SOLANA BEACH — The City of Solana Beach heard no objections to EDCO’s request to raise rates for waste removal services and unanimously approved a residential rate increase of $0.37 per month.
This is the first-rate increase requested by EDCO since its new anaerobic digestion facility went online, servicing all cities in disposing of organic waste to create natural methane gas for its fleet of trucks.
New rates for the organics collection are included in the base residential rate — $26.48 effective July 1.
The council also approved increases for commercial rates of waste collection. The city says the most common collection for commercial use is a 65-gallon cart collected once a week, the rate for which will increase from $89.72 per month to $90.92 per month.
However, since EDCO has not yet implemented their organics collection for all commercial customers, the city says the newly approved rates will not go into effect until the new organics service is implemented for each customer.
“The goal really is to reduce the amount of solid waste service to help offset some of the additional cost for this organic service,” Assistant City Manager Dan King said.
Councilmember Jewel Edson encouraged all Solana Beach commercial businesses to contact EDCO about their needs so they are not surprised by a new rate once organic waste services begin.
“I think the goal in working with businesses is to help offset some of the additional costs of the mandatory organic recycling program so I think it’s important to encourage our local businesses to reach out to EDCO and do what they can to keep their expenses as low as possible,” Edson said.
EDCO representatives said they intend to continue reaching out to both commercial and multi-family customers to educate them on the new organics collection and new rates they should expect based on their service.
“It’s our intent to not only help them understand the requirements better but how to adapt the program into their services, adding the organics service and decreasing their solid waste service as well so that we can make sure the impact to all the businesses is minimized,” said Jim Ambroso, general manager for EDCO.
Ambroso says EDCO wants to help commercial customers limit the amount of solid waste as much as possible to help offset costs.
“Really the mission is to help everyone understand what can be removed and digested,” Ambroso said. “Helping our businesses and certainly our residents fully understand this is our goal.”
EDCO’s anaerobic digester went online earlier this year to be in compliance with Senate Bill 1383, a new state law aiming to limit the amount of organic waste in landfills. This type of waste releases methane gas, one of the leading causes of climate change.
Solana Beach Mayor Lesa Heebner expressed her satisfaction with EDCO as a city partner.
“I’m so proud we have EDCO. I think you guys do a fabulous job so thank you so much,” Heebner said.
