RFP Solid Waste Services

The City of Bellevue, Washington is requesting proposals for solid waste collection services covering the entire incorporated municipal area, with proposals due October 12, 2026 and a pre-submittal meeting on August 19, 2026 at 11:00 a.m. PST via Microsoft Teams.

The scope encompasses residential and commercial garbage, recycling, and organics (yard debris and food scraps) collection; delivery of garbage to a King County facility per the City's interlocal agreement; and processing and marketing of collected recyclables and organics. The service area covers approximately 158,000 residents, including approximately 30,800 single-family residential customers and approximately 2,000 multi-family, commercial, and drop-box accounts.

The initial contract term runs ten years from July 1, 2028 to June 30, 2038, with a City option for extension of up to two years. The City's current annual billings under its Republic Services contract total approximately $37 million as of 2025. Proposers must submit cost forms reflecting proposed rates for single-family residential customers (with both cost-of-service and linear rate design options), commercial and multi-family customers, and drop-box service. A King County composite disposal fee of $216.18 per ton (or $227.19 per ton for drop-box service) applies. Proposers must incorporate all capital, labor, operating costs, administration, management, profit, and contract fees, and must include implementation of customer bill assistance for eligible single-family households.

Financial qualifications require bank letters confirming adequate assets or irrevocable lines of credit for all capital costs, equipment, start-up costs, and minimum three months' operating costs. Performance bonds of $20,000,000 from State of Washington licensed bonding companies are required.

Evaluation weights 55 points to quantitative rate/cost (lowest proposal formula) and 45 points to qualitative factors covering reliability, contract compliance, user experience, and technology leveraging. Responsiveness, completeness, and minimum general qualifications are pass/fail gates. The City reserves the right to announce short-listed firms by April 2027, negotiate with the highest-ranked proposer, reject any proposals, and split the contract among multiple vendors. Vendor questions are due August 26, 2026 at 5:00 p.m., with responses provided by September 9, 2026.