Exclusive Residential Curbside and Municipal Solid Waste and Recycling Agreement

The City of Gainesville, Florida, is seeking proposals for an exclusive franchise agreement to provide comprehensive residential curbside and municipal solid waste and recycling collection services. The Invitation to Negotiate (ITN) covers weekly collection of single-family residential solid waste, bulk waste, recycling, white goods, yard trash, and other designated waste streams, with an optional weekly food waste composting service. The contract will span 10 years with two potential 5-year renewals, serving approximately 29,000 housing units within the Gainesville service area. Proposers must demonstrate minimum qualifications, including experience managing three residential curbside solid waste and recycling collection contracts serving at least 25,000 homes each within the past five years. Key procurement dates include a mandatory pre-proposal meeting on October 29, 2025, at City Hall, with questions due by November 5, 2025, and proposals required to be uploaded by December 4, 2025, at 3:00 PM. The projected contract award date is May 21, 2026, with a contract start date of October 1, 2026. Collection will utilize automated vehicles with a variable-size, pay-as-you-throw cart system, offering cart sizes ranging from 20 to 96 gallons, and the city requests proposals for collection vehicles powered by diesel, CNG, electric, hybrid, or alternative fuel sources.

The solicitation includes specific restrictions related to foreign countries of concern, prohibiting bidders that would grant access to personal identifying information if they are owned, controlled, or principally located in designated countries including China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela, and Syria. Bidders must provide an affidavit attesting to their compliance with these requirements. The current contractor owns existing solid waste carts and recycling bins, and the new contractor must supply new collection containers. Disposal and processing fees will be paid directly by the city to designated facilities, primarily the Leveda Brown Environmental Park, with alternative options including the New River Regional Landfill. The estimated monthly service volume is approximately 29,350 residential units, with an estimated yearly total of $6,189,983.64 for waste collection at the primary disposal site. The bid provides pricing options for service levels ranging from 3 to 5 days per week, with multiple cart and container size configurations, and includes provisions for no-cost services such as cart maintenance, yellow bag collection, disabled backdoor service, and community event services.