HomeMy WebLinkAboutStaff Report 1938City of Palo Alto (ID # 1938)
Finance Committee Staff Report
Report Type:Meeting Date: 11/1/2011
November 01, 2011 Page 1 of 6
(ID # 1938)
Summary T itle: Recycling Center and Household Hazardous Waste
Title: Plan for Elimination of the Recycling Center and Retaining the Household
Hazardous Waste Dropoff Facility
From:City Manager
Lead Department: Public Works
Recommendation
Staff recommends that the Finance Committee recommend that City Council approve
Staff’s plan to permanently close the Recycling Center effective February 1, 2012 and
conduct outreach on the Recycling Center closure and the alternatives that are available
for the future.
Executive Summary
On February 1, 2012, the Palo Alto Recycling Center (RC) will be closed at its current
location to allow for capping of the landfill. The RC lies on a portion of the landfill
required to be capped as part of the landfill closure. Staff had originally intended to
combine a new RC with the existing Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) Station at the
Regional Water Quality Control Plant. On July 5, 2011 the Finance Committee
recommended staff prepare a plan for permanently closing the RC and retaining the
existing HHW Station and bring this back to Finance for further discussion. This report
transmits staff’s recommended plan.
Whether the RC will be relocated or permanently closed will be considered by the full
City Council in December 2011. However, there is insufficient time to design and
construct a new RC by February 1, 2012 (when the RC needs to be removed to allow
time for the facility closure process and to meet the landfill closure timeline).
Therefore, at minimum, there will be a gap in operation of the RC. Staff’s
recommended plan includes the permanent closure of the RC.
Background
The RC was established on a portion of the landfill in 1972: accepting white paper,
newspaper, cardboard, glass, cans, motor oil, and scrap metal. In 1979, the RC was
expanded to accommodate curbside collected recyclables. At its peak, the RC was 1.6
acres in size and accommodated a wide variety of recyclable materials. Within the last
couple of years, the RC has been limited to 0.4 acres in size in order to accommodate
refuse burial over a portion of the site. The current RC footprint is located within the
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landfill boundary and overlies buried garbage.
Since the RC accepts certain household hazardous waste (HHW) materials (waste oil,
filters, batteries, fluorescent lights and antifreeze) for recycling it will need to undergo a
formal facility closure in accordance with State and local regulations. A closure report
will need to be submitted to the local Fire Department and to the County of Santa Clara,
Department of Environmental Health. This facility closure will need to be completed
before the landfill can be capped, currently scheduled for summer 2012.
Staff had originally intended to combine a new RC with the existing Household
Hazardous Waste (HHW) Station at the Regional Water Quality Control Plant. At the
July 5, 2011 Finance Committee meeting, staff reviewed the proposed project. This
review included the project costs, a summary of the alternative options for managing
the materials currently accepted at the RC, and annual tonnages for materials collected
at the RC demonstrating that these recyclables have declined from 13% to 6% of the
total recyclables in recent years. In response to this information, the Finance
Committee directed staff to prepare a plan for permanently closing the RC while
retaining the HHW Station.
Discussion
There are four primary components to staff’s plan for closing the RC and retaining the
HHW Station. These components are as follows:
·Alternate locations for recycling and disposal;
·Augmenting the HHW Station;
·Augmenting the Annual Clean-up Day program (potential); and
·Outreach
Each of these components is discussed below:
Alternate locations for recycling and disposal
Most of the material currently taken to the RC can be placed at the curb in the blue
recycling containers as part of the City’s Refuse Collection Program. For items too large
for the blue containers, a free annual home pick-up service (the Annual Clean-up Day
program) is provided by GreenWaste of Palo Alto, the City’s contract refuse hauler, by
calling 650-493-4894. Other options are available as well and are summarized on the
attached chart (Attachment A). Residents who have extra recyclables that do not fit
into their blue recycling container may place these at curbside in a biodegradable
container (e.g. Kraft paper bag or cardboard box), provided the containers do not
weigh more than 60 pounds each. A recent survey of RC users indicated that 70% are
unaware that extra recyclables can be placed at curbside for collection. Educating
residents about this service will be an important component of outreach on the RC
closure. The standard size for recycling service is a 64-gallon cart. Residents who
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routinely have extra recyclables are encouraged to contact GreenWaste to request a 96-
gallon cart. There is no charge for exchanging a cart once per year.
