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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2004-03-22 City Council (4)City of Palo Alto City Manager’s Report TO:HONORABLE CITY COUNCIL FROM: DATE: SUBJECT: CITY MANAGER MARCH 22, 2004 SUNNYVALE MATERIALS STATION ANNUAL REPORT DEPARTMENT: PUBLIC WORKS CMR: 194:04 RECOVERY AND TRANSFER This is an informational report and no Council action is required. BACKGROUND On October 7, 1991, Council approved a long-term refuse disposal a~eement at Kirby Canyon Landfill with Waste Management, Inc. of California. At the same time. the Council also approved an MOU creating a partnership with the Cities of Mountain View, Palo Alto and Sunn3~ale to construct and operate the Sunnyvale Materials Recovery and Transfer (SMART®) Station, in Sunn?~lale, on a ten-acre site. These two a~eements assured future generations of Palo Altans solid waste capacity for 30 years (until September 30, 2021). Per this MOU, the City of Sunny,~ale was and is taking the lead in the construction and operation of this station. In October of 1993 the SMART Station® began operation on time and within budget. It was designed and is permitted to handle a maximum of 1,500 tons per day of solid waste. DISCUSSION The City of Palo Alto delivered approximately 49,205 tons of solid waste in FY 2002/03 to the SMART® Station. This is approximately 60 percent of the total waste stream generated within the City. The Palo Alto Sanitation Company/Waste Management delivers the majority of the waste with minimal use from the Palo Alto public self-haul customers. In FY 2002/03 the SMART® Station recovered approximately 10,235 tons (or 21 percent) of recyclables from the Palo Alto waste stream delivered. Each year the SMART® Station contract administrator prepares a report to the conm-mnity about the cooperative venture at the SMART® Station. Attached is this report sharing the update of this partnership between the three cities of Mountain View, Sunny,~ale and Palo Alto. In FY 2002/03 the following highlights of achievements include: The SMART® Station reached a milestone of being ten years in joint operation with the cities of Palo Alto, Mountain View and Sunnyvale. CMR:194:04 Page 1 of 2 The SMART® Station reached a milestone of being ten years in joint operation with the cities of Palo Alto, Mountain View and Sunnyvale. A new record high overall diversion of 33% (compared to the prior years 29%) for total diversion of all materials brought to the facility. Diversion of recyclable material from the municipa! solid waste delivered to the SMART® Station also set a new record high - 21%, up from 17% the prior vear The City of Sunny~ale refinanced the 1992 b~ds. which produced net present value savings of $1,231,530 for the three partner cities. Significant dollar savings on capital investments. Instead of buying a new $1 million compactor, the liner was replaced and the unit kept in service. Granted a new, stringent air quality permit from the Bay, Area Quality Management District. Contingency plans created to address the recent labor contract issues. Challenges at the SMART® Station will continue, including how to handle a variety of increasing electronic waste, an even ~eater need to monitor in-coming materials, increasingly, stringent regulations, and the need for increased public awareness to the public to protect the environment. The three cities continue to create success through cooperative management that is built on a safe environmentally sound spirit and cost effective waste management and recycling services. ATTACHMENT Attachment A: "A Report to the Community about the SMART® Station cooperative venture 2002-2003" PREPARED BY: DEPARTMENT HEAD: CITY MANAGER APPROVAL" I~IICt~d~L JACKSON Deputy Director/PW Operations GLENN S. ROBERTS Director o ~ublic Works Assistant City Manager CMR:194:04 Page 2 of 2 SMART® Partnerships A Report to the Community about the SMART Station® cooperative venture 2002 - 2003 MaRT for a decade The Sunnyvale Materials Recovery and Transfer (SMART) Station began operation in October 1993 on a 10-acre site in northern Sunnyvale. It was built by the City of Sunnyvale, in partnership with the cities of Mountain Vie~v and Palo Alto, to serve five main purposes: ¯Receive and recover recyclable materials from garbage collected in the three cities¯Transfer the unrecycled portion of the ~arbage to the Kirby Canyon Landfillor disposal¯Receive, process, and ship to composting facilities the yard trimmings collected by the cities¯Receive, sort, andprepare for market the recyclables collected at curbside¯Provide a recycling center where residents can drop off a number of recyclable materials and receive cash for bottles and cans covered by California’s "Bottle Bill" system. At the SMART Station, residents of the three cities may also dispose of "self haul" refuse, pick up’free ground yard trimmings suitable for composting or mulching, and drop off recyclable items at no cost. Individuals and groups are invited year- round to tour