Naperville switching garbage haulers May 1

Naperville will be switching garbage haulers May 1 despite a last-minute offer from the current provider looking to keep the business.

The city council unanimously approved a four-year, $22.6 million contract with Waste Management for residential garbage and landscape waste collection.

An offer submitted Monday by Republic Services, which currently collects garbage in Naperville, would have been $261 cheaper, according to an analysis by city staff members.

But that offer came after Republic Services, Waste Management and one other company had submitted official bids for the contract to haul waste from about 41,000 households in the city. Republic Services originally offered a price of $6,413,654, which would have resulted in a four-year total of $25.6 million.

City council members said they were satisfied with the bidding process and the resulting contract.

"We're not smarter than the market and we shouldn't question the market. Let the market work," council member Steve Chirico said. "Competition almost always benefits the buyer."

In this case, Chirico said the buyer is Naperville residents who will continue to have their garbage picked up weekly. Residents will have until the end of May to use their old yard waste stickers for pickup of leaves, branches and lawn materials.

Council member David Wentz asked what efforts Waste Management is making to use trucks that run on compressed natural gas, which is an alternative fuel known to emit less greenhouse gases.

Waste Management will operate seven trucks using compressed natural gas when the contract begins, and by the end of the year, the company plans to deploy 10 trucks in Naperville running on the alternative fuel. Four other trucks will remain on diesel fuel, and Waste Management representatives said those will be older vehicles used to collect yard waste.

Once the new contract is signed, City Manager Doug Krieger said Naperville will begin discussions with Waste Management about the possibility of the company offering organic waste pickup for things such as pet waste and billing interested residents directly for the service.

"There are so many people with pets and we're supposed to pick up their droppings," Council member Robert Fieseler said. "It will make more sense not to throw it in the garbage."