Augmenting the HHW Station
The materials accepted at the current RC include Household Hazardous Wastes such as
motor oil, oil filters, antifreeze, household and auto batteries, and fluorescent lights.
These materials can also be accepted by the HHW program. The current HHW program
is open to residents the first Saturday of each month (and two Fridays per year) as well
as mid-month. The mid-month event is an appointment-based event.. Upon the
closure of the RC on February 1, 2012, residents who utilize the RC for disposal of these
materials can use the HHW program, drive to the SMaRT Station in Sunnyvale, or utilize
non-City options such as taking fluorescent lamps to a hardware store where they are
accepted.
To mitigate the impact of the RC closure and to improve the availability of the HHW
program to residents, staff plans to augment the HHW Station by adding additional
storage, consolidating various current collection points, and improving stormwater
protection and safety. The additional storage capacity will allow the HHW Station to be
open more frequently. Upon completion of the improvements staff anticipates that the
HHW Station will eventually be open to the public on a non-appointment basis,twice per
week for two to four hours.
Staff has contracted with Siegfried Engineering to complete the design for the HHW
Station improvements. Construction of the improvements is anticipated to begin in July
2012, with completion of the project in September 2012.
Augmenting the Annual Clean-up Day program
At the July 5, 2011 Finance Committee meeting, staff was directed to investigate
whether the annual operational savings of approximately $75,000 that result from not
relocating the Recycling Center could be used to add one or more Annual Clean-up
Days in addition to the one per year that is provided for in the contract with
GreenWaste.
Currently, single family residents and multi-family residents that have individual
accounts for refuse service are provided one Clean-up Day per year. These residents
can use their Clean-up Day to dispose of up to four bulky items (such as furniture,
mattresses, or appliances) and large amounts of yard trimmings and recyclable
materials. Excess garbage can also be collected as part of the Clean-up Day. The
GreenWaste contract cost for this service, which is part of the fixed compensation in the
contract, was $385,491 in FY2011. In calendar year 2010, the Annual Clean-up Day
service was used by 1,552 residences, or 9% of the total residential accounts. The
average cost per Clean-up Day was $248. At staff’s request, GreenWaste provided an
estimated cost of $257,800 for adding an additional Clean-up Day for residents.
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Commercial businesses and multi-family residential complexes with shared refuse
service (classified as commercial sector) are also provided one free Clean-up Day per
year. However, in the case of multi-family residential, the service is not available to
each individual unit but must be scheduled by the account holder for the entire
complex. The materials collected are the same as described above for residential
accounts, except that excess garbage can not be collected. Regardless of the size of a
multi-family residential complex, it is limited to four bulky items for its Clean-up Day.
The GreenWaste contract cost for this service, which is also part of GreenWaste’s fixed
compensation, was $268,327 in FY2011. In calendar year 2010, the service was used
by 63 commercial customers, or 3% of the total commercial accounts. The average
cost per Clean-up Day was $4,259.
Based on the level of use of the Annual Clean-up Day program and the cost of adding
an additional Clean-up Day for the residential sector, staff does not recommend
augmenting the program. 31% of RC users surveyed were unaware of the Annual
Clean-up Day program. Staff intends to improve outreach on the residential Annual
Clean-up Day program to increase the public’s awareness of this service. The very high
cost per utilization of the commercial Annual Clean-up Day program suggests that the
services should be reviewed. In 2010, the average commercial user of the Clean-up
Day program disposed of 2.3 bulky items. Under the City’s refuse rate schedule the
cost to the user would be $157.50 if these were bulky items with the highest fees,
compared to the actual cost paid by the City of $4,259.
