Manteca solid waste customers — both residential and commercial — set out 72,802 tons of waste for city crews to collect in 2025.

That includes:

*54,332 tons of solid waste placed in brown carts that ended up being landfilled.

*7,826 tons of recyclables placed in blue carts that were diverted for recycling.

*10,644 tons of organic waste in green carts that were diverted to be turned into compost.

There are 48 people employed to collect Manteca’s waste, with 40 of them manning solid waste trucks and other collection vehicles.

On any given day in 2025, Manteca serviced 5,620 homes with separate collection trucks for solid waste, recyclables, and organic waste.

That is in addition to 550 commercial accounts.

City efforts also collected:

*67.66 tons of trash via community cleanup days.

*7,897 gallons of used oil for recycling.

*1,086 mattresses for recycling.

*594 tires for recycling.

Manteca’s fleet maintenance crews spent 6,396 hours on preventative ,maintenance and repairs in 2025, a figure expected to drop by 1,800 hours this year thanks to replacement of aging and problematic collection trucks.

The solid waste fleet last year went through 865 gallons of engine oil.

Solid waste — like sewer and water — is an enterprise fund.

That means it is paid for through ratepayers and not taxpayers, per se.

It is separate from the general fund. Rate payments cannot be used for anything else but solid waste collection purposes.

Garbage rate going up

$4.35 a month Jan. 1

The current adopted rate hike covers a four year period that started in 2023.

At full implementation, solid waste rates will have increased nearly 50 percent.

The first step took the monthly rate for a 96-gallon cart from $34.33 to $47.41 in late 2023.

It then increased to $54.68 on Jan. 1. 2025 and then $58.72 on Jan. 1, 2026.

The last step of the current rate hike goes into place on Jan. 1, 2027 when the monthly cost will increase to $63.07 for an actual jump of $4.35

The rate hikes were driven by rising operational costs, landfill fees, and state-mandated organic waste programs.

Manteca is start working on a study this year to address new solid rate hikes that will go into effect Jan. 1, 2028.

It is part of a commitment the city repeatedly made during public discussions during the most recent rate hike studies for municipal utilities that required significant jumps in monthly rates for the city to cover lost ground by not making sure rates kept pace with inflation and replacement of equipment and such in a timely manner.

Water and wastewater rates, as an example, went 13 years before new rates were adopted.

Other projects the city’s solid waste division is undertaking in the fiscal year starting July 1 includes:

*Expand education and outreach for Routeware using the City of Manteca waste-app to improve customer service.

*Secure and install portable facilities at the solid waste office located in the city’s former animal shelter at Wetmore Street as the division has run out of space.

*Start exploring the expansion of the CNG slow-fuel fueling station that allows solid waste trucks to be powered by the conversion of methane gas from the wastewater treatment plant into compressed natural gas.

*Procure long-term contracts with vendors for municipal solid waste, recycling, and organics that include food waste.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabuleltin.com