Council approves $1.98 per month recycling rate increase

The Eatonville Town Council passed a resolution May 28 increasing recycling rates of $1.98 per month per customer The vote was unanimous.
Eatonville Mayor Mike Schaub said the contract was set up for increases of 70 percent, of the CPI, but a letter from the contractor sought to make the change to 100 percent.

“The CPI (here) has different variables (here) than in Seattle,” he said. “The council felt that 70 percent was reasonable for the contract and I was glad to see them hold the line.” 

The resolution defined recyclable materials as plastic bottles, jugs, jars, dairy tubs, and buckets, paper boxes and bags, mixed paper, and cardboard, aluminum and metal cans and newspapers. There will be a drop site for glass bottles and jars.

This was the second time the resolution came before the Council. Minutes of its May 13 meeting show the council tabled an original request which would have set increases of 100 percent of CPI changes.

Council member Robert Thomas motioned to amend Resolution 2019-N to provide for the 70 percent CPI change There was no second, and the motion died, but Council member Thomas motioned to table it until the May 28 Council meeting

“A motion was made and seconded to amend the resolution, to continue with the 70 percent of the CPI as a basis for any rate adjustment (increase or decrease) on each anniversary of the exclusive franchise agreement, rather than changing it to 100% CPI,  as the contractor requested,” said Council member Bob Walter in an email. “That motion passed, and the resolution, as amended, also passed.”

On each anniversary date of the agreement, Pierce County Refuse will have the right — after giving the town prior notice —to increase or decrease the rates based on the latest available figures from the Consumer Price Index, which is set by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

In a letter to Mayor Mike Schaub, Pierce County Refuse district manager Chris Geraldes said the rates needed to be adjusted, due to uncontrollable global changes in the recycling market.

Schaub noted there is a changing market for the recycling industry. He noted that the industry sends recyclables to China, and the method of sorting them has changed. Workers there no longer sort mixed recyclables when they arrive.

Recyclables that were shipped together, without being separated and rinsed out, but now, separate bins are required,” Schaub said. “That drove up the price.