Outreach
Staff has begun a public outreach program to advise residents that the Recycling Center
will close on February 1, 2012. Outreach efforts already undertaken have included a
survey of RC users conducted for 30 hours over a 10 day period in August 2011. RC
users were informed of the upcoming closure, asked what materials they were bringing
to the RC, and informed about services such as the Annual Clean-up Day program and
curbside pickup of extra recyclables. Survey results are summarized in slides 5 and 6,
Attachment B. Staff has also made presentations and asked for community input at
Community Environmental Action Partnership (CEAP) meetings in July and September.
CEAP members were not opposed to the plan to close the RC given the alternative
options available for managing the materials accepted by the RC and the plans for
augmenting the HHW Station. Other input from CEAP members included the
importance of a strong outreach program to accompany the RC closure, and a desire to
see the vacant Zero Waste Coordinator position filled to assist with the necessary
outreach.
A number of additional outreach steps are planned to inform the public of the RC
closure and to provide information about the alternatives to the RC. An outline of the
outreach plan is provided in slide 11, Attachment B.
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Given the costs involved with construction of a new RC, the availability of alternatives
for managing materials collected by the RC, and the opportunity to increase access to
the HHW program by augmenting the HHW Station, staff recommends that the plan for
closing the RC be implemented, and that the RC not be relocated after its closure on
February 1, 2012.
Further information about recycling and reducing waste generation can be obtained by
calling the Zero Waste Program at 650-496-5910 or on the City’s website at
http://www.cityofpaloalto.org/depts/pwd/zero_waste/default.asp
Timeline
The plan to close the Recycling Center will be considered by the full City Council in
December 2011. The Recycling Center will close on February 1,2012 to allow the
closure of the landfill to proceed. Improvements to the Household Hazardous Waste
Station are anticipated to be completed in September 2012, with expanded availability
to residents beginning immediately following the completion. Outreach to the
community will take place throughout this process.
Resource Impact
GreenWaste contract savings of $193,553 associated with the closure of the Recycling
Center on February 1, 2012 were included in the Refuse Fund Budget Amendment
Ordinance adopted by City Council on September 19, 2011. The contract savings is
estimated to be twice this amount in FY2013 and this will be incorporated into the FY
2013 budget.
Policy Implications
Comprehensive Plan Program N-55 states that the City will “Maintain and expand the
use of the Recycling Center at the City’s refuse disposal area”, and Palo Alto Municipal
Code (PAMC) Section 5.20.270 states that the “…City will maintain within the city’s
territorial limits a recycling center..” Comprehensive Plan Goal N-6 states “...Palo Alto
will also continue its household hazardous waste collection programs and will strive to
make these programs more convenient and accessible to residents.” The Household
Hazardous Waste (HHW) program is also an important component of the City’s Clean
Bay Plan. The closure of the City’s landfill does not allow the continued operation of a
Recycling Center at the landfill location. PAMC Section 5.20.270 will need to be
updated upon closure of the Recycling Center. Augmentation of the Household
Hazardous Waste Station is a signficant step in making the HHW program more
convenient for residents as envisioned by Goal N-6.
Environmental Review (If Applicable)
The plan to close the Recycling Center does not constitute a project pursuant to the
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Augmentation of the Household
Hazardous Waste Station is being implemented as a separate project for which CEQA
review will occur.
