A "GREEN" Commercial Waste Hauler Contract

UPDATE!!! Last night (9/22) the City Council okayed a contract with Waste Management for the single commercial and multifamily hauler. Free recycling, natural gas trucks, and lower rates across the board... Not bad huh!

As a Director of The Solid Waste Agency of Lake County, I have been working with our Exec. Director Walter Willis to promote a better way to deal with our commercial waste and recyclables. Our sister organization in cook county (SWANCC) has negotiated several commercial franchise agreements that have provided FREE recycling and reduced costs for their commercial customers. Other benefits have included greener trucks with less of them pounding the streets and rambling through our towns. This is a new era as "business as usual" must be contained in a sustainable format.

To this end the City of Highland Park put out a single hauler franchise request for proposal this summer and we are reviewing the responses. We hope to finalize negotiations and sign a contract with a single hauler by October 1st. We should be able to reduce costs for our businesses in Highland Park while providing an entire green approach for our community. This means free recycling along with a program that greatly increases our recyclable output.

I again take my hat off to our staff and city council for the great support and enthusiasm for this initiative. Stay tuned and I will give an update on the results of this effort. We have a City
Council vote coming up September 8th to negotiate with a single hauler and then a final contract vote on the 22nd of September.