Staff recommends that City Council award a contract for cardboard recycling to Earth First Aid for $75 per ton.  

On June 26, 2023, Council approved solid waste rates that incorporated a curbside cardboard recycling program effective September 11, 2023.  Public Works will be composting some of the cardboard collected and hauling the remainder to a vendor that will process and recycle the cardboard.  Staff estimates a maximum of 5,000 tons per year will be hauled to the vendor to be recycled.

The contract for cardboard recycling was advertised on August 4 and August 11, 2023, in the Yellowstone County News and on the City's website.  Bids were opened on August 15, 2023, and one bid was received from Earth First Aid.  Earth First Aid is the only cardboard recycler in the city so we knew there was a possiblilty of only getting one bid.  Shipping the material out of the city for recycling would be more expensive and the bid from Earth First Aid was reviewed and considered to be reasonable based on market research. 

City Council may:

• Approve the contract with Earth First Aid in an amount not to exceed $375,000; or
• Do not award a contract and reject the bid.  If the contract is not awarded, the cardboard collected will not be recycled and all cardboard in excess of the amount that can be composted will continue to be disposed of in the landfill.  

Earth First Aid submitted the only bid of $75 per ton. Although only one bid was received, staff believes that it is a fair bid for market conditions.  The estimate that staff received prior to the bid was $100 per ton.  The contract includes a not to exceed amount of $375,000 for the year which allows for the hauling of 5,000 tons of cardboard for recycling. Solid waste rates approved by Council at the June 26, 2023, Council meeting include the cost of cardboard recycling; however, the budget approved by Council earlier in June does not include this expense.  Therefore, a budget amendment will be required to increase the FY 24 solid waste budget.