Background/Discussion
The City currently processes all contracted curbside collected and drop off recycling in the City. With the change to single stream recycling, the recyclables will need to go to a facility designed for single stream material.
The equipment at the Council Bluffs Recycling Center (CBRC) is not adequate to handle single stream materials. The CBRC will continue to sort and process the materials collected at the grocery store drop-off sites and materials delivered to the CBRC by residents.
Metro Waste Authority (MWA) is an independent government agency and is Iowa’s largest solid waste management authority. Its planning area encompasses thirty communities and two counties, operating two landfills, two transfer stations, 23 drop-off locations for recyclables, two household hazardous materials sites, and one Material Recovery Facility (MRF) opened in 2021. The state-of-the-art $30 million MRF is capable of processing 45,000 tons per year during one shift, and currently serves 200,000 households in Central Iowa.
The MWA MRF has available capacity and is interested in partnering with the City of Council Bluffs to process the single stream recyclables.
The agreement includes an initial three-year term beginning July 1, 2023 with three, three-year renewal options.
The first year processing fee is set at $85 per ton, including transportation from Council Bluffs. Estimating 1,600 tons will be collected, the projected annual cost is $136,000. The estimate from the 2021 Solid Waste Collection Study conducted by the City, was $125 per ton.
Material composition audits will be performed in the third and ninth month of the first year. After those audits, the City has the right to select a revenue sharing option, beginning the second year of the term. If revenue sharing is selected the processing fee will increase to $100 per ton. Using the current commodity market values, the revenue share processing fee is estimated at $127,000. With this option the cost savings is approximately $9,000.