Residents and businesses within the City of Sonora limits will be paying a different company to pick up their trash and recycling starting next month.
At a public meeting Monday, the Sonora City Council voted 5-0 to approve a franchise agreement that gives Galt-based California Waste Recovery Systems LLC, also known as Cal-Waste, the exclusive right to serve as the city’s new trash and recycling hauler.
Cal-Waste is replacing Cal Sierra Disposal, a subsidiary of Waste Management, which has been the sole provider of curbside trash and recycling pickup services within the city limits since at least 1994.
The switch comes after the city put out a request for proposals back in July in anticipation of the current agreement with Cal Sierra Disposal expiring at the end of this month.
Cal Sierra Disposal and Cal-Waste each submitted proposals for a new agreement, with the latter’s being rated the highest by a review panel consisting of city staff and a member of the city Planning Commission.
In early September, the City Council voted 4-1 to allow city staff to negotiate a formal agreement with Cal-Waste despite objections from Cal Sierra Disposal representatives and employees at the time.
Residential trash rates are expected to remain the same during the first year under Cal-Waste, from Nov. 1, through Oct. 31, 2026, as the current rates charged by Cal Sierra Disposal. Commercial rates will increase slightly, but still be less than what Cal Sierra Disposal had proposed.
Cal-Waste will also provide curbside pickup of green waste every other week for the first time in the city beginning Nov. 1. Cal Sierra Disposal was also offering the same service, but it wasn’t set to start until March.
Commercial recycling rates under Cal-Waste were originally proposed to be much higher than what businesses are currently paying under Cal Sierra Disposal, which was one reason that Councilman Mark Plummer cited for previously voting against negotiating an agreement with the company.
However, through further negotiations with city staff, Cal-Waste brought the commercial recycling rates down 73% by agreeing to use about $95,000 in estimated recycling revenue to offset the costs.
It was noted that the Cal-Waste rate schedules provided with public meeting documents ahead of Monday’s meeting were incorrect, and the council will need to approve revised versions at a future meeting. Plummer said he was told the differences only amounted to “pennies,” however.
The length of the city’s new agreement with Cal-Waste is for eight years, through Nov. 1, 2033. Cal Sierra Disposal will remain the trash and recycling hauler for residents in the unincorporated area of Tuolumne County, which has its own contract with the Waste Management company.
Cal-Waste’s contract with the city also includes a provision that allows for the construction of a transfer station within the city limits, which city officials have said could provide additional revenue for the city’s coffers in the future.
Cal Sierra Disposal currently operates a transfer station and recycling buyback center, both located outside of the city limits in East Sonora.