California city sues recycling services provider for overcharging

The city of Oakland, California, has filed a lawsuit against its waste services provider California Waste Solutions (CWS), with locations in San Jose and Oakland, alleging the company overcharged multifamily home property owners for pushing heavy recycling carts to the curb, a report by the East Bay Times says.

According to the report, CWS charges multifamily property owners $152.68 per month, or up to $776.16 per month in some cases, for employees to move recycling carts to the curb for collection. The city claims the contract held a price of $27.85 for such service.

The city says it was “forced” to file the lawsuit because CWS would not lower its rate, the report says. The lawsuit requests CWS stop overcharging property owners and reopen the city’s recycling contract to include a missing line item for “premium backyard service” for $27.85 per month. According to the report, the city claims CWS misinterpreted the current contract.

The lawsuit claims multifamily property owners will be charged an excess of $1,832.16 to $9,313.56 per year for one cart to be pushed 100 or more feet. For a single-family homeowner, the charge is $334.20 per year.