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Sacramento approves long-term contracts to process residential organics, officials say program meets state recycling law
Summary
City Council approved three 10-year contracts to process residential organics collected by the city's weekly program, part of efforts to comply with state Senate Bill 1383 and reduce landfill disposal.
The Sacramento City Council approved three 10-year agreements to process the city’s residential organic waste on Oct. 25, the city’s solid waste director told the council.
City staff recommended the contracts with three vendors so the city can continue to collect and process leaf, yard and food waste from weekly collection and special leaf-season pickups. The agreements are designed to keep Sacramento in compliance with Senate Bill 1383, the state law that requires jurisdictions to divert 75 percent of organic waste from landfills by 2025.
The contracts were developed through a regional procurement led with Sacramento County and the city of Folsom. Staff said the joint request-for-proposal process secured economies of scale, better pricing and options to route material to different local processing sites to minimize truck miles and maintain regulatory compliance.
City staff said the evaluation produced three recommended contractors and that the new agreements include modest tonnage minimums and high maximum capacities so the city would not “pay for air” and can redirect material if a facility becomes unavailable. Staff also said the contracts support the city’s climate action goals and its compost giveaway program, which has distributed more than 13,000 bags of compost (about 500 tons) to residents since April.
During public comment, a representative of the California Compost Coalition backed the agreements and described the proposed compost as “certified organic compost” and “clean, source-separated” material that will benefit agriculture and soil health in the region. Councilmembers thanked staff and noted the contracts help stabilize future residential rates; staff said no residential rate increase is forecast for the next two to three years.
After discussion the council voted to approve the processing agreements. Staff said the contracts are 10-year processing agreements with options for renewal; the contract authorization includes not-to-exceed amounts that cover renewal options and contingencies, and the city stressed the near-term commitment would be for the 10-year terms being approved.
