REPORT TO COUNCIL
SUBJECT
Title
Authorize the City Manager to Negotiate Agreements for Subsequent Council Approval with the City of Milpitas and Other Jurisdictions Regarding SMaRT Station Processing of Recyclables, Yard Trimmings and Municipal Solid Waste
Report
BACKGROUND
City of Milpitas
Consistent with prior Council direction to pursue uses for the excess capacity of the Sunnyvale Materials Recovery and Transfer Station (SMaRT Station(r)), staff has been assessing the feasibility of providing SMaRT Station solid waste and recycling services to City of Milpitas (Milpitas) in response to a Request for Proposals (RFP) issued by Milpitas. This opportunity was made possible because the SMaRT Station has some excess processing capacity that can be marketed to serve the needs of other entities.
Adding materials from Milpitas to those already handled at the SMaRT Station would result in economies of scale that, with appropriate pricing and terms, would reduce costs and increase revenues for the existing partner agencies (cities of Mountain View, Palo Alto, and Sunnyvale). Milpitas would benefit by taking advantage of the SMaRT Station's advanced processing capabilities to reduce the amount of municipal solid waste (MSW) it disposes, thus increasing its diversion rate, which would likely have financial benefits to Milpitas in the future by reducing its future costs of compliance with State of California MSW diversion requirements.
Working within the framework of the RFP, staff indicated to Milpitas the City's interest in accepting MSW, recyclables and yard trimmings, including disposal at Kirby Canyon Landfill of unrecycled residues. Participating in the process did not bind Sunnyvale at that initial stage of the Milpitas procurement.
The Milpitas RFP process separated the procurement into two phases: (1) landfill disposal and (2) collection/processing. Milpitas awarded its landfill contract to Waste Management (WM) for disposal of garbage at the Guadalupe...
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