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HomeMy WebLinkAbout121712-3222-Pilot-Compostables-Collection-Program City of Palo Alto (ID # 3222) City Council Staff Report Report Type: Action Items Meeting Date: 12/17/2012 City of Palo Alto Page 1 Summary Title: Approval of Pilot Compostables Collection Program Title: Approval of Pilot Residential Compostables Collection Program and Adjustment to Refuse Collection Frequency From: City Manager Lead Department: Public Works Recommendation Staff recommends that Council approve and authorize staff to implement a Pilot Residential Compostables Collection program for a one-year period in a small geographic area that will be evaluated and selected by Public Works Environmental Services Division Staff. Executive Summary Staff is proposing a small residential compostables collection pilot program that would recover the compostable kitchen wastes that are currently disposed at a landfill. The pilot would have two key features. First, food scraps would be placed in the green carts (instead of the black carts), and second, all wastes would be placed in either the green or blue carts, eliminating the need for separate collection of garbage (black carts). The 12-month pilot would start in March 2013 and necessary data will be collected to determine the feasibility of applying the program to the residential sector citywide. The goals of the program are to: 1) increase diversion from landfills, helping to achieve the City’s Zero Waste Goal; 2) determine if cost savings are possible through the elimination of separate garbage collection; 3) simplify the waste sorting for residents; and 4) reduce the number of garbage truck trips each week thereby reducing greenhouse gas generation. Background City of Palo Alto Page 2 On October 2, 2012, staff presented staff report #3099 to the Finance Committee with information about two possible options for a pilot program that would collect residential compostable material. Staff was following up on a previous Finance Committee request to consider cost reductions to the Refuse Fund by reducing the frequency of the City’s refuse collection. Staff identified the collection of food waste and other compostable materials as the optimal way to reduce collection frequency and also help the City achieve our goals of Zero Waste and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. By collecting residential food scraps and food soiled paper, approximately 6,000 tons of material could be diverted from the landfill to create a commercially available compost. The two options presented to the Finance Committee were: 1) Every Other Week Garbage Collection Option – This option would reduce the collection frequency of garbage and at the same time redirect all compostable waste (primarily yard trimmings and bagged food scraps and food soiled paper) to the green carts to be collected weekly. All recyclable materials and bagged landfill items (e.g., pet waste, diapers, and bathroom wastes) would be placed in the blue recycling carts and also collected weekly. The remaining inert non-compostable garbage (e.g., aseptic containers, foil beverage pouches, granola bar wrappers, metallic paper, ceramics, hoses, rubber bands) would be collected every other week. 2) Two Cart System (No separate Garbage Cart) – This option would completely eliminate the need for a separate garbage collection (black carts) and would redirect all compostable waste (primarily yard trimmings and bagged food scraps and food soiled paper) into the green carts. All recyclable materials and bagged landfill items (e.g., pet waste, diapers, and bathroom wastes) along with the non-compostable inert garbage would be placed in the blue recycling carts and also collected weekly. This option would require the small amount of remaining non-compostable garbage (in the blue cart) to be sorted out at a materials recovery facility (MRF). This is a different paradigm than what is in place now. Instead of residents sorting the recyclables and non-compostable garbage at home, non-compostable garbage is separated from the recyclables at a sorting facility. Currently, there are no communities City of Palo Alto Page 3 in the Bay Area that have implemented this type of program. Note that the City’s options are somewhat limited by a State health and safety regulation which requires certain types of wastes (known as putresiible waste) to be collected weekly. During the Finance Committee meeting on October 2, 2012, committee members expressed their initial preference for the simpler two cart system “no garbage cart” option for households and to ensure that program costs would not dramatically increase if the program were to be rolled out throughout the community. To gather public comments, staff led two community meetings in early November 2012 to discuss the two pilot options, the pilot’s evaluation criteria, and the community’s opinions and concerns. The community meetings also included a survey, which was taken both before and after the meeting. Over 40 members of