What are the fees on your waste bill really adding?
Hauler fees are percentages the hauler sets, and some are charged on top of others. Enter your base charge and the fee percentages from your invoice to see each fee in dollars, the total markup over the base rate, and what the fees cost in a year.
Start from a published fee structure: WM, legacy charges as publishedRepublic Services, standard fees as publishedblank
The published fee structures
- WM, legacy charges as published
- WM's page gives the environmental charge as 20% of charges including the fuel surcharge, and the regulatory cost recovery charge as 3.6% of all charges including it. WM says most invoices from April 2023 fold both into the base rate and use an energy surcharge instead of the fuel surcharge.[1]
- Republic Services, standard fees as published
- Republic's disclosure gives the standard hauling environmental recovery fee as 18% and the administrative fee as $5.95 per invoice; the fuel recovery fee changes monthly with the diesel price. Rates may vary by location.[2]
What to do with the number
Multiply the monthly fees by the months left in your term: that is what the fee lines will cost you if nothing changes. In a rebid, ask every bidder for an all-in monthly price or for fees fixed in dollars (see fuel, environmental and admin fees), and compare bids on the total.
Sources
- Charge information, WM. Read 2026-10-28.
- Fee disclosures, Republic Services. Read 2026-10-28.