On Sept. 1, the Davis City Council voted 4-1 to have staff pursue a request for proposals, a formal call for bids from any interested hauler, for the city's next solid waste contract. The alternative was to negotiate a new contract with Recology, the city's exclusive hauler, without opening it to competitors.
Recology has hauled Davis's trash since 2018, when it acquired Davis Waste Removal, a private company that had collected the city's trash for more than 35 years. The contract was set to end on Dec. 31, 2027. In September 2025, staff asked the council to extend it by two years so the city could put its solid waste utility on a solid financial footing before starting public conversations about service levels and a new hauling contract. On Sept. 1, staff said the contract has been extended two years, carrying it through the end of 2029.
Staff told the council that two neighboring cities had recently gone each way: Woodland negotiated with its existing hauler, and West Sacramento issued a request for proposals. According to staff, Woodland found that renegotiating let it get the services it wanted without overhauling its program, while West Sacramento's process let it consider many different options.
Council members praised Recology's work but split on the path. One member said they leaned toward renegotiating, citing the company's track record and the fact that it is employee-owned, which the member said "really moves the needle." Others favored a request for proposals as the open, transparent approach. One recalled that the community "had a lot of opinions" the last time the city went through a change from Davis Waste Removal, and another said Recology "may well be" the company that wins the contract.
Public comment included Recology employees and supporters, a representative of another hauler who said the company would like to be considered, and another speaker who said Recology's rates are about $14 higher than Woodland's. That speaker urged the council not to negotiate unless Recology would discuss selling its Second Street property to the city, and otherwise to go straight to competitive bidding. The $14 figure is the speaker's. In 2025, city staff said comparing rates between cities is difficult because Davis's base rate includes services, such as unlimited recycling, that other cities charge extra for.
The vote did not change any services or remove Recology, which can compete for the contract. Staff said a new contract is the city's first chance in quite a long time to consider new programs, new technology and recent state regulatory changes. Staff listed topics they want public input on regardless of which path the council chose, including how often trash is picked up, drop-off programs, street-sweeping schedules and yard-material pile collection. Asked for an example, staff mentioned possibly ending Davis's split recycling cart and truck and collecting those recyclables together, which staff called "not a conversation we've had in quite a long time." Two council members asked about adding an edible-food-recovery fee, and staff noted the current contract still requires hand-delivered documents rather than email.
The Sept. 1 vote did not change rates. In January, the council approved higher solid waste rates after receiving 68 protests, far short of the more than 7,000 needed to block them; staff had said the utility's reserve was nearly gone.
Staff said the next steps are bringing in outside firms to help run the process and returning to the council with a public engagement plan. The request for proposals will spell out how bids are scored. Staff said cost can be a factor but not the only one, that the highest-ranked proposal under the published criteria generally goes forward to final negotiation, and that the intent is for the council to weigh in on the scoring criteria before they are final. Staff also said they would check whether an idea offered in one bid could be put to the other bidders.