the public attended the meetings The community responded unfavorably to the “no garbage cart option” before hearing the public presentation on the survey; however, the community responses taken after the public presentation showed a change toward acceptance of the two cart system. Once both options were presented, community members could see that the mimimal inert waste remaining in option one “every other week garbage collection” cart could be placed into the blue cart with little impact to the quality of the recyclable materials. Community members asked many questions about how the pilot would address where to place problem wastes, like diapers, pet waste, and bathroom waste. These wastes, which are currently being bagged by residents, would be placed in the blue cart. Discussion Staff had discussions and received operational input from GreenWaste (the City’s contracted waste collector and processor) and the City’s partners at the Sunnyvale Material Recovery and Transfer (SMaRT) Station. Additionally, staff received input from the Finance Committee, the public through two community meetings and an online survey. Staff has selected to propose the two-cart system City of Palo Alto Page 4 – weekly collection for green and blue carts only, no black cart collection because:  It is a simpler, more convenient system;  Separate garbage collection can be eliminated completely, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles and congestion;  The Finance Committee members favored the simpler system; and  A majority of residents at the community meetings supported it once it was explained. Specifically, staff is proposing a pilot where residents in the pilot route would only have two carts. Yard trimmings and all compostable material (primarily food scraps and food soiled paper), will be placed in the green cart. Large compostable items, like pizza boxes, could be placed directly into the cart without a bag. Current recyclables and landfill items will be placed in the blue cart. The landfill items, which for the most part are currently bagged by residents, would be bagged and placed in the blue cart. Landfill items include: pet waste, diapers, bathroom waste (e.g., dental floss, hygiene products, band aids), and inert garbage that cannot be recycled or composed (e.g., aseptic containers, foil beverage pouches, granola bar wrappers, metallic paper, ceramics, hoses, and rubber bands). This waste could be bagged together or separately. The bagged landfill materials in the blue cart would be separated from the recyclables at the GreenWaste Charles Street MRF in San Jose and landfilled or, if possible, recovered. The green cart material would continue to be taken to the SMaRT station, where bagged food scraps and food soiled paper would be separated from the yard trimmings. Both the yard trimmings and the food scraps would then be separately trucked to the Z-Best Composting Facility in Gilroy to be composted in separate units, producing different compost products. Both the green cart and the blue cart will be collected by GreenWaste once a week as required by the California State Health Code. City of Palo Alto Page 5 Currently, residential food scraps and food soiled paper are included in the garbage carts and eventually sent to the landfill. This food waste is compostable and should be diverted from the landfill – increasing the City’s diversion rate and moving the City closer to the Zero Waste goals. Neighborhood: Staff is in the process of finalizing the identification of a neighborhood for this pilot. The pilot would cover one day of one garbage route, which is approximately 700 homes. The neighborhood would be selected by the following criteria: 1) the neighborhood is defined by clear neighborhood boundaries; 2) the neighborhood has a mix of single-family and multi-family homes; 3) the neighborhood’s current garbage, recycling, and yard trimmings routes can easily overlap so that data from the pilot can be easily compared to the existing collection routine; and 4) the neighborhood has an existing and active neighborhood association with a strong outreach presence. Staff would conduct community meetings with the selected neighborhood, mailing out packets to explain how the pilot will work, and providing information and answering questions with door-to-door visits. If the public raises substantial concerns at the public meeting then staff will consider appropriate changes and advise Council. Residents would receive a pilot “tool kit,” which would include a small two-gallon kitchen container for food scraps, a few compostable bags to start, and a guide on which carts different items should be placed. Compostable bags are available at most local grocery stores. Timeframe: The pilot would cover a full twelve months and could begin as early as March 2013. This will allow pilot participants to evaluate how effectively the pilot works in different seasons (the fall tends to produce more yard trimmings) and provide an opportunity for staff to survey pilot participants at multiple times