Residents Get Free Garbage Cans Under WM Rate Increase Contract

’s new eight-year garbage collection contract guarantees Waste Management annual rate increases of 3 to 3.25 percent, but also provides each residence with two new 96-gallon wheeled carts – one for refuse and the other for recycling – free of charge.

The contract extension was approved 5-1 by the Plainfield Village Board Monday, with Trustee Garrett Peck casting the lone negative vote.

Residents will pay $20.07 a month in 2012, the last year of the current contract, for Waste Management to pick up trash, recyclables and landscape waste. Starting on Jan. 1, 2013, and every year for the first four years of the contract, rates will go up by 3.25 percent; for the last four years of the contract – and eight years beyond, if the village exercises its option to extend the deal through 2028 – rates will escalate 3 percent annually.  

That adds up to 65 cents more a month in the first year of the contract and 75 cents more a month in 2020, the last year of the eight-year deal. Put another way, residents will be paying $25.67 a month for waste collection by 2020 and, if the pact is extended, $32.52 a month by 2028.

For the 35 percent of residents currently renting 96-gallon wheeled totes from Waste Management, however, the increase won’t really kick in for five years because they will no longer have to pay $3 a month for the service, Village Administrator Brian Murphy said.

The other benefits negotiated into the contract, Murphy said, include Waste Management agreeing to dispose of 215 tons of debris collected by village street sweepers free of charge, saving the landfill tipping fees Plainfield has been paying, and recycling up to 15 3.5-gallon buckets of batteries annually, also free of charge. The village currently has a program through which residents can drop off batteries for recycling at village hall.

Peck said he believed the village should bid the contract rather than simply extending the Waste Management deal in order to ensure Plainfield was getting the best possible deal.

“There’s a lot of money being spent here,” he said. “I’m leaning toward the bid process for (the sake of) due diligence.”

But other board members said they were pleased with the quality of Waste Management’s work and convinced the village was getting a good deal when compared to what other municipalities are charged for waste collection.

“I think (Waste Management) gives us a great service, and it seems to be fair based on Mr. Murphy’s survey,” Trustee Bill Lamb said.

Trustee Jim Racich agreed. “I like Waste Management. They’re efficient, they’re courteous, they’re dependable. What I really like is they have a wide range of services (including the removal of large items, such as appliances or furniture).”

One of the advantages of providing residents with totes is it’s likely to get even more people to separate items that can be recycled, said Mike Morley, Waste Management municipal marketing manager.

“Recycling participation is very high in Plainfield, and we think this is going to make it even higher yet,” he said.

Residents will receive documents by mail explaining how the new carts will be distributed, said Morley, who expects most of the totes to be delivered by February or March. The notice will also explain how residents can obtain 64-gallon refuse totes if they don’t want the 96-gallon version, he said.