Chicago Reduces Recycling Costs with Competitive Bidding

Chicago has reduced its recycling costs by $1 million during the first quarter of competitive bidding, according to an annoucement by Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has announced that Chicago has reduced its recycling costs by $1 million during the first quarter of competitive bidding. Mayor Emanuel says that the savings were due to cooperation between labor unions and city government to increase efficiencies in the city’s blue cart recycling program.

“I am committed to protecting every cent of taxpayer money,” says Mayor Emanuel. “We launched competitive bidding for recycling in an effort to save money while delivering quality services, and our results have exceeded our expectations. This is a crucial step forward in our ongoing effort to serve the taxpayers of Chicago as efficiently as possible.”

The city estimates the cost for recycling services from July through September 2011, before the city implemented its competitive bidding program, was $3.15 million. After the competitive bidding process was installed, the resulting cost was $2.16 million – a 31 percent reduction. Union employees were able to reduce the price-per-cart from $4.77 at the beginning of the competition to $3.75 per cart for the month of December, 2011 – a 21 percent reduction, according to a news release.

The news release also says private sector competitors posted a price-per-cart figure of $2.70, the average price they bid as part of the city’s RFP for recycling services.

Mayor Emanuel adds that the competitive bidding for recycling is the first step toward extending the city’s blue cart recycling program throughout the city. In 2012, another 20,000 households will get recycling services, bringing the total number of households in the program to more than 260,000.

The recycling competition is between two private sector companies, Midwest Metal Management and Waste Management, and Chicago Department of Streets and Sanitation employees. The city has been divided into six zones, four of which are being serviced by the private sector companies and two that are serviced by city employees.

This spring, at the six-month interval, Chicago will evaluate the recycling cost data and move forward with the best plan to provide recycling services for the city.