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Attachments:
·-a:Att A -Alternative Locations for Recycling and Disposal (PDF)
·-b:Att B -Recycling Center slides (PPT)
Prepared By:Brad Eggleston, Manager Solid Waste
Department Head:J. Michael Sartor, Interim Director
City Manager Approval: ____________________________________
James Keene, City Manager
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Residents MFDs/
Commercial Residents MFDs/
Commercial*
Recyclable Materials
Mixed paper x x x x x
Magazines x x x x x
Newspapers x x x x x
Cardboard x x x x x
Paper back & hard cover books x x x x x x
PET #1 x x x x x
HDPE #2 clear x x x x x
HDPE #2 color & plastic #3-7 x x x x x
Plastic bags/film x x x x
Rigid plastic items limited to size of
container x x x
Glass bottles x x x x x
Aluminum cans x x x x x
Aluminum foil x x x x x
"Tin" cans x x x x x
Scrap metal (small size)x x x x x
Scrap metals (large size)x x x
Reusables
Reusable items x x x
Clothes, shoes x x
Media (CDs, DVDs, videos, tapes)
Electronics
Small consumer electronics x x x x x x
Large consumer electronics x x x
Universal Wastes
Motor oil x x x
Oil filters x x x
Household batteries x x x
Auto batteries x x
Anti freeze x x
Fluorescent bulbs and tubes x x
Pharmaceuticals x x
Mercury thermometer/thermostats x x x
Sharps x x x
Other
Cooking oil/grease x
Large appliances (washers, etc)For fee For fee x x For fee
Mattresses & box springs For fee For fee x x For fee For fee
Bulky items (oversize items such as
furniture, mattresses) For fee For fee 4 bulky items
included
4 bulky items
included x
Tires x x For fee
Garbage x x For fee
* For multifamily residential with property managers/house accounts, the Clean Up Day is scheduled by the manager for the entire complex, with 4 bulky items accepted.
The Treatment Plant and HHW Program are located at 2501 Embarcadero Road, Palo Alto. Goodwill is located at 4085 El Camino Way, Palo Alto.
The SMaRT Station is located at 301 Carl Road, Sunnyvale.
Summary of Items Accepted by Palo Alto Curbside with Other Programs and Resources
Treatment
Plant
Goodwill
(offsite)SMaRT StationHHW
Program
Annual Clean Up Day
Materials Accepted
Palo Alto Curbside
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-: Att A - Alternative Locations for Recycling and Disposal (1938 : Recycling Center and Household Hazardous Waste)
Plan for Eliminating the Recycling
Center and Retaining the Household
Hazardous Waste Station
City of Palo Alto
Finance Committee
November 1, 2011
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Overview of Presentation
¡Information on current Recycling Center
¡Elements of Plan to Eliminate Recycling Center
l Alternate Locations for Recycling and
Disposal
l Augmenting Household Hazardous Waste
Station
l Augmenting Annual Clean-up Day
(potential)
l Outreach
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Recycling Center:
Current Level of Service and Costs
¡Open 9am-5pm daily (except three holidays)
¡Materials collected: single stream recyclables,
rigid plastics, scrap metal, reusable items,
media, electronics, universal wastes, cooking
oil, appliances (fee)*, mattresses (fee)*mattresses (fee)*
¡Annual Operating Costs (FY12):
l GreenWaste contract: $226,000
l Greenwaste bin hauling :$161,000
l Total: $387,000
* No longer accepted as of 7/28/2011 due to landfill closure
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Recycling Center:
Tonnages Collected vs. Curbside
1,0561,0161,3982,010Recycling Center
Recyclable
Materials (tons)
5.9%6.3%9.7%13.0%Recycling Center
as Percent of
Total
13,472
FY08
13,052
FY09
15,190
FY10
16,876Curbside
Recyclable
Materials (tons)
FY11
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Recycling Center Survey:
30 hours over 10 days in late August; Surveyed 252 of 325 vehicles entering the
Recycling Center
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
Single
Stream
Cardboard
Goodwill
Motor Oil /
Antifreeze
Scrap Metal
Batteries
Fluorescent
Bulbs
Media/Books
Cooking Oil
