CITY OF SEATTLE
NOTICE TO CONSULTANTS
Request for Proposals (RFP) for

SOLID WASTE MULTI-YEAR COMPOSITION STUDY
SPU RFP# 18-231-S

Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) is requesting proposals from qualified consultants to design, physically sample, collect data and prepare the next cycle of reporting studies of the composition of residential waste, residential recyclables, commercial waste, and organic material waste streams.

SPU provides for the collection, transfer and disposal of municipal solid waste (MSW) within the City of Seattle. As part of this responsibility, SPU designs and implements programs intended to achieve a 70% recycling goal by 2022. To better understand the types and quantities of MSW disposed, and to assess the city’s waste prevention and recycling potential, SPU has done composition studies since 1988. The principal objective of the contract is to conduct the next round of residential waste, residential recycling, commercial waste, and organics characterization studies in support of overall solid waste planning, programs evaluations and overall economic modeling for the solid waste line of business.

Briefly, this project includes three main steps for each of the waste streams being sampled. The first step is setting up the methodology including the sampling categories, schedule and sampling protocol for each of the studies. The second step is performing the sampling work monthly or quarterly on site at various solid waste, recycling transfer or organics processing facilities depending on the waste stream being sampled. The third and final step is to prepare reports detailing the study methodology and results.

The Contract will run for 4 years with an option to renew the contract for 1 additional year to conduct other characterization studies for additional sector streams if requested by SPU. The maximum budget for the first 4 years is $660,000.

All of these characterization studies are used to:

• Estimate waste prevention and recycling potential for each;
• Support program evaluation and contracts performance;
• Understand differences among these substreams so that targeted waste prevention and recycling programs can be designed, implemented, and monitored for each; and
• Compare the results with a baseline and prior studies for continued, long-term measurement of the solid waste management system performance.

Interested consultants are encouraged to review the RFP, background documents, and any RFP addenda online at https://www.ebidexchange.com/seattle. Note that you are required to complete a free registration to view, print or save documents posted on this website.

The deadline for submitting proposals is by 2:00 PM on Wednesday, January 30, 2019, delivered to the 50^th Floor, Seattle Municipal Tower, 700 Fifth Avenue, P.O. Box 34018, Seattle, WA 98104-4018.

An optional Pre-Submittal Conference for prospective proposers will be held on Thursday, January 10, 2019 in Conference Room SMT 5965 (59th Floor) of the Seattle Municipal Tower Building, 700 Fifth Avenue, Seattle, WA 98104, from 2:00 PM to 3:30 PM. Seattle Public Utilities will review the scope of work, consultant team expectations, and answer questions from the prospective proposers. Time will be allocated for prospective bidders to network with each other and discuss teaming arrangements. Although attendance to this meeting is not mandatory, attendance is highly encouraged.

All questions regarding this request shall be directed only to Maura Donoghue, the RFP Coordinator & SPU’s designated contact person at: Maura.Donoghue@Seattle.gov.

The City of Seattle is an Equal Opportunity Employer and selection of Contractors is subject to applicable laws and ordinances regarding equal opportunity employment.