Dive Brief:
- The city of Victor, ID introduced a draft agreement with RAD Curbside for recycling and trash pickup, following Teton County's agreement with RAD that gives it exclusive rights for trash and recycling pickup in the unincorporated parts of the county. The city will set a date for a public hearing before it passes an ordinance.
- Victor Mayor Zach Smith said the city will not hold a months-long selection process, like Teton County did, because the city can use the information gathered by the county.
- The county's previous agreement, a 10-year exclusive contract with Voorhees Sanitation Limited, expired in 2014. Public Works Director Darryl Johnson, a member of the procurement committee established by the Board of County Commissioners, said in an editorial that the committee made its decision by weighing costs to the public, what service options each company would provide, and how much waste would be recycled instead of taken to a landfill.
Dive Insight:
Under the contract with Teton County, RAD is slated to divert 34% of trash from the landfill by 2017 and 50% by 2022. RAD is required to increase the trash it recycles by an average of 3% each year, and the overall diversion plan is estimated to save the county $2.7 million over 10 years.
The agreement however raised several questions among the public, both at city and county meetings and online. Residents want to know why the county signed the agreement, why the city and county even needs exclusive agreements, and what they should expect next. The city of Victor will hold a public hearing before it decides to pass the ordinance, in which residents will be able to raise these concerns and have their questions answered.