Number of Users
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Recycling Center Survey Key Findings
¡185 Palo Alto residents, 67 from other communities
¡50 of 72 surveyed did not know that extra recyclables can go out at curbside
¡2 Palo Alto residents brought recyclables because not available at multifamily complex
¡6 of 7 multifamily residents surveyed have recycling at complex
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Residents MFDs/
Commercial Residents MFDs/
Commercial*
Recyclable Materials
Mixed paper x x x x x
Magazines x x x x x
Newspapers x x x x x
Cardboard x x x x x
Paper back & hard cover books x x x x x x
PET #1 x x x x x
HDPE #2 clear x x x x x
HDPE #2 color &plastic #3-7 x x x x x
Plastic bags/film x x x x
Rigid plastic items limited to size of
container x x x
Glass bottles x x x x x
Aluminum cans x x x x x
Aluminum foil x x x x x
"Tin"cans x x x x x
Scrap metal (small size)x x x x x
Scrap metals (large size)x x x
Reusables
Reusable items x x x
Clothes,shoes x x
Media (CD s,DVDs, videos, tapes)
Electronics
Small consumer electronics x x x x x x
Large consumer electronics x x x
Universal Wastes
Motor oil x x x
Oil filters x x x
Household batteries x x x
Auto batteries x x
Anti freeze x x
Fluorescent bulbs and tubes x x
Pharmaceuticals x x
Mercury thermometer/thermostats x x x
Sharps x x x
Other
Cooking oil/grease x
Large appliances (washers,etc)For fee For fee x x For fee
Mattresses & box springs For fee For fee x x For fee For fee
Bulky items (oversize items such
as furniture, mattresses) For fee For fee 4 bulky items
included
4 bulky items
included x
Tires x x For fee
Garbage x x For fee
Treatment
Plant
Goodw ill
(offsite)SMaRT StationHHW
Program
Annual Clean Up Day
Materials Accepted
Palo Alto Curbside
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Simplified Matrix of Alternative
Recycling and Disposal Options
XXBulky Items
XXUniversal
Wastes
XXReusable
Items
XXXSingle
Stream
Recyclables
SMaRT
Station
HHW
Program
Goodwill
(East
Meadow)
Annual
Clean-up
Day
Curbside
Recycling
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Household Hazardous Waste Station
¡Current program: One Saturday per month,
one afternoon per month by appointment
¡Proposed augmentations
l Consolidate various current container locations
l Increase storage capacity
l Expand to fixed hours on two days per week
l Add reuse cabinets
l Improve stormwater protection and safety
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Annual Clean-up Day
¡2010 Program Usage:
l 1,552 residents used at contract cost of
$380,000 (about 9% participation)
l 2010: 36 commercial businesses used at
contract cost of $263,000
¡GreenWaste estimate to add additional
annual clean-up day for residents:
$260,000
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Outreach Plan
Decembercart tagsCreate cart tags to inform residents about the closure
As neededemailEmail updates to people on 'Recycling Center Updates list'
Dec/Janbill insertBill insert -Recycling Center closure
As neededpostsCreate Facebook posts about the closure
Dec/JanadsCreate ads to run in local papers to inform community about the closure
Novemberpress release
Create a press release -to be sent out before Council meeting to explain
the Feb closure
Novemberemail
Email -to distribute through contacts such as CEAP, Green Team, WP, SSC
& School Green Teams + others as appropriate
NovemberarticleGreenWastenewsletter
Octoberhandout
Handout for RC attendant to give to RC users -alternative options for
their materials
OctobereNewsarticleseNewsarticle to explain closure and discussion
As needednews detailCreate news detail to guide viewers to new page
OctoberwebpageUpdate webpage for Recycling Center
OctobersignCreate sign to place at Recycling Center
DateDeliverableAction
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-:
A
t
t
B
-
R
e
c
y
c
l
i
n
g
C
e
n
t
e
r
s
l
i
d
e
s
(
1
9
3
8
:
R
e
c
y
c
l
i
n
g
C
e
n
t
e
r
a
n
d
H
o
u
s
e
h
o
l
d
H
a
z
a
r
d
o
u
s
W
a
s
t
e
)