Curbside Recycling Not Trashed Yet

In April Waste Services of Florida elected not to renew it curbside recycling contract with the city of St. Petersburg because of what they said was a lack of public participation.

On Thursday, City Council will consider two new proposals to continue curbside recycling in St. Pete.

According to city documents, the city received the two proposals from Waste Pro of Florida and DisposAll of Pinellas in May that propose a hike in the fee and a minimum program participation rate of 7,800 residents.

City staff is recommending to City Council that the city should accept an agreement with Waste Pro of Florida.

According to city documents:

“Administration recommends Waste Pro of Florida, Inc. as the most responsible and best offer. Waste Pro of Florida has the experience with curbside recycling services for similar sized municipalities, has approximately one million customers in Florida and has provided residential curbside recycling services in the city on a limited bases for approximately four years. In addition, they are also familiar with streets and methodology for collection in the city, offer similar bins as the current contractor, have financial viability … have equipment capacity to enroll and begin services for 8,000 or more current subscribed resident and are in the process of converting their entire fleet to operate on natural gas.”

Waste Pro, after negotiations with the city, proposed a monthly fee of $4.50 for curbside recycling. However, the city decided to subsidize 75 cents a month for each resident, which means St. Pete residents looking for curbside recycling could subscribed to Waste Pro for $3.75 a month.

Previously, around 8,000 residents subsrcibed to Waste Services of Florida at a rate of $2.75 a month when the initial program began in 2010. 

If approved by City Council, the agreement between the city and Waste Pro would be effective through Sept. 30, 2015 and has the option for two one-year renewals through Sept. 30, 2017.

Waste Pro is a regional company who works in South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana. According to the city, they are based out of Longwood, Florida.