Brecksville’s rubbish processing fees to rise, recycling fees drop

Jun 05, 2023

Brecksville officials say their garbage collection trucks will save on fuel and vehicle maintenance by dropping off trash at a transfer station closer to home. (Bob Sandrick, special to cleveland.com)

BRECKSVILLE, Ohio -- The city’s rate for trash collection will rise by 7 percent a ton this year under a new contract with Rumpke Waste & Recycling in Colerain, Ohio.

The rate will increase from $44.13 under the city’s previous contract with Rumpke to $47.18 a ton this year. If the city opts to renew the contract in 2024 and 2025, the rate will rise by another 5 percent, to $49.65 a ton, then by another 3 percent, to $51.02 a ton.

The city has decided to pay by the ton instead of the by yard, at least partly because the per-yard increases are steeper -- rising by 19 percent this year, 4 percent next year and 4 percent in 2025.

Kimble Cos. in Dover was the only other company to bid on Brecksville’s trash collection. It’s rate of $44.29 in 2023 and 2024 was lower than Rumpke’s.

However, Rebecca Riser, the city’s director of purchasing, recommended that council choose Rumpke because that company’s rubbish transfer station is closer, in Broadview Heights, about 3 miles away. Kimble’s transfer station is in Oakwood, about 19 miles away.

That means the city’s rubbish collection trucks will use less gas and experience less wear and tear traveling to Rumple’s transfer station. That’s especially important because Brecksville’s garbage trucks are aging, Riser said.

Also, Rumpke’s add-on fees totaled $7.35 a ton, compared to Kimble’s fees of $9.47 a ton.

City also chose Rumpke to handle its collection of street-sweeper debris.

Rumpke’s rate for disposal of street-sweeper debris, which was $46.23 a ton under the city’s previous contract with Rumpke, will increase to $51.38 a ton in the first year of the new contract, an 11 percent increase. It will then rise to $53.43 and $55.57 -- increases of 4 percent -- in the subsequent years of the contract.

Kimble’s bid on street-sweeper debris was lower -- $44.29, $45.60 and $46.97 a ton in years one, two and three -- but the city again considered truck fuel and maintenance costs and Kimble’s higher disposal fees when deciding to stick with Rumpke.

Recycling fluctuations

While the city has gone with Rumpke in previous years to collect recyclables, this time it chose Waste Management Recycle America, a subsidiary of Waste Management in Houston.

In 2020, the cost of recycling with Rumpke jumped by 1,800 percent, from $5 a ton to $95 a ton. Brecksville wasn’t alone, however, as cities across the country were facing skyrocketing recycling costs.

At the time, Riser said the city would be “evaluating all options moving forward,” due to the impact rising recycling fees had on the city’s budget.

This year, Rumpke’s recycling fee would have risen to $100 a ton, then to $104 and $108 a ton in 2024 and 2025. Kimble’s fees would have been $99.75, $102.75 and $105.75 over the next three years.

WM Recycle America’s recycling fee will be $80 a ton in 2023, based on the assumption that recyclables collected from Brecksville residents will be less than 21 percent contaminated. The fee would have been higher if the city was unable to meet that standard.

WM Recycle America’s fee will rise to $83.20 and $86.53 a ton in 2024 and 2025, if the city opts for second and third years on the contract.

Further, the city would pay a rate lower than $80 a ton if the value of recyclables increases on the market, Riser said.

“WM Recycle America provides the city the opportunity to pay lower rates when the values of commodities are high,” Riser told council in a March 28 email.

“The recycling environment has changed drastically over the past five to seven years due to disposal management companies not having processing options for the recycle material,” Riser said.

“We continue each year to examine the costs for recycle disposal in this ever-fluctuating market.”

As for disposal of leaves, the city for the second time awarded the contract to Buyansky Bros. Landscaping in Broadview Heights and Independence. Its per-yard rate will rise from $3 to $3.15 in 2023 and to $3.25 in 2024 and 2025.

Buyansky was the only company to bid on Brecksville’s leaf disposal this time around.