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Posted on Fri, May 11, 2012 : 5:58 a.m.

Ann Arbor extends contract with Waste Management to dump city's trash in landfill

By Ryan J. Stanton

This story has been revised to correct the price of the contract.

The Ann Arbor City Council approved a five-year contract extension Monday night with Waste Management for landfill disposal services.

The city plans to pay Waste Management several million dollars over the next five years to dump Ann Arbor's trash at the Woodland Meadows landfill in Wayne, Mich.

Ann Arbor delivers about 62,000 tons of solid waste to the landfill each year, according to a memo from Tom McMurtrie, the city's solid waste coordinator.

The City Council originally approved a five-year contract with Waste Management in June 2002, allowing for two additional five-year renewals under the same terms and conditions. In 2007, the City Council approved the first five-year renewal of the contract.

Tom_McMurtrie_Sept_19_2011.jpg

Tom McMurtrie

Ryan J. Stanton | AnnArbor.com

Waste Management established a base price of $10.17 per ton for years one and two of the agreement, with a 2.3 percent annual escalator thereafter.

According to McMurtrie, Waste Management's prices were 13 percent lower than the next lowest bid from Allied Waste when the city originally bid out the work.

The city will pay the following charges for years 11 through 15 on the contract:

  • Year 11 (2012/13): $12.99/ton
  • Year 12 (2013/14): $13.28/ton
  • Year 13 (2014/15): $13.57/ton
  • Year 14 (2015/16): $13.87/ton
  • Year 15 (2016/17): $14.18/ton

McMurtrie said the current year pricing is at $12.71 per ton, which includes a 36-cent per ton state fee on all waste entering Michigan landfills and a 15-cent per ton Wayne County inspection and oversight fee.

"In addition to excellent pricing, Waste Management has provided a safe and reliable site for the disposal of Ann Arbor's waste," McMurtrie wrote in a memo to council.

The city's street sweepings and seasonal wastewater treatment sludge also are disposed at the Woodland Meadows landfill.

Ryan J. Stanton covers government and politics for AnnArbor.com. Reach him at ryanstanton@annarbor.com or 734-623-2529. You also can follow him on Twitter or subscribe to AnnArbor.com's email newsletters.

Comments

kuriooo

Sat, May 12, 2012 : 1:21 a.m.

I'd also like to hear more about the financials. I'm hoping that Single-Stream will at least break even when you balance out the landfill / recycling savings.

Peter Eckstein

Fri, May 11, 2012 : 7:06 p.m.

Does Waste Management pick up the trash at curbside and directly dump it in Wayne? Or is it that city trucks pick it up and dump it someplace, and then WM picks it up and takes it to Wayne?

ranger007

Sat, May 12, 2012 : 1:12 a.m.

WM only does commercial waste not residential all the residential waste goes to the platt rd station and is sorted from there.

Ryan J. Stanton

Fri, May 11, 2012 : 4:03 p.m.

Thanks for the catch. The story has been corrected.

BobbyJohn

Fri, May 11, 2012 : 3:42 p.m.

Ryan, please clarify the article so that it is clear that the $770K is EACH year, for a total of about $5,000,000. Also Tom question/request is a good one. Can you find out this information?

ahi

Fri, May 11, 2012 : 1:29 p.m.

" $770,000 over the next five years" I am reading that as $770k total for five years, but the math doesn't work. Is it $770k annually for five years?

Tom Whitaker

Fri, May 11, 2012 : 1:26 p.m.

I'd like to know how many tons of waste were sent to the landfill before the single-stream recycling program was initiated at great cost, and how many tons have been going to the landfill since then. This, to me, would be the most relevant metric for measuring the success of the single-stream program--not how many tons are collected from the curbside recycling bins (or how many coupons are given out by RecycleBank).

Ryan J. Stanton

Fri, May 11, 2012 : 3:51 p.m.

I've requested the actuals for the last 10 years. I'll report back when I get them.