Preview: 4/14/26 Special City council meeting
Meeting Summary
This meeting was scheduled to decide which company will become Fullerton’s trash hauler.
Study Session: Waste Management Proposal
Fullerton’s waste management is currently serviced by Republic Services until 6/30/27. On 9/2/26, City Council directed staff to begin receiving proposals from waste management companies. They voted on a scoring chart that assigns point totals to different categories in order to evaluate all the offers consistently and fairly. Staff is now requesting City Council vote on which company to proceed with.
An important component of this process is SB1383 compliance. SB1383 is a state law passed in 2016 that governs how companies dispose of organic material. Noncompliance with this law can result in penalties of $500-$10k per violation per day.
The Rankings With Staff Summaries
EDco Disposal
Advantages: top three in SB 1383 Compliance, Related
Experience, Safety and Customer Service, Operation, and Value
Added Services. Top scores for Document Organization, Project
Team, Other Resources, and Local Commitment. Proposing
local Terminal to house fleet and customer service in the City,
generating City revenue through property taxes, sales tax, and
potential employment opportunities for residents
Disadvantages: No negatives in any scoring category. Would
charge $1.25 per household per month if they took over
Residential billing, this would reduce their proposed rate score,
dropping them from the top spot, if City chooses hauler billing
CR&R Environmental Services
Advantages: Due to number and type of facilities, number of
franchises in Orange County and program data presented in the
proposal, CR&R scored highest in SB 1383 Compliance and second
highest in Related Experience. Received highest score for Value
Added Services, providing full SB 1383 procurement offset and
additional quantified notations totaling $800,000. Highest
interview score. Provided only lower cost landfill option.
Disadvantages: Upload challenges due to large file size resulted insubmission of complete draft without artwork, and therefore
scored lowest in the Document Organization category. Neglected
to provide performance metric and missing table and formatting
issues in the Safety and Customer Service area of the proposal.
Universal Waste Systems
Advantages: Second-highest in Project Team and Resumes, Value
Added Services, and Local Commitment. Highest ranked in
Proposed Rates. Ownership of multiple regional disposal
processing facilities, along with a solid waste truck and container
manufacturing company, provides an operational advantage.
Disadvantages: Minimal experience with serving a citycomparable to Fullerton, and rolling out a large scale commercial
organics program.
NASA Services
Advantages: Scored well in most categories, and received the
highest mark for Proposed Rates and References.
Disadvantages: Size of firm and limited number of exclusivemunicipal franchises. Minimal Safety and Customer Service
information submitted in proposal, and not as detailed as other
proposers. Limited Value Added Services provided received
lowest score.
ATHENS SERVICES
Advantages: They scored highest in Related Experience, and
Safety and Customer Service. Other than pricing, one of the
highest rated firms.
Disadvantages: More exceptions to the agreement than mostproposers, and their pricing was significantly higher.
Valley Vista Services
Advantages: Interviewed very well, and presented the largest
discount in pricing in their resubmittal to address actual County
Landfill rates for July 2027. Very good scores on 9 out of 15
categories including third highest scoring on price.
Disadvantages: Some reviewers felt the proposal was notorganized well and noted missing attachments. Referenced letter
from insurance company was not attached which also impacted
financial ability to perform scores by a number of evaluators.
Concerns over compliance order in Pasadena, insufficient SB 1383
compliance detail, and limited examples of educational materials
in comparison to other proposers. Safety and Customer Service
marked down for generalized response. Dollar value provided for
enhancements was below average.
GreenWaste Recovery
Advantages: Excellent references and operations in Northern
California. One of the best organized proposals. Great local
commitment. Fullerton would be their base of operations for
planned expansion into Southern California.
Disadvantages: No local operational experience or facilities.Number of Exceptions taken to City's agreement contributed in
second-lowest score. Proposed Value Added Services did not
provide the tangible benefits of other proposers. Pricing was
among the highest.
Ware Disposal
Advantages: Document Organization, SB 1383 Compliance,
Financial Ability to Perform, and Operation scoring was good.
Disadvantages: No area in the reviews resulted in a top threescore, and only one in the top four. Lack of experience with an
exclusive franchise on par with Fullerton. Indicated letter of
commitment for organic processing not relevant to Fullerton.
