Rolling Hills Estates hears Republic Services request to amend recycling requirement after Anaheim facility fire

Rolling Hills Estates city leaders spent their meeting on a detailed discussion with Republic Services about proposed changes to the city's solid-waste franchise agreement after a fire damaged a mixed-waste processing facility in Anaheim in February 2022.

Republic Services told council members it has declared a force majeure under section 27.1 of the franchise agreement and said there is no definite timeline to rebuild the Anaheim consolidated volume transfer (CVT) processing facility that handled mixed-waste processing for the city. Dawn, a Republic Services representative, said the company was offering two interim options: add a once-weekly recycling pickup on Wednesdays or amend the contract to reduce the required diversion rate tied to mixed-waste processing from 30% to 10%.

The issue matters because the cityagreement specifically requires mixed-waste processing for achieving the contract's diversion target (section 5.8), even though Republic said the city is already meeting or exceeding applicable state recycling targets without mixed-waste processing. Council members and staff pressed Republic on operational details, timelines and legal implications of the companyforce majeure notice.

Republic representatives described how mixed-waste processing traditionally worked: commingled household garbage sent to a mixed-waste processing line where recyclables are removed, the remainder sent to landfill or other treatment, and residuals tracked toward a diversion percentage. Dawn said Republic has been diverting Rolling Hills Estates material to other facilities on a temporary basis since the Anaheim CVT closed after the Feb. 22, 2022 fire and that the company has not set a return-to-service date for the Anaheim plant. Republic said a temporary operational alternative would include conducting a waste-characterization sample of city tonnage and extrapolating results across collections to report a diversion percentage while the company pursues longer-term options.

Council members asked how that sample-based approach would work and whether it would fairly reflect local recycling behavior. Councilmember John (first name used in the meeting transcript) and other members raised concerns about resident perception if curbside recyclables appear to be commingled during collection, even when the city meets state targets. Dawn responded that Rolling Hills Estates and one other city (Lawndale) are among the few clients that requested mixed-waste processing and that most other jurisdictions in Republic's service area use three-cart systems.

Council members also questioned the legal footing of Republic's force majeure claim. One council member said they had consulted legal advisors and described portions of section 27.1 (the force majeure clause) as focused on disasters within the jurisdiction; that council member described the companyletter as a "stretch" for force majeure and asked staff to check with the city attorney. Dawn said Republic would share more details and a formal proposal for consideration.

The transcript records several operational and outreach concerns from council and staff if service routines change. Members emphasized the city's limited staff capacity to handle a surge of resident inquiries and called for a concerted public-education effort if collection days or methods are altered. Council members said the city's high green-waste tonnage helps it meet state recycling metrics and noted that those green-waste figures are tracked separately on monthly reports. They also discussed possible intermediate diversion targets (for example, 20% instead of 30% or 10%) as potential compromise positions, while stressing that any change should be paired with an outreach plan and clear customer communications.

The council requested a written set of suggestions from Republic to open formal negotiations. Dawn asked for two weeks to consult with company management; council members requested three weeks in some remarks and then set a follow-up check-in. The council and Republic tentatively scheduled a follow-up discussion and asked Republic to deliver recommended options and outreach strategies for the cityto review ahead of the next meeting.

No formal motion or vote on contract changes was recorded in the transcript. The council directed staff to obtain a written proposal from Republic Services and to seek legal clarification about the applicability of force majeure under section 27.1.

The discussion closed with an agreement that Republic would return with written recommendations and implementation ideas, and that the council would consider any formal proposal in a future meeting.