Recycling Engagement and Analytics Application

The City of Pittsburgh's Office of Management and Budget is requesting proposals for a resident-facing mobile application and web-based recycling engagement and analytics platform on behalf of the Department of Public Works under RFP #2026-RFP-168, with proposals due October 6, 2026 at 3:00 p.m. The solicitation imposes mandatory MBE, WBE, and veteran-owned small business participation goals of 18%, 7%, and 5% respectively, and is subject to Community Development Block Grant federal funding requirements and prevailing wage obligations under Pittsburgh City Code.

The scope requires a mobile and web platform with item search (keyword and image recognition), curbside collection calendars with local scheduling, pickup reminders, a searchable database of 400+ materials and 15,000+ terms, nearby recycling drop-off station locators, a "Report a Problem" feature linking to the City's 311 system, and multi-channel notifications (push, email, text). Mandatory language support includes English, Spanish, and Mandarin; French and Arabic are preferred. The system must be fully ADA-compliant to WCAG 2.1 Level AA. Mission-critical technical requirements include 99.99% uptime, ISO/IEC 27001 certification, annual penetration testing, data encryption at rest and in transit, single sign-on and multi-factor authentication, secure software development lifecycle, and continental U.S. data hosting with no offshore personnel accessing City data. The platform must integrate with existing City systems (Computronix, Cartegraph, ESRI) and provide real-time analytics on user engagement and material searches. The City retains all data ownership; vendors must provide transition assistance and as-built documentation at go-live.

Pricing must include a comprehensive breakdown of one-time and ongoing costs with hourly rates and time allocations for all proposed staff. Vendors must maintain general liability insurance with minimum $1,000,000 limits and worker's compensation coverage and provide emergency customer support within two business days. A non-mandatory pre-proposal meeting was held September 10, 2026. Written questions were due September 28, 2026. Contract award is anticipated in November 2026. The City reserves the right to reject all proposals, cancel the RFP, or award to a firm other than the lowest bidder and does not accept standard vendor contracts.