Cleaned and baled cardboard and aluminum sit ready for shipping at Recology’s Sonoma Marin material recovery facility in Santa Rosa on Jan. 25, 2024. Humans and computers controlling optical scanners sort recyclables by type of material. (Ruth Dusseault/Bay City News)

On Tuesday, the Marin County Board of Supervisors will consider a proposed 9% rate increase for waste collection services in West Marin.

A public hearing will consider an increase that would apply to customers served by Recology Sonoma Marin. If approved, the increase would take effect April 1.

The service area includes West Marin, Muir Beach and coastal communities along the Marin Coast but excludes Bolinas and Stinson Beach, which operate their own waste services.

According to an announcement from Marin County, county staff negotiated the proposed increase after Recology submitted a request in June 2025 for a 12.2% rate hike based on rising operational costs. The company also sought approval to purchase two new garbage trucks for the region, which would have pushed the total proposed increase to 21.8%.

Instead of conducting a full rate review, the county said it entered negotiations with the company to reduce the increase and add service improvements. 

The agreement that will be considered by supervisors would limit the increase to 9% while allowing Recology to purchase two new waste collection vehicles for the West Marin service area beginning April 1.

The proposed amendment would also extend the county’s franchise agreement with Recology through June 30, 2035 — a six-year extension beyond the current contract, which expires in 2029. Residents would also be allowed to request one extra organics collection cart at no charge. Free organics collection bins would go to commercial businesses.

The issue will be addressed by the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday no earlier than 10:30 a.m. Information on how to attend is available on the county’s website.

Ruth Dusseault is an investigative reporter and multimedia journalist focused on environment and energy. Her position is supported by the California local news fellowship, a statewide initiative spearheaded by UC Berkeley aimed at supporting local news platforms. While a student at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism (c’23), Ruth developed stories about the social and environmental circumstances of contaminated watersheds around the Great Lakes, Mississippi River and Florida’s Lake Okeechobee. Her thesis explored rights of nature laws in small rural communities. She is a former assistant professor and artist in residence at Georgia Tech’s School of Architecture, and uses photography, film and digital storytelling to report on the engineered systems that undergird modern life.