West Valley Recycles reviews services and customer rules as Saratoga council seeks details on rates and outreach

Mayor Chuck Page convened a joint meeting of the Saratoga City Council and the West Valley Solid Waste Management Authority on the Authority’s services, customer programs and upcoming audits.

Rob Hilton, executive director of the West Valley Authority, said the agency — branded West Valley Recycles — is run by a four-member elected board and relies entirely on contractors to deliver services. "We primarily get things done through contractors," Hilton said, and described the authority’s budget priorities: roughly 30% for public education, 26% for regulatory compliance, about 10% for administration, 8% for rate-setting and 3% for legal expenses.

Andy Buck, Bay Area outreach manager for Waste Connections, walked council members through the three core streams customers should know: organics (food and yard waste), recycling (paper, containers and rigid plastics) and landfill (items that cannot be recycled or composted). Buck said some paper products such as pizza boxes belong in organics because grease contaminates recycling streams, while small or flexible plastics and textile fibers commonly go to landfill.

Buck reviewed container options for single-family homes (20-, 35-, 65- and 95-gallon sizes), explained that residents may have up to two recycle carts at no charge and up to three organics carts at no charge, and reminded residents to leave two to three feet of clearance between carts for mechanical pickup. He also described an on-call bulky cleanup program that allows up to 9 cubic yards of material per cleanup and three premium cleanups per single-family account each year; multifamily properties receive different allowances tied to unit counts.

The panel highlighted household battery collection using fluorescent bags and a driver-exchange system. "If you have batteries in a zip-top bag, put it on your landfill cart and the driver will leave a fluorescent bag," Buck said, adding that fluorescent bags improve driver visibility and reduce road litter.

Multifamily and commercial accounts receive tailored services: property managers pay a per-unit rate that affords unlimited service to help prevent illegal dumping, and commercial customers can receive collection up to six times per week on request. Outreach campaigns targeted to coffee shops, convenience stores and restaurants used checklists and cost calculators to show businesses how recycling and organics can reduce landfill costs; Buck said about 60% of coffee-shop participants met all the outreach goals set on the checklist.

Council members asked for clarification on events, billing and recent contract changes. Hilton said the authority’s overall budget is roughly what he stated in the presentation and that the residential 35-gallon rate appears near $70 per month (billed quarterly). He also said a CPI-style annual adjustment will apply this year and that a contract-defined cost-based adjustment is scheduled for year 4 of the contract.

Vice Mayor Tina Walea and other councilors praised improvements in battery handling and driver training. Walea urged continued outreach to seniors and residents hesitant to use new services; officials said door hangers in English and Spanish and metal enclosure signs have been effective in multifamily outreach and are being considered for commercial sites and Saratoga’s enclosure project.

Hilton and Waste Connections staff promised to follow up on requested details (event counts for the city, the chart of budget components) and to provide staff training and documentation ahead of an expected compliance review by CalRecycle.

The council closed the joint session and moved to its regular city meeting location.