Monterey County Waste Management

GreenWaste launches its Monterey Peninsula presence today in Sand City. It takes over in Seaside, Del Rey Oaks and Marina May 1, Carmel and Pebble Beach July 1 and Pacific Grove Aug. 1.

The coup started a little over a year ago, when Monterey Regional Waste Management District's technical advisory committee recommended GreenWaste over Waste Management, which previously held a lockdown on hauling contracts across most of the Peninsula. One by one, the cities fell in line (with the exception of Monterey, which has its own hauler).

By most accounts, the switch will step up recycling. Seaside households have already gotten cards in the mail reflecting a pricing structure that rewards conservation:

Customers can select 65-gallon or 95-gallon bins for their recycling and yard-waste services, which are free. They only pay for the landfill-bound garbage, and that's priced by size: $18.77 for a 32-gallon bin, $23.46 for 65 gallons or $28.15 for 95 gallons.

GreenWaste also serves parts of Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties. Waste Management will continue its hauling service in unincorporated Monterey County.

CORRECTION: The fourth paragraph of this story was corrected on April 2, 2015. It originally indicated pricing based on garbage bin size applied to all Peninsula customers. Emily Hanson of GreenWaste tells us the rates are for the city of Seaside only: "Each jurisdiction has different rates and different rate structures."