Hayward and Waste Management of Alameda County reach new franchise agreement for garbage, organics, and recycling services

HAYWARD, Calif., June 30, 2022—The Hayward City Council voted Tuesday night to award Waste Management of Alameda County a 10-year extension of its existing exclusive franchise to provide garbage, organics and recycling services to the City.

The agreement maintains and enhances popular features in addition to standard collection and recycling service—including free pre-scheduled pick-ups of larger bulky items, distribution of garden-ready bags of compost, and free self-haul disposal vouchers for use at the Davis Street Transfer Station.

It also provides for a new fleet of recycling trucks dedicated to Hayward service, new public sidewalk trash and recycling containers, and replacement of residential and commercial service carts with new receptacles to correspond with a new State of California-required color scheme of grey/black, blue and green for refuse, recycling and organics, respectively.

Additionally, the new arrangement puts the City and Waste Management of Alameda County (WMAC) on course to potentially increase Hayward's annual rate of diverting discarded material from landfills from 73 percent to about 83 percent by the year 2032.

Through the term of the extension, the new agreement carries forward current consumer price index (CPI) rate increases of three to six percent per year to ensure WMAC employees are paid fairly and kept up to pace with the cost of living.  A one-time rate increase of 7.88 percent effective at the outset of the contract on March 1, 2023, was negotiated primarily to cover new vehicle and container expenses.  At year five, WMAC also will receive a one-time return-on-investment (ROI) rate increase up to 5.5 percent.

For most single-family residences, the package translates into a beginning monthly service rate of $42.90 starting on March 1, 2023, up $5.23 from the current $37.67 for residences using the most common size 35 gallon garbage container. This is the maximum possible increase and could be lower if the CPI falls below 6 percent. The increases in subsequent years would apply annual CPI increases and the one-time, year-five ROI rate increase.

To encourage separation of refuse, recyclable, and organic material and to adhere to new state law, service trucks will be equipped with monitoring cameras—and contamination and overage surcharges of $25 per cart and $75 per larger bin may be imposed for repeat violations after a four-month community education campaign.

For more information about the new garbage collection and recycling franchise agreement with WMAC, the staff report to the City Council and related documents are available here on the City of Hayward’s legislative website.  Or contact Jeff Krump, City of Hayward Solid Waste Program Manager, at Jeff.Krump@hayward-ca.gov.