The city announced Thursday that it has awarded its recycling contract to a new firm, saving $7 million, said Streets and Sanitation Commissioner Al Sanchez.
Allied Waste Transportation Inc. was awarded a three-year contract to take over the city’s recycling and waste processing services next February. For the past seven years Waste Management has collected and sorted items from the city’s Blue Bag Recycling program.
Sanchez said Allied Waste Transportation will collect city recyclables for $47 per ton, about $8 less than Waste Management. The Department of Streets and Sanitation collects about 1.2 million tons of waste annually and about 25 percent of that is recycled. Allied Waste was the lowest bidder among three contractors vying for the contract, Sanchez said.
“Basically nothing is going to change except we’re going to save ourselves some money,” Sanchez said.
