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DeKalb renews Pratt Recycling contract despite higher processing fee; contamination rates improve

5969277 · October 21, 2025

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Summary

DeKalb’s PWI committee approved a second renewal with Pratt Recycling Inc. through Oct. 31, 2026. The vendor is increasing the county’s processing fee from $65 to $80 per ton, while the county reported contamination rates for single‑stream recycling have fallen to roughly 20%.

The DeKalb County Public Works & Infrastructure committee approved the second renewal of the county’s residential single‑stream recycling and commercial paper processing contract with Pratt Recycling Incorporated, exercising the renewal option through Oct. 31, 2026 and authorizing an amount not to exceed $560,000.

Director Lemke described the renewal as a "good news/bad news" situation: Pratt is raising the processing rate from $65 per ton to $80 per ton, which will increase costs, but the department has seen a substantial drop in contamination rates over the past year. "We have…come down roughly in 2024 during the first quarter our average contamination rate was about 36%. We're coming down now to about 20 to 24, in the last 3 quarters. In the quarter, 04/2025 audit results, our contamination rate was all the way down to 20%," Lemke said.

Lemke added that the county’s tonnage has decreased because the county can no longer recycle plastics numbered 3 through 7 and can only accept 1 and 2, reducing the quantity placed in carts. The department has implemented reminder stickers on rolled carts to reduce contamination and said the decline in contamination produces better revenue or refunds from the recycler when materials arrive cleaner.

Commissioner Terry asked how the fee increase would affect the overall sanitation budget. Lemke said the immediate impact from this contract is relatively modest compared with other drivers of sanitation costs, estimating the change specifically tied to this contract would be about $40,000 less than 2024's net cost despite the per‑ton increase (department estimate provided in the meeting record).

Commissioners and staff discussed pursuing a more competitive procurement next year and exploring options such as curbside cardboard collection or direct cardboard hauling to improve efficiency and revenue, and staff said these issues will be considered in a future RFP process.

Ending

Staff will continue to monitor tonnage and contamination rates and include regular reports to commissioners; the contract renewal was approved by voice vote.