Manteca is leasing five new side loading solid waste trucks through November 2025 for $1,075,000.

The City Council approved the lease on Monday to allow solid waste to accomplish its goal of weekly collections for all residential waste commodities — green/organic waste, recyclables, and garbage — by year’s end.

Currently, only garbage is collected weekly.

Green/organic waste and recyclables are collected on a rotating every-other-week schedule.

The city, if they opted to buy the trucks that will run on compressed natural gas Manteca produces at the wastewater treatment plant, wouldn’t have been able to take delivery for 18 to 24 months due to a backlog of orders.

The $1,075,000 lease also includes extending use of one diesel solid waste truck the city already leases from Big Truck Rental.

That truck had to be leased due to growth and the fact the city has two solid waste trucks a day in the shop for preventative maintenance needs and repairs.

The council also authorized the purchase of two side loading solid waste trucks at a cost of $1.1 million.

For every 450 houses, a solid waste truck should be purchased, and an operator should be hired.

 In fiscal year 2023-2024, 588 house permits were issued. Between January 2024 and  July 2024 there have been 286 single-family homes completed. The anticipated new housing units for July 2024 through December 2024 is 500 houses.

Delivery, as noted before, will be within 18 to 24 months of the order being placed.

The purchase of the two trucks will be funded 100 percent from Development Fees and zero dollars will be allocated from the general fund or service rates that existing solid waste customers are paying.

The current fleet includes aging trucks that have been rebuilt but are reaching the end of their useful lives.

Public Works Director Carl Brown noted the new trucks will assist in maintaining service quality.  

The rate increases put in place will allow the city to start replacing existing trucks in the coming years.

Manteca is currently in the process of replacing smaller blue carts for recyclables with 95-gallon carts.

The weekly collection of green/organic waste and recyclables will essentially double the amount a household can have collected of the two solid waste commodities in a given year.

As such, it is designed to reduce contamination of recyclables while at the same time helping the city to reduce the amount of garbage landfilled to meet a state mandate.

When recyclables are contaminated to a certain point, the truck load is rejected and has to be buried at a landfill.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com