Oakland suit says error in recycling pact could spike tenant fees

Bales of aluminum cans and plastic containers (background) wait to be picked up. California Waste Solutions, Inc., is a privately owned recycling and waste management company operating in the San Francisco Bay Area since 1990. The San Jose City Council recently awarded CWS the franchise to both collect and process the city's single-family curbside recycling set-outs. Photos taken on Tuesday, July 10, 2007 in San Jose, CA. Photo by Michael Maloney / San Francisco Chronicle *** Ran on: 07-20-2007 Bales of aluminum cans (left) and plastic containers (right) await pickup in San Jose at California Waste Solutions. less Bales of aluminum cans and plastic containers (background) wait to be picked up. California Waste Solutions, Inc., is a privately owned recycling and waste management company operating in the San Francisco Bay ... more Photo: Michael Maloney, SFC Photo: Michael Maloney, SFC Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Oakland suit says error in recycling pact could spike tenant fees 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

A “mere draftsman’s error” in a contract between Oakland and the company that collects the recycling of its residents could cost apartment dwellers there tens of millions of dollars over the course of the 10-year agreement, the city alleges in a lawsuit.

One missing line in the contract with California Waste Solutions allows the company to take advantage of a loophole in potentially charging up to $776.13 per month to move plastic recycling bins the size of a trash can to the curb and back for apartment residents, the March 20 lawsuit filed in Alameda County Superior Court says.

California Waste Solutions was supposed to be able to charge apartment residents up to only $27.85 a month — the same rate homeowners in single-family setups pay — for the curbside service, said City Attorney Barbara Parker.

Instead, Parker said, the company under the flawed contract could charge $776.13 to haul the lightweight recycling containers about 100 feet, which is the monthly rate to drag full-size dumpsters to the curb.

The alleged error impacts only those living in dwellings with multiple units, such as apartments or condos.

The suit notes that the company hasn’t necessarily charged such high amounts but says that starting in October 2015, California Waste Services started billing scores of customers almost six times the going rate for the curbside recycling service.

California Waste Services and an attorney for the company did not immediately return a request for comment.

Parker, who says the increased costs would be passed off from landlords to their tenants via rent increases, said it would only exacerbate Oakland’s “ongoing rent and housing crisis by leading to rent increases.”

Under the current contract, which took effect in July 2015 and is good through 2025, those who bring their own recycling bins to the curb are charged a lesser amount.

The city argues that those who can’t do that — the elderly or the disabled, among others — have been unfairly penalized by the higher rate that only wealthier people could afford to pay.

In the suit, the city is asking for a jury trial to cap the curbside recycling bin charge at $27.85 per month, as well as recuperating from the company an unspecified amount in damages from the overages with interest.

Michael Bodley is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mbodley@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @michael_bodley