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Shorewood council directs staff to issue recycling RFP while weighing organics and service bundling
Summary
The Shorewood City Council agreed during a March 10 work session to proceed with a draft recycling RFP that explores single-sort replacement, curbside organics, and alternate hauler proposals; staff aims to publish in April and present selections by mid- to late-summer for the 2026 budget.
The Shorewood City Council on March 10 directed staff to proceed with a draft request for proposals for recycling services, noting the city’s current recycling contract expires Dec. 31, 2025.
Communications and Recycling Coordinator Wilson told the Council the draft RFP asks vendors to propose three scenarios: a single-sort recycling collection to replace the current contract, curbside organics collection, and alternative service configurations from haulers. He said the goal is to publish the RFP in April and make a selection by mid- to late-summer so any change could be considered in the 2026 budget process.
Mayor Jennifer Labadie and Councilmembers discussed whether Shorewood should explore unified hauling that bundles trash, recycling and organics. Councilmember DiGruttolo said bundling could make the city’s business more attractive to haulers and could produce lower rates; City Administrator Nevinski cautioned that pursuing unified hauling would be a longer process governed by statute and that five-year contracts are common because contractors seek multi-year security.
Wilson said the city will seek public input, including an online survey, and the Council focused on ensuring that the outreach be representative. "The concept of surveys kind of gives me hives," Mayor Labadie said, urging staff to consider ways to limit duplicate responses and, if possible, tie responses to addresses or one response per household.
Councilmember Sanschagrin asked that customer-service standards and accountability be built into the RFP, saying customer service complaints are the most frequent resident concern. Staff said they will revise the draft based on the Council’s feedback and either publish the RFP to gather proposals and survey results or, if the Council prefers more time, extend the existing contract for a limited period.
There was consensus to proceed with the staff direction to issue the RFP and return with survey results and vendor responses for Council review.
Next steps: staff plans to revise the draft to reflect Council feedback, publish the RFP in April, and report back later this summer with survey results and bids for Council consideration.
