New recycling contract could double costs in VB

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — With just four months left to go until its curbside recycling contract with TFC Recycling is set to expire, Virginia Beach is considering multiple, more costly options amid a slew of recent public input on the matter.

Eighty-seven percent of the nearly 10,000 residents who responded to a recycling survey from the city said it’s “essential” or “important” to keep curbside recycling, according to results shared by city staff during Tuesday’s work session, and 88% described themselves as “diligent” or “conscientious” recyclers.

Many said they would be able to pay a little more, but only 24% said they’d be willing to pay between $5 to $10 monthly.

While the city’s still in the bidding process with TFC and another company, recycling costs are expected to at least roughly double — from just over $3 per month to just over $6 per month per household. About 125,000 households in the city currently use curbside recycling services.

Public Works Director L.J. Hansen couldn’t elaborate on the bids Tuesday, citing the ongoing process, but said with the lowest bidder, the city’s annual recycling costs would rise from $4.66 million to $9.02 million, a 93.6% increase.

Norfolk and Virginia Beach curbside recycling contracts up this summer; Chesapeake weighs next steps

That would bring the current $3.11 recycling cost per household, per month to $6.16. This is in line with what the city had estimated a renewed contract with TFC would entail.

The higher bidder’s offer, meanwhile, would have the city paying about $10.3 million more annually, an increase of 221%.

Neither of the vendors said they were interested in an “opt-in” model, in which some residents can choose to not pay for curbside recycling. That was an option Vice Mayor Rosemary Wilson said she had hoped would work.

Hansen, who is a member of the Southeastern Public Service Authority that handles solid waste disposal in the region, said SPSA is also considering a regional “one-bin” system approach that could eliminate the current dedicated curbside recycling system.

However, that approach is expected to take years to implement, so Virginia Beach City Manager Patrick Duhaney said Virginia Beach is looking at a roughly 5-year contract for recycling in the meantime.

“We think it’s going to be a good amount of lead time for SPSA to get whatever is necessary to get in place, to replace, or maybe take over recycling,” Duhaney said. “It’s going to take a good amount of time to get it together. It could be less than five years, maybe more than five years … we’ll probably try to get a lower 2024 number, just understand each lower year duration of the contract essentially increases the price.”

The city said Duhaney will take input from the citizen survey and city leaders on recycling in creating his FY24-25 budget, which will presented to council March 19. Citizens will then be able to comment on the proposed budget in two public hearings in April before council decides whether to keep recycling services.

Hansen said overall, residents are still getting a “good value,” especially when combined with services bundled with the city’s solid waste fee that includes bulk trash pickup weekly and other services (recycling is currently $3.11 of the $27.50 per house, per month fee).

“I know that people think that this seems like a lot of money, and if I think back to, you know, what I paid for my first waste collection bills it has gone up, as has everything else,” Hansen said, “but when I think of what I get for internet and how much I pay for internet, nobody comes to my house, and if I call them they might come a couple weeks later.

“So I think it’s a good value and it’s not something we want to think about. … By and large, there’s three trucks that come to your neighborhood every week to pick up your garbage, and I think that’s a good value, and I might be a little biased.”

Michael Benedetto with TFC Recycling told WAVY earlier this month that he believes the increases are reasonable considering the past.

“When we first started the contract with the city of Virginia Beach in 1996, 27 years ago, we were charging more money [just under $3 per house] than we are today … and since the Virginia Beach contract was last done in 2017, we’ve seen the market change, we’ve seen the minimum wages go up, we’ve seen the cost of trucks, and gas, and insurance and everything go up significantly.”

One of the other major factors that’s no longer helping to subsidize rates is China, Benedetto said. They decided in 2018 they would no longer take the world’s plastic trash, gutting a major revenue source in the industry.

Benedetto said, though, that “if you want something done, and you believe in it, you make it convenient,” in talking about curbside recycling.

Meanwhile, Norfolk’s contract with TFC is also due to expire in June, and Chesapeake is weighing its options to bring back curbside recycling (and potentially joining the SPSA approach).

You can read more about their plans and more about the regional approach through SPSA in WAVY’s previous coverage here.

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