Council approves recycling and solid-waste contracts; staff says recycling now counts under state law through waste-to-energy processing

The Hialeah City Council approved continuing contracts for residential recyclables processing and solid waste collection and disposal.

Council approved a proposed resolution to issue a purchase order to Coastal Waste & Recycling Inc. for processing residential recyclables, approving up to $520,000 in expenditures. In discussion, city staff explained the program had previously sent recyclables to a landfill but Coastal introduced a new program that transports material to a waste-to-energy plant (an incineration/energy recovery facility). Under current state rules, waste-to-energy processing can count toward recycling compliance; staff told the council that Coastal now separates metals and sends burnable material to a permitted merchant plant in Broward County and that the change reduced city per-ton costs.

The council also approved a contract with Waste Connections of Florida for collection and disposal services, a multi-component expenditure that the agenda listed at a combined not-to-exceed total of $16,660,000 (broken down in the agenda language as collection ~$9,900,000; disposal ~$6,700,000; and construction debris ~$60,000). Administration staff clarified the $60,000 for construction-debris pickup covers special municipal needs (city-produced debris) rather than large-scale public cleanup projects.

Council members asked whether the city could renegotiate frequency or consolidate services to lower costs; staff said they could open negotiations but noted Waste Connections provides separate pickup and disposal services and not all waste is suitable for waste-to-energy conversion. A councilmember asked whether the recyclables contract could be reduced to a monthly pickup to save money; staff said they would negotiate if council directed.

Vote results: Both items were approved by roll call. The motions carried and the items were recorded as adopted on the consent agenda; second reading or implementation steps were not required for procurement-level approvals.

Ending: Staff said they would continue to monitor tonnage and cost-per-ton performance and would bring potential renegotiation options back to the council if the council wished to pursue service frequency or provider consolidation.