The collection system is an open market system. Currently, the north County residential customers who use wheeled plastic carts operate under this system. The open market system allows residents to choose any waste hauler willing to provide services in the unincorporated north County. The waste hauler sets the rates, which may not be consistent from one customer to another for equivalent services. With this type of system, customers pay the waste hauler directly and there is no oversight by the County. Open market trash collection services do not include provisions to help address illegal dumping.

Commercial and residential customers who use metal dumpsters receive services through the County’s non-exclusive commercial franchise system where they can choose any County-approved waste hauler for their waste collection services. Like the open market system, the waste haulers set the rates and there is County oversight.

Los Angeles County Public Works oversees the solid waste contracts and services for Los Angeles County unincorporated communities. In addition to contracting with the waste hauling company, Public Works ensures that all parcels receive a uniform level of service, consistent rates that cannot increase without County approval, and quality customer service. Public Works also helps coordinate and oversees additional services like illegal dumping in the public right-of-way and bulky item collection, annual clean up events, and compost and mulch giveaways provided to customers as part of their service.

A Residential/Commercial Franchise provides weekly residential solid waste collection services to single-family homes and multi-family dwellings with four or less units using a 3 cart system and weekly commercial solid waste collection services to business, multi- family properties (of five units or more), and single-family properties using dumpsters. Customers contract directly with the selected waste hauler for services. Public Works oversees the contract to ensure appropriate service is consistently provided at the approved rates.

A Residential/Commercial Franchise ensures all residential and commercial properties receive consistent, high-quality waste collection services at the best rate possible. A Residential/Commercial Franchise is awarded following a competitive bidding process where waste haulers submit proposals to provide these services. These proposals are reviewed by an evaluation committee and scored based on a set criterion. The proposer with the highest score is selected and the Board of Supervisors awards the contract.

Public Works will inform the community once this information is available.

Due to the comments Public Works received in response to the California Environmental Quality Act documents that were posted for public review in 2022, Public Works is preparing an Environmental Impact Report (EIR). A Notice of Preparation was released in late January 2023 and a scoping meeting was held in February 2023. Public Works anticipates the EIR will be made available for public review in spring 2024 and presented to the Board of Supervisors in fall 2024 for certification. Once the EIR is certified, Public Works will attend community meetings to answer questions and receive feedback from residents to help establish the new solid waste collection system that will address the unique needs of the residents of north Los Angeles County. The feedback received will be taken into consideration as part of the solicitation for proposals for the new waste hauler contracts. Public Works anticipates to solicit proposals in early 2025 and awarding the contracts in fall 2025. The new collection service is anticipated to be in place by fall 2026. The County will continue to provide updates at CleanLA.com/NoCoSWCollectionSvcs to keep the community informed.