The following fee increases for residential garbage container sizes will take effect in July 2023.

Container	New Monthly Fee	Monthly Increase
90 gallon garbage	$30.20	$3.20
60 gallon garbage	$25.45	$2.70
40 gallon garbage	$19.90	$2.10

Please note that residential fees are only associated with the size of your garbage can. Recycling, compost, and Call 2 Haul services are included at no extra charge. You can downsize your garbage container by calling 801-535-6999 or visiting the online Salt Lake City Public Utilities bill portal.

Approved Business Recycling & Compost Fee Increase (beginning July 2023) 

If you are a business or multi-family property that uses Salt Lake City recycling or compost containers, your monthly fee for each container providing that service will be $10.15/month (an increase of $1.10/month). 

Share feedback

Customers may submit feedback with the City Council by emailing council.comments@slcgov.com or calling 801-535-7654.

Learn more about the budget process here: City Council FY24 Budget website.

SLCgreen also welcomes your questions, comments, and feedback. Please email us at slcgreen@slcgov.com or call us at 801-535-6999 and we will get back to you!

Residents pay a monthly fee for waste services (see the “Container” line item on Public Utilities bills, as shown below). There are 12 billing cycles per year. Even though you pay for waste and recycling services on the Public Utilities bill, please reach out to our customer service team for questions or feedback at 801-535-6999.

Budget by program in 2023 includes the following:

 

Question: Can’t we just save money by getting rid of the recycling or the yard waste/compost programs?

Answer: Unfortunately, no. A household’s overall waste wouldn’t decrease if the recycling and yard waste bins were removed. Instead, items that were previously placed in the blue or brown bins would now be put in the garbage. Those items would still need to be hauled away, which still requires trucks, containers, and staff. To add to the cost, the previously-recycled or -composted items would now be dumped as garbage at the Landfill, which raises our garbage tipping fees. In the end, costs would NOT decrease proportionately by eliminating the recycling or compost programs. Instead, the City would face higher short-term and long-term garbage costs for all that extra green waste and recyclables being thrown away.

Question: How much material is recycled each month in Salt Lake City?

Answer: Check out our 2022 Year in Review, page 6, for more information on what is recycled in Salt Lake City. Last year, residents diverted 37% of the waste stream from the landfill. This includes green waste & food waste, plastic, paper, metal cans, cardboard, and items from our Call 2 Haul collections.

Do you need bill assistance? Customers who qualify for the Salt Lake County Tax Abatement Program are eligible for a reduction in their water, garbage and storm water charges. Learn more through the Salvation Army which administers the program. 

In 2019, Salt Lake City conducted a large survey on our waste services to gauge resident satisfaction and seek input on potential changes.

Knowing that maintaining service levels also requires some frequency of rate increases, we also asked residents if they would rather have smaller, annual increases; or larger, less frequent rate increases. Eighty percent responded they would rather have smaller, more regular rate increases. This is the path we are setting on, pending annual approval by the Mayor and City Council during the budget process.

For other responses, please see our summary and the full survey below.

• We received 6,210 responses to the survey and over 12,000 comments in corresponding open-comment fields.
• 95% of respondents ranked it as Very or Somewhat Important that the City continue offering curbside recycling.
• 97% of respondents ranked it as Very or Somewhat Important that the City continue offering curbside compost/yard waste collection.
• 22% of respondents had used the Call 2 Haul program since its inception with 70% ranking their experience as Very or Somewhat Satisfied.
• 80% of respondents did not feel the City needs to provide additional green waste collection services beyond what is available through Call 2 Haul and the extra compost container year-round program.
• 84% of respondents felt that allowing each household to choose the garbage container size they want is a fair way to incentivize waste reduction.
• 80% of survey respondents supported a small and steady fee increase each year rather than a larger, periodic fee increase.
• When asked whether the City should be looking at cutting waste services to avoid raising fees as much, 20% of respondents said yes and 65% said no. 15% were unsure.

To see the data visualization of the multiple choice questions in the survey, along with the top comment categories for the open comment fields, download the rates survey results PDF.

In addition to the multiple choice questions, we received over 12,000 responses in the open comment fields across nine questions. The Sustainability Department staff read and categorized each comment. A summary of the most frequent comment categories to the open-ended comments is provided after each corresponding multiple choice question in the rates survey results.

You can view the complete anonymous responses for the open comment field questions below:

• Question 5 (PDF)
• Question 9 (PDF)
• Question 10 (PDF)
• Question 11A (PDF)
• Question 11B (PDF)
• Question 13 (PDF)
• Question 15 (PDF)
• Question 18 (PDF)
• Question 19 (PDF)

Although the response to the online survey was robust, we recognized that more in-depth outreach with certain populations was very important. After analyzing the online survey results, the Sustainability Department worked through a community consultant to engage in focus group conversations and surveys in specific areas.

These included:

• Capitol Hill Community Council
• Westpointe Community Council
• Poplar Grove – Sorenson Community Center
• 84111 area of west of Liberty Park – Outreach to Liberty Elementary and Community Learning Center

Gaps Analysis Findings

The findings from the gaps analysis were similar to the results from the larger community survey:

• 51% of residents surveyed had the 90 gallon can, 33% the 60 gallon can, and 16% the 40 gallon can.
  • (The true breakdown among all Salt Lake City curbside waste customers is: 75% of residents have the 90 gallon can, 13% have the 60 gallon, and 22% have the 40 gallon).
• 64% thought it was fair to have different prices for different sized cans.
• 82% were satisfied with Salt Lake City’s waste services.
• 71% use their recycling can weekly.
• 87% thought the city should keep the curbside recycling program.
• 78% used the brown compost can.
• 53% had not used Call 2 Haul.
• 35% had used Call 2 Haul — all offered positive feedback, with one comment stating that crews did not come when they said they would.
• 64% preferred the slow and steady fee increase.
• 10% said a fee increase would be a hardship.

To sign up for curbside glass recycling or request a smaller garbage can (we offer 90, 60, and 40 gallon sizes), please call us at 801-535-6999 or visit the online Salt Lake City Public Utilities bill portal.