Program on the Environment

Improper solid waste collection can harm the environment and human health. Solid waste collection contracts are essential in ensuring proper collection, however, there are barriers to effective contracts and management. The purpose of this study was to analyze collection contracts in Pierce County to identify the best features of effective contracts and barriers to contract management and implementation. While interning with Bin There Consulting, I researched collection contracts across Washington, specifically analyzing contracts from thirteen cities in Pierce County. Drawing on my site supervisor’s expert knowledge, my observations, and my literature review, I identified six key contract features, like education and outreach and comprehensive reporting requirements. Additionally, I identified four barriers to contract management and implementation. Results indicate that some contract features were more common than others; three of the features were found in over ten of the contracts, while the other three features were in only two or four contracts. Many contracts also contained barriers, such as outdated commencement dates and long contract terms, in years. These findings are important because they show that there is a discrepancy in effective contract features between cities in Pierce County. This could suggest that a lack of desirable features is harming contract effectiveness and creating barriers to contract management. This work contributes to broader efforts to understand and harmonize solid waste collection contracts across Washington, which is becoming increasingly important due to new legislation and requirements.