Republic will continue to provide alley service. 

Updated 9/10/24: If you received a notice that your service location was changing from alley to curbside, you can ignore it. Continue placing your trash cart in the alley as usual.

Based on the many concerns raised by community members and conversations with City staff, Republic has reassessed the criteria to transition many homes from alley to curbside service. They will now only switch to curbside service in cases where there is a significant safety concern for either the drivers or residents.

In limited cases in which there is a significant safety concern for residents and truck drivers, and Republic officials decide service location must change from the alley to the curbside, you will receive clear information in advance about the new service location.

Yes, customers may suspend service for one month or more once per calendar year. During the service suspension, the customer will be charged the XS service rate ($11.10 / month). The customer will not be charged to start or end the service suspension.

Households may hire their own company for trash hauling services but will need to pay an opt-out fee of $11.10/per month. The opt-out fee provides a baseline of predictable revenue for the contracted hauler, allowing for a cost-effective price for the contracted service.

Overall it was decided this was a net gain for the community, both in terms of service improvement and diversion of materials from landfilling. 

Is the opt-out fee legal?

Municipalities in Colorado can legally charge an opt-out fee to anyone who wishes to use a different hauler than the awarded contractor or who wishes to haul their own trash and recycling to the appropriate facilities. State authorization comes from the Code of Colorado Regulations CRS 30-15-401(7.5)(b). 

The state statutory provision, along with the Colorado Supreme Court case of Colo. Union of Taxpayers Found. v. City of Aspen, 418 P.3d 506 (Colo. 2018), provides the City with the sufficient legal authority to charge the opt-out fee to residents, even if they do not receive services through the City’s program.

The prices for the contracted service include a $1.35 monthly City Administrative Fee to recover the City’s cost of administering the contract (including program roll-out, program management, contract compliance, and customer service). More information on this fee can be found in the Solid Waste Collection Program Administrative Fee Study.

What is administrative fee used for? 

The City administrative fee ($1.35/month) will be used by the City to help cover the program's administrative costs, including program management, contractor compliance, and customer service.

Homeowners Associations, Mobile Home Parks, or Metro Districts that currently have a group account for trash service may continue with a group account under the City program.

Here's how group accounts work: the group account representative will choose a standard trash cart size for their community, either the Small 35-gallon($19.10/month) or Medium 65-gallon ($37.10/month). Republic will bill the group account the cost of the standard cart size for every household in the group. The cost of service may be reflected to residents as part of their dues, or in their lot rent or lease.

In addition to the group account, each household will have an individual Republic account and can choose their own cart size and customize their service to best meet their needs.  

Important to note:

Residents’ individual accounts will be directly billed by Republic for: overflow trash or if a household selects a service level larger than what is paid for by the Group Account. 

A household will receive a credit balance on their individual Republic account if: the household selects a service level less than what is paid for by the Group Account, opts-out, receives a program variance, and uncorrected missed pick-ups. 

When comparing the price of service before the program began with contracted price for service, the contracted service price is lower than the average service price paid by residents before the program began.  

• In the contracted program, price increases are only allowed in certain circumstances and will be predictable and communicated well in advance of any change. 
  • The contract includes a predictable 3% yearly price increase that will be communicated well in advance. Additional price increases will only be allowed in very restricted circumstances (such as new regulations impacting the hauling industry) and must be approved by and negotiated with the City. 
• Residents paid different prices for the same service before the program began.
  • A Trash Bill Analysis of prices paid by Fort Collins residents in 2022 showed a wide variation in prices paid under the current licensed, open-market system. Some residents paid $10-$15 more for the same service from the same company in the same area of town. The contracted program gives all residents access to the same cost-effective rates for service.
• Residents had little control over pricing before the program began.
  • Before the program began, each household negotiated its price with its hauler. If they dislike the price offered, the primary option was to select another company, which may or may not offer a better price.

If you opted-out of yard trimmings, the cost of service was reduced from your rate. A credit does not appear as a separate line item. 

In Fort Collins’ current open market system, customer service is unregulated.

In the contracted program, the hauler will be held to high customer service requirements.

The hauler will face financial penalties if they do not meet metrics such as responding to customers within one business day or if hold times exceed three minutes.

They must also maintain dedicated customer service representatives focused on the Fort Collins program. 

If residents experience issues such as not having their carts not delivered by the next service day or not having a missed collection picked up within one business day of being reported, they will receive a one-month service credit and the hauler would have to pay an additional penalty.

If issues become persistent, the City could exit the contract.

The City of Fort Collins will manage the contract with the selected hauler and provide education and outreach to the community.  

The contracted hauler will conduct billing and provide dedicated customer service representatives for this program.

The contract term is for five years from the service start date. At the end of the contract, the City will conduct a new competitive purchasing process and may or may not switch to a different hauler.

Households may hire their own company for waste hauling services but will need to pay an opt-out fee of  $11.10/per month. 

The opt-out fee provides a baseline of predictable revenue for the contracted hauler, allowing for a cost-effective price for the contracted service. 

All households included in the program that do not opt-out will receive new, city-branded trash, recycling, and yard trimmings carts.

