Joliet, Illinois, city council approved a 10-year contract with Houston-based Waste Management (WM) that includes weekly recycling pickup and curbside electronic and hazardous waste collection, a report by the Herald-News says. The $133 million contract will last until 2024.
The city will save around $2 per month with the new contract, the report says. Currently, monthly unit costs are $24.60, which will be cut down to $21.70 starting in January. The cost will increase from there and will reach $24.55 by 2023, $25.16 in 2027 and $27.10 in the last year of the contract.
Residential rates are $25.20 per month, $19.20 per month for seniors. Residents will not lose any services, the report says, but will gain weekly recycling pickup and curbside hazardous waste and electronics pickup when a resident requests it.
Currently, WM picks up recycling every two weeks and does not have a curbside electronics and hazardous waste pickup program, the report says. The last contract WM had with the city, which was approved seven years ago, did not include alley pickup unless it was in an area where street parking was too dense for curbside. The new contract still does not include alley pickup.
WM bid against Republic Services, Phoenix, for the contract. The report says the Republic bid included a $175 million proposal with a starting unit cost of $27.84 next year and increased to $36.35 in 2027.
Illinois city council approves 10-year Waste Management contract
The contract increases recycling pickup in Joliet from every two weeks to once per week.