vehicles, rolling stock, carts and containers, and recycling and transfer station capital improvements.
In preparation for the launch of the new collection services, Recology has delivered nearly 440,000 new wheeled carts between August and December of this year to the 92,000 homes and 10,000 businesses that make up the service area. Recology's capital investment for the new services totals nearly $57 million, of which approximately $37 million was used to purchase collection and support vehicles, and $19 million for new carts and containers.
"Starting with the RFP process in 2007 through contractor selection and implementation this has been one of the most complex overhauls of any solid waste collection systems in the country with annual contract revenue over $80 million," remarked Kevin McCarthy, Executive Director of RethinkWaste. "Through years of planning and support by local elected officials, city and agency staff and Recology San Mateo County we're excited to finally launch these new services."
The new CartSMART program entails a convenient, three-cart system for residents for their recycle, compost and garbage needs: blue cart for Recycle, green cart for Compost and black cart for Garbage. It includes having single-stream recycling, where all recyclables are placed into one cart instead of having to separate them, and the ability to place food scraps and food- and beverage-soiled paper products with their yard trimmings for composting. What makes the program especially customer-friendly and easy to use is that all three carts will now be collected weekly, replacing an outdated system of every other week collection of recyclables and yard trimmings, using a combination of tubs, carts and customer-provided cans for the services. The current Allied Waste residential services are delivered using non-automated trucks with two-person crews and provision for side and backyard services.
Residents were given the opportunity to experience some of the convenience of the new program through "soft launch" that began at the end of August of this year when Recology began delivering the three carts to each single-family home. So that residents would not have to store the new wheeled carts until the official start in January, RethinkWaste, Recology and Allied Waste negotiated a plan that enabled residents to use the carts as soon as they received them, with Allied Waste providing the service using leased equipment from Recology. This meant that residents could take advantage of the single-stream recycling right away, however, both the recycling and yard trimmings stayed on an every other week collection schedule. In addition, food scraps could not be added until January. Recology concluded its cart delivery to residents on December 16. Recology was back out in December delivering two-gallon kitchen pails to residents for in-home use in preparation for the launch of the food scraps collection.
"We are thrilled to finally arrive at this moment after five years," enthused Mike Sangiacomo, CEO of Recology. "As innovators in waste reduction, we look forward to continuing our hard work with the Member Agencies and RethinkWaste to increase recycling and composting and significantly facilitate landfill diversion."
Recology also took over the commercial recycling program from Allied Waste on July 1, 2010 in an effort to boost recycling activities at businesses, and multi-family complexes, which include apartments, condominiums and townhomes. Through the roll-out of the new BizSMART commercial program, businesses and multi-family complexes also received the new color-coded carts and the convenience of single-stream recycling. Recology has a commercial recycling outreach team consisting of one manager and eight recycling coordinators, making it one of the largest franchised commercial recycling efforts in the country.
In addition to purchasing new carts and pails, Recology acquired new trucks that will be used to service residents and businesses, including 127 new collection vehicles and 22 support vehicles. The trucks that will be used to service the carts are automated, using a mechanical arm to lift and empty the cart. The new vehicles will also have the latest technology with on-board computers, allowing for real-time customer service data and routing information.
RethinkWaste and Recology also launched an extensive public outreach and education campaign on the new services that included information sent to homes and delivered with the carts and kitchen pails, instructional videos, movie theater and TV commercials, bus signs and bus shelter ads, banners in downtown areas and print advertising, among others. Representatives from both were also at over 100 community events, meetings and presentation to help spread the word about the changes to the services.
Recology, formerly Norcal Waste Systems of San Mateo County, was recommended to be the next service provider by RethinkWaste in October, 2008 following an extensive Request for Proposals process. Each RethinkWaste Member Agency holds its own individual exclusive franchise agreement with Recology for collection services, replacing Allied Waste whose contract expires on December 31, 2010. The term of Recology's contract is 10 years, with the option of two five-year extensions. Total revenues over the ten year contract period are expected to be over $800 million.
The rollout of the CartSMART and BizSMART services includes the transformation of the Shoreway Recycling and Transfer Station in San Carlos into the future Shoreway Environmental Center. The Shoreway Facility, which is owned by RethinkWaste, is currently undergoing $47 million in capital improvements, including a new 70,000 square foot Materials Recovery Facility (MRF), where the single-stream recycling will be processed, an expanded transfer station; a new education center; and significant traffic and customer service improvements. Once in full operation, an estimated 432,000 tons of material will make its way through Shoreway annually. Construction is expected to be completed in late Spring 2011.
South Bay Recycling (SBR) will be the new facility operator on January 1, 2011, taking over from Allied Waste whose operation contract also expires on December 31. SBR's capital investment exceeds $7 million, primarily for new transfer trailer trucks and rolling stock.
Visit www.RethinkWaste.org or www.RecologySanMateoCounty.com for more information on CartSMART.
RethinkWaste
Formed in 1982, RethinkWaste is a joint powers authority comprised of 12 Member Agencies (Atherton, Belmont, Burlingame, East Palo Alto, Foster City, Hillsborough, Menlo Park, Redwood City, San Carlos, San Mateo, the County of San Mateo and the West Bay Sanitary District) in San Mateo County and is a leader in implementing innovative waste reduction and recycling programs. RethinkWaste also owns and manages the Shoreway facility in San Carlos consisting of a permitted solid waste transfer station and a recycling processing facility. The Agency's legal name is the South Bayside Waste Management Authority (SBWMA.) For more information on RethinkWaste, please visit our website at www.RethinkWaste.org.
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For Further Information:
Monica Devincenzi, RethinkWaste
Phone: (650) 802-3509
Email: mdevincenzi@rethinkwaste.org