Insufficient illustration of safety operations and training records.
Some apprehension with the customer service program not being
as robust and localized as other firms presented. Lowest score in
Oral Evaluation, not being as prepared or organized as other
proposers.
Republic Services
Advantages: Document Organization, Financial Ability to Perform,
and Guaranteed Organic Waste Capacity scores were above
average.
Disadvantages: Received lowest score for SB 1383 Compliance,
Operation, and References. In general, the reviewers were
concerned with the lack of acknowledgement of current contract
compliance, operational, and customer service issues. They also
received the lowest score in Exceptions, objecting to the City's
preferred CPI and age of fleet requirements. Proposed
Commercial rates were among the highest
How Do Their Services Differ?
Below shows how each company differs in general costs or services. Bid alternate refers to the increase in cost (if any) if the company bills residents directly as opposed to the city handling billing. Pricing is montly.
EDCO
Residential: $32.75
Commercial: $236.82 (up to 3 cubic yards. one pickup per week)
Bid Alternate: $1.25
Bulk Item Pickup: 4 free per year
CR&R Environmental Services
Residential: $32.64
Commercial: $275.67 (up to 3 cubic yards. one pickup per week)
Bid Alternate: $0
Bulk Item Pickup: 4 free per year
Universal Waste Systems
Residential: $20.69
Commercial: $261.98 (up to 3 cubic yards. one pickup per week)
Bid Alternate: $1.45 per customer per household per month
Bulk Item Pickup: 4 free per year
NASA Services
Residential: $26.00
Commercial: $206.00 (up to 3 cubic yards. one pickup per week)
Bid Alternate: $120,000 per year per household
Bulk Item Pickup: 4 free per year
Athens
Residential: $42.32
Commercial: $318.37 (one bin. one pickup per week)
Bid Alternate: $0
Bulk Item Pickup: 4 free per year
Valley Vista Services
Residential: $29.24
Commercial: $242.10 (up to 3 cubic yards. one pickup per week)
Bid Alternate: $0.53 per customer per household per month
Bulk Item Pickup: 4 free per year. $40 after that + $20 per item
GreenWaste Recovery
Residential: $34.94
Commercial: $312 (up to 3 cubic yards. one pickup per week)
Bid Alternate: $0
Ware Disposal
Residential: $37.73
Commercial: $311.74 (up to 3 cubic yards. one pickup per week)
Bid Alternate: $1.55 per customer per household per month
Bulk Item Pickup: 4 free per year
Republic Services
Residential: $25.82
Commercial: $351.96 (up to 3 cubic yards. one pickup per week)
Bid Alternate: $0
Bulk Item Pickup: Unlimited (by request)
How Did Each Company Score?
Waste management scores by category
Policy Perspective
Waste management contracts are one of the most expensive and longest contracts that cities enter into. It is important that the decision is not made lightly. Up for consideration are the top three (EDCO, CR&R, and Universal) as well as three companies requested by Jung and Valencia: Athens (5), Valley Vista (6), and Republic (9).
The Top 3
EDCO ranks highest because they have competitive pricing, a proven track record, quality customer service, and excellent organization and compliance. Their local terminal would also provide jobs and additional revenue to the city. They are the strongest choice overall and would be the safest option for the City.
CR&R ranks second mostly due to excellent compliance, experience, facilities, and extra services. This option is the best compliance-heavy proposal, providing strong legal protection and infrastructure.
Universal ranks largely due to their rates, customer service, and extra services. This option would be the best “value” proposal, providing the best rates while still scoring high in operations. The main concern with this option is their lack of experience with cities Fullerton’s size or larger.
Other Considerations
Athens is a very large company with extensive experience servicing large cities. They have excellent compliance with state law and quality customer service. However, they rank last in pricing due to rates significantly higher than the other proposals.
Valley Vista offers competitive pricing but ranks very low in compliance, financial capability, organization, and customer service. Given that Universal offers better rates with better services, Valley Vista is a weak choice with no distinctive benefits.
Republic ranks high in financial capability but very low in most other categories. They are arguably the weakest option on this list.
