Agenda Packets - 2015/08/03 - Laserfiche WebLink

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6 • Foth Infrastructure & Environment, LLC March 2014 ♦ Residents have freedom of choice and receive great service because of competition. Homeowners’ associations (or neighborhood blocks) can select a hauler, or stay open to choice by each household. ♦ The City should maintain the freedom of choice, but if the City does change the trash collection system, it should keep the present haulers that are in the system. ♦ Several (3) cart sizes are available and everyone can have a cart. When asked what things are not going well with the trash system, the haulers noted that: ♦ They have difficulty in collecting bad debt and managing changing bill responsibility when residents change haulers or use different names to avoid paying the trash bill. ♦ Residents lack an understanding of holidays (e.g., major vs. minor holidays for the trash collection calendar) and the City’s trash zones. Better information from the City to residents is needed. ♦ Residents do not understand the real cost of services, possibly because there are so many different rates for the same service in the City. ♦ It is difficult for haulers to enforce various City ordinances (e.g., requirements to recycle, service areas, etc.) The haulers were asked what is going well with recycling in Bloomington, and they responded that: ♦ Single-stream recycling has been very successful and Bloomington residents have higher participation in recycling because:  Residents are well educated.  Bloomington’s older population has a strong recycling ethic.  Most residents take the time to recycle and ask about what can / can’t be recycled. ♦ Contamination in the recycling carts is relatively low. ♦ Some haulers provide several sizes of recycling carts. When the haulers were asked how recycling could be improved, they responded that: ♦ Residents don’t understand the cost of recycling; there is a perception that recycling is a gold mine. ♦ Residents don’t always know their recycling day. ♦ Formerly, haulers were asked to provide a list of residential customers who are “non- recyclers”. Haulers believe “telling” on customers goes against their desires to provide very good customer service. ♦ Haulers are asked to report the percentage of customers that “participate” in recycling for Bloomington’s ReTRAC reports to Hennepin County, but they do not have a common understanding of the City’s definition of “participation rates”. The City or County should define the methods and terms for these numbers.