HomeMy WebLinkAbout1998-10-05 City Council (25)City of Palo Alto
City.Manager’s Report
TO:HONORABLE CITY COUNCIL
FROM:CITY MANAGER DEPARTMENT: Public Works
DATE:OCTOBER 5, 1998 CMR:380:98
SUBJECT:ORGANICS MANAGEMENT PROGRAM RECEIVES STATE
HONORS
This is an information report and no Council action is required.
BACKGROUND
The State of California held the first-ever Trash Cutter Awards for local governments as
recognition and to honor the best recycling and waste reduction programs in the State. The
Trash Cutter Awards are a result of a partnership between the California Integrated Waste
Management Board (CIWMB) and its Local Government Technical Advisory Committee
(LGTAC), in which recycling and waste reduction programs implemented in 1990 when
AB939 took effect were evaluated.
DISCUSSION
The City of Palo Alto was selected by the State of California for its effort in "Outstanding
Organics Management." There were eleven awards categories with only ten cities or
counties were selected. In selecting the winners, the CIWMB and LGTAC sought to
recognize programs that were cost-effective, had a high participation rate, were innovative
in ideas and technologies, and were useful to other jurisdictions to evaluate whether similar
programs would work for them.
Palo Alto earned the award in organics management because of its variety of successful
programs that have resulted in maximizing yard trimmings recycling and reducing waste
going to the landfill. Programs include the operation of the compost facility, curbside
collection of yard trimmings, Christmas tree recycling, firewood recovery, recovery of
construction wood and pallets at the SMART Station, the compost give-away events to
residents, the partnership with the County of Santa Clara for local backyard composting
workshops, composting education within Palo Alto schools, and innovative sales and
marketing strategies that have resulted in a high rate of return for the finished product.
The City’s programs were honored at a CIWMB meeting in Sacramento on August 26, 1998
which staff attended.
CMR:380:98 Page 1 of 2
ATTACHMENTS
Award
PREPARED BY: Russell R~olid~Waste~%nager,
DEPARTMENT HEAD:
GLENN S. ROBERTS
Director of Public Works
CITY MANAGER APPROVAL:
EMILY
Assistant City Manager
CMR:380:98 Page 2 of 2