Eager to see contract negotiations with a single citywide trash hauler move forward, the St. Paul City Council approved the purchase of five municipal garbage trucks on Wednesday, a $2.1 million investment in a retooled approach toward garbage collection.

The goal is to have city crews service 10% of residential trash hauling — about one long route per day — and free up a single private hauler to do the rest. Contract negotiations are underway this month with FCC Environmental Services, which is based in Texas and the United Kingdom.

The company services some 5,000 cities, including all of Spain, and operates across the United States, Europe and Africa. A new citywide trash hauling contract could be underway by April 1, 2025, replacing the city’s existing agreement with a consortium of five private haulers — Aspen Waste Systems, Gene’s Disposal Service, Highland Sanitation, Republic Services, and Waste Management.

“The lead time on ordering garbage trucks is significant,” said St. Paul Public Works Director Sean Kershaw, addressing the city council.

City officials have long received complaints about missed trash and recycling pick-ups on certain difficult-to-service routes, especially on the city’s East Side. Haulers, in turn, have said many of the city’s oldest alleys are too narrow to safely navigate in snowy weather.

Complicating matters, the city’s alley plowing system relies on everyday residents — volunteer “alley captains” — to coordinate snow removal for their block and contract a private plow driver. When and where it works, that works great, at less cost than the city might charge taxpayers for the same service. On blocks with less social cohesion, snow removal is more touch-and-go, if not nonexistent.

The hope is that by moving 10% of city trash routes in house, municipal crews will improve service on those particular alleys, while keeping rates competitive for the rest of the city.

“We don’t have the specific routes identified yet,” said Kershaw, though complaints from previous offers some clues as to where to start crafting a system.

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