the facility to see how this cooperative venture is helping to divert huge amounts of valuable and useful resources from the landfill. It’s a SMART operation Using innovative technology and the dedicated labor of more than 100 employees, the SMART Station has the capacity to process 1,500 tons of material per day, and to recycle about one-third through a variety of techniques. Separation Materials recovery operations include both mechanical and manual separation of recyclables from the waste stream. Dry loads - such as wood, scrap metal, cardboard and concrete - are sorted manually on a designated area of the tipping floor. Other solid waste loads are sent through sorting rooms on conveyors where sorters pull out cardboard, paper, glass, plastic and cans. Fol!owing the manual sort is a series of automated sorts that use magnets and eddy currents to recover additional materials. After sorting is completed, the remaining solid waste is compacted and loaded into 40-foot, 18-wheel transfer trucks for the 27-mile trip to Kirby Canyon Landfill. On a typical day, 10 transfer trucks take four loads each to the landfill. Yard Trimmings & Wood Yard trimmings and wood are processed for various uses and markets. The yard trimmings collected from residents in Sunnyvale and Mountain View are ground and sized. (Palo Alto has a separate yard trimmings operation.) Some of the material is marketed for compost feedstock or made available at the SMART Station for residents of the partner cities to pick up and use in their oxvn composting efforts. Scrap wood sorted from solid waste is chipped and marketed to wood fuel power plants. Curbside Recycling Processing Line The curbside recycling sorting system uses mechanical and manual sorting techniques to process both paper and containers collected in Mountain View and Sunnyvale. Palo Alto continues to use its own recycling facility for curbside collection processing. Convenient Public Recycling The SMART Station Drop-off Recycling Center serves as a public drop-off recycling center for paper, glass, plastic and metal cans as well as a buy back center for those ~vho want to participate in the California redemption program and receive cash for recycling accepted bottles and cans. This center is also a collection point for some products that are classified as hazardous and/or require specia! handling including used motor oil and oil filters, antifreeze, automotive batteries, needles and lancets, alkaline and rechargeable batteries, and fluorescent light bulbs or tubes. Highlights of Achievements in 2002/2003 A new record high for overall diversion The SMART Station achieved a new record high of 33% for total diversion of all materials brought to the facility. This includes garbage, yard trimmings and curbside recycling. Last year, total diversion was 29%. Incoming garbage tonnage was dmvn because of a weakened economy, but yard trimmings deliveries were up 10%, and the curbside processing line handled an increase of 11% over the previous year. More material recovered from MSW than ever before Diversion of recyclable material from the municipal solid waste delivered to the SMART Station also set a new record high - 21%, up from 17% the prior year. This record was set even though less waste was delivered than projected by the cities of Mountain Viexv, Palo Alto and SunnyxTale due to the slow economy and increased "upstream" recycling. Actual deliveries ranged from 7-11% less than anticipated from the three cities and total garbage tonnage was 9% under budget. Total expenditures were 12% under budget. Bond refinancing saves $1.2 million The City of Sunnyvale Department of Finance took advantage of low interest rates in early 2003 to refinance the 1992 bonds that funded the construction of the SMART Station. The transaction produced net present value savings of $1,231,530. The term of the bonds was not extended and no new money xvas received as a result of the refinance. The bonds have an "AI" rating from Moody’s and an "A+" rating from Standard & Poor’s, one of the highest ratings for solid waste bonds. Equipment refurbishment postpones costly replacement With the assistance of industry experts, staff researched and evaluated repair and ref~rbishment alternatives that would extend the useful life of major equipment. Instead of buying a new $1 million compactor; as was scheduled for this year, the 10-yea>old MSW compactor liner was replaced and the unit kept in service. A new equipment overhaul schedule is now in place, saving the partner cities significant dollars on capital investments. New permit obtained for air quality reporting At the direction of the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, the SMART Station applied for a new, consolidated air qualit) permit for b6th the SMART Station and the adjacent closed landfill. This comprehensive permit comes under Title V of the Clean Air Act and requires semi-annual monitoring reports as well as an annual compliance certification. Contingency plans in place In June, 2003 the