Gardena Trash Rates to Be Raised 34%

Monthly trash collection rates in Gardena will rise from $7.27 per household to $9.75 under a contract amendment approved this week by the City Council.

The 34% rate increase results from a clause in the city’s 1988 contract with Western Waste Industries that allows the Harbor Gateway company to increase rates based on rising costs, City Manager Kenneth Landau said. The company cited a 60% increase in dumping costs since 1988, a 20% increase in diesel fuel prices and a 7% increase in labor costs.

The new residential trash rate is retroactive to July 1. In addition, a $1.50 monthly fee will be charged starting in October to pay for a state-mandated recycling program.

“Nobody likes the increase, but it’s a must,” Councilman Mas Fukai said. According to the city’s contract, the rate must be lower than the average fee charged in eight other cities in the South Bay area. Among those cities, monthly charges per housing unit range from a low of $6.95 in Lawndale to $11.90 in Carson, a city report said.

No such proviso exists for the recycling fee, which varies widely in cities that have initiated such programs. All cities in the state must implement recycling in order to satisfy a state law that mandates a 25% reduction in trash delivered to landfills by 1995 and a 50% reduction by 2000.

In Carson, for example, Western Waste has agreed to provide free curbside pickup for recyclable materials in return for a franchise to collect the city’s commercial and industrial waste.

The monthly recycling fee negotiated in Gardena, $1.50 for each single-family home or two- to four-unit townhouse, could be reduced by 50 cents if the city reduces its waste stream by 25%, city officials said.

Under the new contract, Western Waste will give each household two 14-gallon recycling containers, to be used for newspapers, glass bottles and jars, aluminum cans and other items. The company will also pay for a one-time collection of household hazardous waste and a state-ordered study of the kinds of waste produced in the city, officials said. The agreement allows the company to request another rate review starting Jan. 1.