SF’s Employee-Owned Waste Hauler Supports Move to Independent Oversight, Proposes Improvements, Endorses Prop. F

SAN FRANCISCO, May 16, 2022 – After months of cooperation and sharing of information between city officials and Recology, San Francisco’s employee-owned and operated waste hauler, the City Controller today issued a report. Entitled “Preliminary Assessment: Refuse Rate-Setting Process – Update Based on Additional Reviews and Meetings with Recology,” the report seeks to better understand and, ultimately, improve San Francisco’s rate-setting process for waste-hauling services.

Recology’s CEO, Sal Coniglio, who took the helm of the company on January 1, 2021, today issued the following response:

“On behalf of Recology’s employee-owners, we greatly appreciate the substance and integrity of the report issued by the San Francisco Controller,” Coniglio said. “Even as the process with the Controller was collaborative, there are findings in the report that Recology does not agree with. We have shared these concerns with the Controller’s Office; we welcome the continued discussions with the City, as we seek to usher in a new era of accountability. Ultimately, we share the same goal: providing the most environmentally sound refuse service, at competitive rates, with a fair wage for our employee-owners.”

Coniglio said Recology has proposed to the City a number of concrete steps that could be taken to improve the rate-setting process, including:

      • Aligning the Rate Year with Recology’s fiscal year to facilitate “apples-to-apples” comparisons
      • Audited financial statements and reconciliations, showing how the numbers in those statements tie to the rate reports
      • Additional clarity in reporting that would be provided to the City, including the release of Zero Waste Incentive (ZWI) funds and reporting of real property assets
      • A mechanism to reconcile profit over some period of years, to allow for adjusted rates if Recology’s San Francisco companies earn profits above or below a certain range
      • An independent rate consultant who works with the City and Recology to develop details of a new ratemaking process

“These improvements, along with those contained in the ballot measure, will go a long way toward preventing future problems in the rate-setting process,” Coniglio said.

Coniglio also noted that Recology supports Proposition F on the June ballot, which will overhaul the rate-setting process.

“Recology fully supports stronger controls, greater transparency, and stricter accountability in the rate-setting process,” said CEO Coniglio. “For these and many more reasons, we are strongly supporting Proposition F, Mayor Breed’s and Sup. Peskin’s Waste Collection & Disposal Ordinance.”

“In the spirit of open communications, we look forward to continued productive conversations with the Controller and City officials as we navigate several key issues in pursuit of a strengthened rate-setting process,” Coniglio concluded.