Kitsap approves $3 million recycling-hauling contract with Waste Management for three transfer sites

Kitsap County approved a contract with Waste Management of Washington to haul corrugated cardboard and commingled recyclables from the county’s Hansville, Olalla and Silverdale recycling-and-garbage facilities.

Kevin Belheimer, senior program manager for the Solid Waste Division, told the board the five-year contract (with an optional three-year renewal) is based on 2024 tonnages with an estimated annual cost of $600,000 and an estimated total cost of $3,000,000 for the initial term. Belheimer said the total is roughly a 20% increase over the previous contract. Marketvalue.net will be used to calculate commodity prices; rebates from commodity sales will be split 50/50 with the contractor to offset hauling costs. The primary processing/sorting facility named in the presentation is JMK Fibers in Tacoma.

Belheimer said corrugated cardboard is source-separated and baled locally; commingled recycling is transloaded and transported for sorting and baling at the Tacoma facility. He also noted market uncertainty tied to extended producer responsibility legislation and local recycling markets, and flagged population growth as a factor for future capacity planning.

Commissioners asked whether the contract covered household curbside collection (it does not) and about transport routing; Belheimer said material is consolidated with residential collection at a permitted facility before final transport to Tacoma. The board also discussed litter concerns; Brian Lloyd, district manager for Waste Management in Bremerton, described secure metal-lid containers, driver training and vehicle checks to prevent debris from escaping trucks.

A motion to approve the contract was made, seconded, and carried by voice vote; the chair said the motion carried and the contract was adopted.