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HomeMy WebLinkAboutStaff Report 7008 City of Palo Alto (ID # 7008) City Council Staff Report Report Type: Informational Report Meeting Date: 8/22/2016 City of Palo Alto Page 1 Council Priority: Environmental Sustainability Summary Title: Update on Zero Waste Organics Collection Programs Title: Update on Zero Waste Organics Collection Programs Including the Residential Curbside Composting Program and the Recycling and Composting Ordinance From: City Manager Lead Department: Public Works This report is to provide information only and no Council action is required. Executive Summary The City of Palo Alto has one of the highest waste diversion rates in the state at nearly 80 percent (from landfills). To increase that rate even further, two important diversion programs were recently implemented: a single-family residential food scraps collection program, implemented on July 1, 2015; and a phased Recycling and Composting Ordinance, requiring compliance by large commercial facilities, food service establishments, and multifamily complexes, by April 1, 2016. In just over one year of operation, participation in the single-family residential program is greater than 60 percent and more than 1,500 tons of food scraps have been diverted to composting. In less than five months of the Recycling and Composting Ordinance compliance requirement, 100 percent of restaurants and other large facilities have implemented compost programs. These early results are very encouraging. Once these programs are fully implemented, they have the potential to divert more than 7,000 tons of food scraps per year from landfilling to composting. City of Palo Alto Page 2 Background Food and soiled paper make up 40 percent of the garbage in Palo Alto. While a small percentage of these organics is recovered at the Sunnyvale Materials Recovery and Transfer (SMaRT) Station, the vast majority are landfilled. Once in the landfill, the organics materials decompose, which results in the release of harmful greenhouse gases – nearly 2,800 MT of CO2 equivalents (CO2e) annually. In an effort to dramatically reduce these emissions and meet the City’s zero waste diversion goals, staff has developed and implemented waste diversion programs ensuring that every resident, business, student, and visitor has access to compost service. The City also continues to provide incentives for backyard/home composting. Staff has also been engaging in efforts to reduce the amount of edible food wasted and if that is not possible, use it to feed people who are in need. Once fully implemented and mature, these collective programs are anticipated to reduce the amount of food and soiled paper landfilled by 7,000 tons per year. Residential Food Scraps Collection As of July 1, 2015, all single-family residents are able to place food scraps and soiled paper in the green, compost cart (CMR ID #5558 approved 3/23/2015). Participation in the single-family residential food scraps program exceeds many other jurisdictions. During the first year of the program, approximately 60 percent of single-family households placing green compost carts on the street for pick up were putting food scraps in the cart1, resulting in over 1,500 tons of food diverted from landfill. All multifamily complexes joined the curbside food scrap program as part of Phase One of the Recycling and Composting Ordinance as of April 1, 2016 (CMR ID #6475 approved 1/11/2016). The City and GreenWaste staff has invested heavily into this major outreach effort by delivering kitchen buckets to and conducting training sessions for multifamily residents. Staff has met thousands of residents and answered countless questions from April to July. This direct outreach to 1 Staff has been able to determine a reasonably accurate estimate for the residential curbside compost collection program through lid flipping and a community survey. Staff looked into the green, blue, and black carts of over 2,200 households representing each of the 20 garbage routes throughout the City. This data nearly matched the results from a survey mailed out to residents in February 2016 to determine program participation and identify barriers to participation. City of Palo Alto Page 3 residents is the most effective way to help residents adjust to changing the way they handle their waste. Residents are still encouraged to participate in backyard/home composting. The Santa Clara County Composting Education Program, operated by the University of California Extension, has held numerous composting workshops over the past two years in Palo Alto where 313 Palo Alto residents have participated with 196 compost bins given away. Palo Alto is the only city in the county that provides residents who attend a workshop with a free backyard compost bin. It is important to note that reducing food waste starts in the grocery store and household kitchen. Staff developed shopping and food storage tips, available at www.cityofpaloalto.org/foodwaste, and included these tips with the 20,000+ kitchen buckets provided to every Palo Alto household. Recycling and Composting Ordinance As noted earlier, multifamily residential complexes were required to subscribe to compost service to comply with Phase One of the City’s Recycling and Composting Ordinance on April 1, 2016. Nearly 100 percent of complexes now have compost service. In addition to multifamily complexes, Phase One of the Recycling and Composting Ordinance included all food service establishments (e.g., restaurants, grocery stores, commercial kitchens) and any customers with over 8 cubic yards of garbage service per week – around 400 total customers. The requirements of the Recycling and Composting Ordinance guarantee that the City is meeting its obligations under the first phase of the state’s mandatory organics recycling law AB 18262. All of