A big increase in the cost of hauling garbage from an Island County facility to the mainland will soon translate to a price hike for Whidbey residents who drop off trash.
Just in time for the new year, Island County officials approved a new solid waste contract for the continued transportation of garbage to a regional landfill for disposal.
The county commissioners, however, were displeased by the cost increases that came with the new $36 million contract, which spans six years with two opportunities for renewal. Tipping fee increases are imminent for Whidbey residents, despite concerns from county officials about the fallout.
"If it's too expensive to have people dispose of their garbage, they'll find ways to dispose of it," Commissioner Jill Johnson said in an interview Monday. "You want to keep it as affordable as you can so people don't just dump their trash in the woods, on the side of the road."
She acknowledged, however, that the years since the COVID-19 pandemic have been killer in terms of cost escalation for all businesses.
After two bids were submitted earlier this year, public works staff recommended that the commissioners choose Republic Services, the county's current service provider since 2006. Republic Services' proposed costs represented a 36.6% increase over current expenditures, compared to a 41.1% increase from the other bidder, resulting in a difference of $207,040 less.
Assistant Public Works Director James Sylvester wrote in a memo to the commissioners in November that the cost increase in the new contract is due in part to the last 18 years of contracted annual inflation adjustments for disposal being applied at only 70% of the Consumer Price Index. This has not kept pace with inflation and other rising costs incurred by Republic Services. Transportation has been impacted by a shortage of truck drivers, higher gas prices and supply chain issues.
Solid Waste Division Manager Jeff Hegedus explained that trucks from Republic Services pick the garbage up from the transfer station in Coupeville and bring it to Burlington, where a train is waiting to transport it to a destination near the Columbia River. From there, the trash is taken five miles uphill to the Roosevelt Regional Landfill. Relying on regional, rather than hyperlocal, landfills is a statewide standard in the industry.
"It's all about managing the byproducts of our consumer society," Hegedus said.
Critics of the contract, however, worry that the county is not doing enough to divert materials from the landfill in the first place.
"You don't have to pay $36 million," David Haskell of Freeland said during the Dec. 17 public hearing. "If we end up taking the organics out, we can reduce it by 30%. If we end up taking the recycling out, we can take another 30% out of it, but we have to do it in a coordinated and efficient community context."
The commissioners agreed that a conversation about waste management was also an important thing to have.
Separate from the new solid waste contract, tipping fees will likely also see an increase, though that has yet to be deliberated. Hegedus said that in comparison, Skagit County decided to raise its tipping fees by 30%.
"We're hoping to do half of that, but that's pending discussion and public process," he said.
Tipping fees are paid by customers dropping off items at the transfer station, but they are also collected through curbside trash pick-up.
The current rate is $173.32 per ton of garbage. As Hegedus put it, anything headed to a landfill is subject to a price increase because that's where costs have gone up. Items that can be recycled, like old appliances, won't be affected.
With recent climate change requirements that they must abide by, landfills have to do new things that cost a lot of money and drive costs up, Hegedus said. The tipping fee customers pay when they dispose of their garbage is the sole source of revenue that the transfer station receives to operate.
The commissioners plan to discuss the tipping fee increases in January; they were adamant about waiting until after the holidays.