The contract includes new, city-branded carts for the following reasons:

• Having all new, city-owned carts prevents any company looking to submit a proposal for the City contract from having an advantage in the competitive purchasing process because of carts.
  • For instance, if one company had many carts in the community now and didn’t have to replace them, they might be able to offer a different price than other companies because they don’t have to purchase or deliver carts. To receive multiple competitive proposals and the best pricing for Fort Collins residents now and in the future, the competitive purchasing process is designed to prevent such advantages.
• It provides less change when the next contract starts.
  • Regardless of whether the City is to select a different hauler in the next competitive purchasing process, carts will remain at households. These cost savings can be passed along to residents.
• Fort Collins has received a grant from The Recycling Partnership to offset part of the new cart cost. These savings are passed through to residents and result in a $0.25 / month/household reduction in the rates, reflected in the service prices shared with the community.

Old carts

Republic will pick up their old carts either reuse them in other areas, or recycle them. Republic partnered with Rehrig Pacific, a cart manufacturer that has a well-established buy-back program for carts that have reached the end of use. Rehrig has a network of recyclers that grind old carts down into a size that can be used in the manufacturing process.  This circular economy model diverts old carts from the landfill and re-uses the old cart material by injecting it into the core of new carts for distribution.

Other haulers will collect their carts for no additional charge and reuse them in other areas or recycle them. 

The contracted program is the most affordable way to enable actions critical to meeting Fort Collins’ adopted goal to produce zero waste by 2030. 

Fort Collins has identified a stagnant residential trash diversion rate as one of the challenges to progress on that goal. Fort Collins's 2021 Residential Diversion rate was 29%, and the Community Diversion Rate (combining residential, commercial, and industrial materials) was 52%. 

Contracted residential trash and recycling collection aligns with several adopted plans and other Council priorities. Those plans include: 

• Big Move 2: Zero Waste Neighborhoods
• Principle ENV 5: Create a Zero Waste System
• Environmental Health 4.3 Zero Waste

Contracting for single-family home trash, recycling, and compost supports 

• Accelerate Composting: 
  • The proposed program would enable a 78% - 130% increase in yard trimmings composted from Fort Collins residents.
  • Composting is a critical path for meeting climate goals.
  • Food scraps can be addressed in a contract amendment in the future as the options for food waste composting infrastructure becomes clearer. 
• Improve Air Quality:fewer trucks driving along residential roads reduces related air emissions and greenhouse gas emissions.  
• Enhanced Recycling Education:The proposed program would include educational requirements in a contract for residential trash, recycling and compost service. It would also ensure all residents could have access to the same educational resources and programs and many would be provided in Spanish.

In a contracted system, haulers compete for the chance to provide service to all single-family, duplex, and small multifamily homes (with seven or fewer units) in a neighborhood. The contract provides the city the option to obtain curbside collection services at “bulk rate” prices for households. Households that want to use a different hauler can pay an opt-out fee. Communities in Colorado and across the U.S. have found that this type of system reduces the number of trucks in residential neighborhoods, makes prices more consistent, and increases opportunities for recycling and composting.

In addition to a contracted system, there are three other systems cities can use to manage trash and recycling collections for households. 

• Pure Open Market: Each household chooses their own hauler for trash and recycling collection. Local government does not play a role in this system. 
• Open Market with Licensing (system Fort Collins’ used to have): Each household chooses their own licensed hauler for trash and recycling collection. The local government issues the licenses and may include requirements such as offering recycling and compost collection. 
• Contracted System (system Fort Collins moved to): A local government contracts with one or more companies to provide residential trash and recycling collection. 
• City Hauling Utility: A city owns and operates their own hauling utility using city staff, resources and equipment. 

The project to explore moving to a contracted system began in early 2022, when City staff engaged with community members to understand their goals and risks to avoid in a contracted system and City Council’s goals in a project.  

City staff incorporated that feedback, and staff and outside consultants conducted a competitive purchasing process in mid to late 2022. Waste Management, Republic Services, and Sweetman Sanitation submitted proposals. After reviewing each proposal, City staff moved forward with negotiations with Republic Services as their proposal most closely aligned with the evaluation criteria. City staff then shared the contract with community members and engaged about the contract prior to the Council voting to adopt the contract in late February 2023. 

Materials for each City Council meeting on this topic can be found below: 

• April 12, 2022 work session: What is contracted residential hauling, how it is different from a licensed open market, and initial feedback received from the community 
  • Written materials
    
  • Meeting recording
• July 12, 2022 work session: Discussion of contracted residential hauling program elements
  • Written materials
  • Meeting recording
• July 19, 2022 regular session: Resolution directing the design and issuance of a Request for Proposals for contracted residential hauling 
  • Written materials
  • Meeting recording
• February 21, 2023 regular session: First reading of contract approval
  • Written materials (agenda item #15)
  • Meeting recording
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• March 7, 2023 regular session: Second reading of contract approval
  • Written materials (agenda item #3)
  • Meeting recording

Read the Current Contract for Residential Solid Waste Collection Services.

Benefits of weekly recycling include:

• Anticipate recovering an additional 800-2500 tons of recyclables per year (9%-27% increase over current levels)
• Reduce greenhouse gas emissions from solid waste collection by ~3.8%
• Supports the increase in recycling from online shopping and people working from home

More than 70% of U.S. cities use either a contracted system or municipal hauling utility. On the Front Range, more than 10 cities have a contracted system for trash and recycling including Commerce City, Dacono, Edgewater, Frederick, Greenwood Village, Golden, Lafayette, Lone Tree, Louisville, Morrison, and Sheridan.