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Board questions rise in roll‑off tonnage, food‑waste credits amid seasonal water use spike
Summary
Board members queried staff about a recent increase in roll‑off tonnage despite lower residential volumes and why food‑waste credits fell to zero; staff said Waste Management now treats processor material as trash and cited the closure of a local processor as contributing factors.
Board members at the Tulare Board of Public Utilities pressed staff about an apparent rise in roll‑off tonnage even as residential volumes fell and why the budget's food‑waste line showed zero.
A committee member asked, “Is that due to the fact the residential is also way down?” and addressed the question to a staffer mentioned in the discussion. A staff member responded that the metrics coincide and that operational practices — including placing residential collections into roll‑off containers on Mondays and Tuesdays for processing — have influenced recent numbers. The staff member added that March’s unusually warm weather contributed to a spike in per‑capita water use, which affected consumption comparisons.
On food‑waste accounting, a committee member noted the budget line shows zero. A staff member said that, until a few years ago, the city received food‑waste credits from major dairy processors, but Waste Management has reclassified much of that material as trash because of packaging. The staff member said, “Waste management has declared that's pretty much that's just trash, and we just put it in a roll off and take it to the landfill.” The closure of a local processor (Reese Foods) removed another source of credit, the staff member said, and current compost credits come mainly from route‑collected green cans from restaurants and businesses.
Board members asked about the contract that covers roll‑off and landfill charges; staff said the contract started in January 2023 as a two‑year agreement with two one‑year extensions, includes periodic CPI adjustments and mileage reviews, and that contract payments and landfill charges drive a large portion of the maintenance-and-operations line.
The exchange did not produce a separate formal action; the matter was discussed as part of the consent/operational agenda and related line items were later approved with the consent action.
