Republic Services’ December/January trash bill (billed in two-month increments) is causing some confusion for residents who have trash service through the Maplewood Trash Plan. To clear things up, the December 2019 portion of the bill reflects the price for the old contract, which expired at the end of December. The January 2020 portion of the bill represents pricing under the new contract.
The price increase is due in part to the trash haulers losing their tipping fee rebate. The Recycling and Energy (R&E) Center in Newport used to be privately owned and there would be a rebate to haulers for disposing trash at the facility instead of bringing it to a landfill. Now that it is owned by Ramsey and Washington Counties the law has changed and the haulers have to bring the trash to the R&E Center. Money earmarked for the rebate will be used to reduce overall waste and increase reuse and recycling. This will support healthy communities and help meet the state goal of a 75% recycling rate.
Maplewood had a competitive bidding process for the new contract with six proposals received. Republic Services offered the city the best value in terms of price, environmental considerations, and service among other criteria. Maplewood still offers residents one of the most competitive trash hauling prices in the metro.
Here is a comparison of the 2019 and 2020 pricing two-month pricing: 