throughout the pilot. After 6 months of the pilot program, Staff will conduct an evaluation of the pilot and if substantial problems are found then appropriate corrections will be made and Council will be notified. City of Palo Alto Page 6 Outreach: Pilot participants would receive a variety of outreach materials to help build understanding of the pilot program. Outreach would include: 1) a letter introducing the pilot and its timeline; 2) public meeting(s) to explain the pilot and answer questions; 3) newsletter articles and emails by the neighborhood association about the pilot; 4) a toolkit delivered to each pilot residence consisting of a food scrap collection bucket, a comprehensive guide listing the appropriate cart for different wastes, cart stickers with sorting information and compostable bags; 5) cart tags with pilot information; and 6) staff would be available to answer questions during regular business hours. Evaluation Criteria: The pilot will be designed to examine how this change in service will impact collection, processing, and disposal costs, the community’s willingness to use the service, diversion rates, greenhouse gas production, and quality of the recycled material and compost. The pilot will be evaluated using five categories to establish whether the pilot should be rolled out to the entire community. The evaluation criteria categories include: 1. Costs: The pilot will show whether residential compostables collection and modified services are cost effective. The pilot will also determine the impacts on the City’s contract and fixed costs with GreenWaste, the SMaRT Station and the Kirby Canyon “put-or-pay” agreement for a citywide roll out. Additionally, staff will determine the potential cost impacts to residential rates and customer utility bills if the service were to expand citywide. 2. Convenience: The pilot will help provide answers to questions about how easy or difficult it is to use the two-sort system, as to whether food waste should be placed in bags, and to see if odors or other nuisance issues arise. Some households may also need to increase their cart size from the current standard (i.e., shifting from a 64 gallon cart to a 96 gallon cart). Staff will ask the pilot participants to complete pre-, mid-, and post-surveys to help evaluate convenience related questions. 3. Diversion rates: The pilot will help staff determine if the pilot helps divert more materials from the landfill. The shift from the current three-sort system to the two-sort system shifts some of the responsibility of material separation from the individual households to the SMaRT and GreenWaste City of Palo Alto Page 7 MRFs. The pilot will help answer whether this system diverts more compostable and recyclable materials from the landfill. The projected diversion rate of the pilot will need to be compared to comparable cities that collect food wastes in a three-sort system. 4. Material quality: Much like diversion rates, material quality may be altered by the shift to a two-sort system. Staff will work with GreenWaste and the SMaRT Station to evaluate and quantify the impacts on the quality and marketability of the materials through audits of the materials. 5. Greenhouse gas reduction: By reducing a cart, GreenWaste will be able to reduce the number of truck trips on the street. The reduction in trucks and changes in service levels may alter the carbon footprint of the collection system. Staff will also need to evaluate the life-cycle costs related to both the additional sorting needed to remove contamination from the green cart as well as the final use of the compost. The pilot will also help determine what modifications may be needed if the pilot expanded to the entire community. Timeline The pilot is scheduled to begin in March 2013. The pilot will last for a full year from 2013 to 2014. This will allow staff to determine if seasonal changes impact the program. In 2014, staff will return to Council with a full report on the outcomes of the pilot, and if recommended for Citywide adoptions, staff will present needed modifications to the pilot, costs, and other impacts. Resource Impact Funding for the pilot is currently included in the FY 2013 Refuse Fund operating budget. GreenWaste, SMaRT and Kirby Canyon increased fees will be negligable during this pilot. Staff will be engaged in extensive outreach efforts with the pilot neighborhood and participants with outreach costs estimated at approximately $12,000. Policy Implications City of Palo Alto Page 8 The pilot is consistent with the City’s Zero Waste Operational Plan and Climate Protection Plan both adopted in 2007 to provide for the collection and diversion of all compostable materials. Environmental Review This pilot collection project would be for information collection purposes and would qualify for a Class 6 Categorical Exemption consisting of basic data collection, research, experimental management, and resource evaluation activities which do not result in a serious or major disturbance to an environmental resource.