Case Studies

Project Background

Operator Procurements

On behalf of the City of Sunnyvale, and its two partner cities, Mountain View, and Palo Alto, Sunnyvale manages an operating agreement for the publicly-owned transfer station and materials recovery facility (the SMaRT Station). HF&H assisted Sunnyvale with the procurement of the facility operator in 2000, 2007 and 2013-14; Peter Deibler managed the 2007 and 2013 processes. Each process has provided for increased diversion from the MSW stream, with additional processing of source-separated yard trimmings and single-stream recyclables. The cities are on the forefront of high diversion communities that are capturing materials from the residential and commercial streams both through upstream source separation, and through processing MSW.

For each procurement key HF&H responsibilities have included a lead role in design of the procurement process, drafting the RFP and agreement, developing and coordinating the evaluation and scoring process in coordination with the City’s purchasing staff, supporting contract negotiations, assisting in development of the Council staff report, and supporting staff during Council meetings. In 2013, HF&H assisted the City in developing an RFP with an emphasis on increasing diversion through processing of organic material and the MRF “fines”. In 2013, the City received three strong proposals. Bay Counties, the incumbent, was the least expensive and judged to be the most responsive, and was again awarded the contract.

Diversion-Related Project Results, 2013-14

• Increase in compensation of about 0.7% with added processing services and an increase in diversion of about 4,000 tons per year.
• Flexibility for member agency organic program additions and modifications, and for innovative pilots such as every-other-week collection of solid waste and alternative means for collecting residential food scraps.
• A range of technical options for composting or other processing for organic materials transferred through the SMaRT Station, at several facilities and at defined prices.

Post 2021 Planning

HF&H, as a subcontractor to HDR Engineering is leading team efforts in identifying future participants for the SMaRT Station following the late 2021 termination of the MOU with Sunnyvale, Mountain View, and Palo Alto. Work is in progress, with HF&H staff having arranged and participated in initial meetings with staff from five cities with a potential interest in future use of the SMaRT Station, and communicated with staff from additional cities. Key issues include meeting SB 1383 processing mandates for removal of organics from MSW.

Project Results