sort line workers at the S~faRTStation walked off the job for about four hours and set up a picket line that could haxe disrupted service. But GreenTeam/Zanker and the affected franchise haulers activated contingency plans that kept operations running smoothly. Contract negotiations continue between GreenTeam/Zanker and the union representing the sort line workers. Other labor contracts expire in the coming year. The contingency plans will help to ensure that collection and di~pos~l operations will continue so that public health is protected. Mountain View Palo Mto*Sunnyvale citT Population 72,006 60,465 132,501 MSW delivered to SMART Station 61,375 49,059 107,458 MSW public haul 890 59 5,797 Total MSW delivered to SMART 62,265 49,118 113,255 MSW disposed at landfill 49,420 38,970 89,801 MSW material diverted from the landfill at the SMART Station 12,845 10,148 23,454 Yard trimmings brought to SMART Station 6,249 87 16,343 Recyclables brought to SMART Station 10,789 0 9,452 Total delivered to SMART Station 79,303 49,205 139,050 Total amount of material delivered to the SMART Station diverted from the landfill 29,883 10,235 49,249 *Some MSW from the CitT of Palo Alto is taken to the Palo Alto Landfill. Curbside recycling and yard trimmings from Palo Alto are processed at facilities in Palo Alto. Commodities Marketed from MSW- Brought to SMART Station GreenTeam/Z~ movement of export terminal We continue to recycled" in order content products such as those Cans 2% (By weight) Population by City Cost Sharing Percentage (based on each city’s contribution of incoming solid waste) 72,006 60,465 132,501 264,972 28%23%49% SMART Station Operating Costs $1,736 Landfill Fees & Taxes $2,480 Yard Trimmings Recycling Costs $27 Capital Replacement Fund $104 Host Fee $198 Total Costs $4,545 MRF Recovered Recycling Revenues $90 Source Separated Recycling Revenues $261 Public Haul Fees $94 Total Revenues $445 NET COSTS $4,100 COSTS $1,387 $1,982 $.4" $95 $158 $3,622 REVENUES $73 $o $75 $148 $3,474 * The City of Palo Alto recycles its yard trimmings through a separate operation. $3,038 $4,342 $72 $246 $338 $8,036 $159 $313 $164 $636 $7,400 $6,161 $8,804 $99 $445 $694 $16,203 $322 $574 $333 $1,229 $14,974 2003 Mountain View City Council Mayor - Michael Kasperzak Vic~ Mayor - Matt Pear Councihnember - Nick Galiotto Councilmember - Matt Neely Councilmember - Greg Perry Councilmember - Rosemary Stasek Councihnember - Mary Lou Zoglin City Manager - Kevin C. Duggan 2003 Palo Alto City Council 2003 Sunnyvale City Council Mayor - Dena Mossar Mayor - Julia MillerVic~ Mayor - Bern Beecham Vice Mayor - Tim Risch Councih-hember - Jim Burch Councilrhember - Fred Fowler Councilmember - Hillary Freeman Councilmember -John Howe Councilmember - Yoriko Kishimoto Councilmember - Manuel Valerio Councilmember - Judy Kleinberg Councilmember - Pat Vorreiter Councilmember - Nancy Lytle Councilmember -Jack Walker Councilmember - Jack Morton Councilmember - Victor Ojakian City Manager - Robert S. LaSala City Manager - Frank Benest 301 Carl Road Sunnyvale, CA 94089 (408) 752-8530 Printed on 30% recycled paper SMART Station Directors City of Mountain View Cathy R. Lazarus Director of Public Works City of Palo Alto Glenn S. Roberts Director of Public Works City of Sunn)wale Marvin A. Rose Director of Public Works Water PollutionControl Plant ;; ~ ~:;:~:~; SMaaT Station 10 years of SMART Success! It’s been ten years since the cities of Mountain View, Palo Mto and Sunnyvale launched their innovative joint venture to manage the diversion of municipal solid waste. It has been a decade of change and great accomplishments, including ever increasing, record-breaking diversion rates amid a climate of sometimes staggering economic surprises. We are proud that all three of our cities have surpassed the goal of the AB939 mandate and that we are significantly reducing the amount of material that is going to the landfill. Because of our unique partnership, future generations will enjoy a better environment. Our challenges continue. There is more electronic waste to handle. On the horizon, we anticipate an even greater need to monitor in-coming materials as more and more items are excluded from landfill disposal. Increased public awareness of the need to protect the environment, coupled with increasingly stringent regulations, will require greater diligence from our residents and businesses, the operator of the SMART Station and the cities’ franchised waste haulers. Every year the challenges are different, but every year we have achieved nexv milestones. We are pleased to provide this overview of the operations and successes of our truly unique SMART partnership serving the communities of Mountain Vie~v, Palo Alto and Sunnyvale. We anticipate a future of continued achievements. Sincerely; Cathy R. Lazarus Glenn S. Roberts Marvin A. Rose Cathy R. Lazarus Director of Public Works City of Mountain Viexv Glenn S. Roberts Director of Public Works City of Palo Mto Marvin A. Rose Director of Public Works CitT of Sunnyvale