the restaurants and major garbage generators in the City now have compost service, a major accomplishment. To increase the amount of material diverted from the landfill City staff and GreenWaste have been working with these customers, providing regular training and improvements in “front-of-the-house” containers (i.e., sorting containers for customers throwing out their waste). GreenWaste is also conducting routine waste audits to monitor the amount of contamination in compost and recycling containers, as well as the amount of recoverables placed in the garbage 2 Phase one of Assembly Bill 1826 requires that all customers generating 8 cubic yards of organics per week needed to have an organics diversion program in place by April 1, 2016 (http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201320140AB1826). City of Palo Alto Page 4 containers. GreenWaste is issuing notice tags to customers with the results of the audits3. Since April 2016, the amount of compost collected from commercial customers has increased by 19 percent. All of the compostable material collected curbside, from both residential and commercial customers, is processed at the Zero Waste Energy Development (ZWED) Facility in North San Jose. The food scraps are first anaerobically digested where methane gas is generated and then combusted to create renewable power. The remaining digestate is composted and used as a soil amendment. By sending food scraps to ZWED, material that once went to the landfill yielding harmful greenhouse gas emissions now becomes renewable energy and compost. Discussion Residential Food Scraps Collection Despite a high level of participation in the food scraps program, many residents are not placing soiled paper and meat in the green compost cart. To address any real or perceived barriers to composting soiled paper and meat, staff created an outreach campaign with mailers and cable commercials utilizing our fictitious character, “Zak Zero”, to help “normalize” composting in the community (https://youtu.be/neaAcS4Dkic). Recycling and Composting Ordinance The managers of the handful of complexes that are still not in compliance are subject to fines associated with Chapter 5.20 of the Municipal Code. Staff is confident that these remaining complexes will soon comply and provide compost service to their residents. The amount of compost collected should continue to increase with the implementation of Phase Two (all commercial customers with 2 or more cubic yards of garbage service per week) on January 1, 2017, and Phase Three (all remaining commercial customers) on January 1, 2018. 3 The cart tags come in three colors: green, doing a good job sorting; yellow, could improve sorting behavior; and red, doing a poor job of sorting and the cart is heavily contaminated. Customers receiving three red tags will begin to see extra pick-up and contamination fees associated with the Recycling and Composting Ordinance. Multifamily complexes, as long as they provide all collection services, adequate signage, and educate tenants will not be subject to Recycling and Composting Ordinance fees. City of Palo Alto Page 5 Since 2009, commercial compost service has cost less than garbage service, and most customers have saved money by adding compost service. However, many customers reported in surveys that the then-optional compost service cost differential (garbage was 10 percent higher) was an insufficient incentive. Therefore the relative discount for compost was increased to 20 percent on July 1, 2016. This financial incentive coupled with the requirements in the Ordinance to sort properly should maximize the amount of diversion from the commercial sector. Looking forward, staff is evaluating possible changes to the Ordinance that will: 1) Require commercial customers to use clear plastic “garbage” bags so GreenWaste can easily verify compliance; and 2) Include a provision where restaurants and other food service establishments will need to establish a relationship with a food rescue organization. Food Rescue Getting food scraps out of the landfill and into the food scraps collection program is a primary zero waste goal; however, much of the food that is either landfilled or composted is prepared food or uncooked food that is still edible. An estimated 4,000 tons of edible food is landfilled or composted each year. Although composting is the preferred option to landfilling, it is even better to reduce the amount of food waste we generate in the first place. For the food waste that is generated, getting that food into the hands of hungry people is best. According to a June 2015 report by FoodShift for Santa Clara County, 1 in 4 people in Santa Clara County go to bed hungry every night. Staff has been working to address food insecurity. Last summer, staff partnered with Second Harvest Food Bank to establish a food rescue program for Piazza’s Fine Foods. Over the course of the year, Piazza’s has donated over 24,000 pounds of food. Staff has also worked closely with the Santa Clara County Food Rescue Committee to develop a community food rescue plan, which is expected by the end of 2016. Reducing food waste reduces the greenhouse gas emissions across the supply chain and at the landfill, helping to protect the environment. In addition, food scraps that are anaerobically digested provide renewable energy and compost. On City of Palo Alto Page 6 the economic side, the green compost cart is less expensive than the black garbage cart and donating food can provide tax deductions. The social value of food rescue can provide the greatest benefit. Food that would have otherwise been landfilled is now providing a nutritious meal. Zero waste means more than just keeping material out of the landfill; it means we make best use of the all resources. The good news is that the first choice is as simple as sorting waste properly.