SUMMER 2019customer update

Page 1 •Summer 2019

Inside

Residential customers looking for up-to-date information about our holiday schedule, call our Holiday Hotline at 303-448-2280 or visit: westerndisposal.com. The following holidays are observedby Western Disposal:• Independence Day ..July 4, 2019• Labor Day ..............Sept. 2, 2019• Thanksgiving Day . Nov. 28, 2019• Christmas Day ..... Dec. 25, 2019• New Year’s Day ...... Jan. 1, 2020 • Memorial Day ...... May 25, 2020

1 . . . . Business Spotlight

2 . . . . Can I Recycle…?

2 . . . . Employee Spotlight

3 . . . . Recycling is Alive and Well

3 . . . . COB Zero Waste Compliance

4 . . . . Two Shred Days Left

4 . . . . Collection Times May Vary

4 . . . . Charitable Foundation Launch

Holiday Schedule

As the recycling industry continues to face market and quality challenges, companies such as Louisville based AMP Robotics are creating hi-tech solutions. With charges for recycling continuing to escalate ($30.00 per ton as of May 2019 vs. $5.00 per ton May 2018 at the Boulder County Recycling

Center), innovation with robotic sorting is gaining interest at material recovery facilities across the globe.AMP Robotics began in 2014 with the idea that artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics could change the economics of recycling. With traditional recycling processing, manual sorting is used to perform many tasks to separate different materials or improve quality to meet increased standards. In 2016, the largest market for post-consumer recyclables imposed a requirement for 99.5% purity, commonly known as the Green Fence standard. Many processors are struggling to meet these higher standards which impact product movement and the material's value. Robots are increasing being evaluated for meeting these new demands.The challenge AMP’s robotic technology faced was determining how to distinguish individual objects (HDPE plastic bottles vs. PET plastic bottles, or non-plastic contamination) despite being dirty, smashed or torn. AMP Robotics developed sorting robots using advanced computer vision and machine learning. Their system trains itself by processing millions of material images. Learning from experience, it gets better and better Michael & Karen Laage while identifying more specific material categories.Manual sorting at a typical recycling plant identifies productive workers as those capable of maintaining 60 picks per minute, with real time averages between 40 and 60. AMP reports reaching very high purities in difficult applications and achieving more than 80 picks per minute per robot. The addition of robotic sorting is an important step in containing the cost of recycle processing. Automation has the potential of monitoring the material stream and allowing recycling plants to begin operating like advanced manufacturing facilities where processes and outputs are closely monitored to ensure product quality.As a company founded on innovation, AMP Robotics is continuing to develop AI sorting robots to advance the recovery of valuable raw materials, improve how plants function and increase the revenue that can be generated from these complex recycling processes. This is important as communities demand higher diversion rates despite the challenges mixed recycling faces in the global marketplace.In addition to developing cutting edge sorting systems, AMP Robotics promotes sustainability internally. AMP has subscribed to trash, recycling and compost at their production and research facility located in the Colorado Technology Park in Louisville.

BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT: AMP ROBOTICS - INNOVATING RECYCLING

Western Disposal’s Trash and Recycle Center at 5880 Butte Mill Road is a “one stop drop” for our customers; it’s conveniently located, paved and saves time and hassle over a trip to the landfill. Open to the public 6 days a week, customers can drop off trash, recyclables, scrap metal, appliances, yard waste and wood waste. They can purchase compost and mulch as well.Central to the operation of the Trash and Recycle Center is the Scale House. Every car, truck, and yes, even bikes, must pass by the Scale House to be weighed, inspected, and processed before dumping their load. Ensuring operations at the Scale House run smoothly for our customers are two long-time employees, Patti Blumenshine and Donna Luna. Patti has been at Western Disposal for over 31 years working at the Scale House while Donna has been at Western for over seven years.Life at the Scale House is extremely busy as Patti and Donna often handle over 600 cars and trucks daily from landscapers, contractors and customers that need a convenient place to drop off everything from branches to drywall. In addition, they manage approximately 100 Western trucks coming and going from the facility. Customers are greeted with a smile and Patti and Donna then must quickly determine what the customer is bringing in, the costs for the material, and whether weight of the material is needed. They work as a team, one handling the incoming cars, and the other handling the outgoing traffic. There must be good coordination as vehicles often must be weighed coming into the facility and then as they leave to determine costs for dumping. Due to Patti’s long-time tenure, the Scale House is often affectionally known as the “Patti Shack” to Western employees.After weighing in, vehicles proceed to the transfer station for material drop off. Hard at work there maintaining a safe environment, directing traffic, managing and moving material and keeping the area tidy and organized are equipment operators Mike Barajas (13 years), Todd Leith (22 years) and Angel Gardea (11 years).As a reflection of their longevity and friendliness, this team has built relationships with many of our repeat customers who use our Trash and Recycle Center frequently. These customers have praised their kindness, professionalism and efficiency as they manage the busy Scale House and “organized chaos” of the drop-off site.

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Can I Recycle...?Where is your stash? In a closet? On a garage shelf? Down in the basement? Most of us have an area in the house where outdated electronics accumulate. When you are ready to clear the clutter, be sure to do so responsibly. In 2013, the state of Colorado passed the Electronic Recycling Jobs Act prohibiting waste electronic devices from being landfilled and prohibiting your trash hauler from accepting electronics for disposal.Electronic devices contain harmful elements such as lead, chromium, arsenic, and mercury. Their batteries typically contain nickel-cadmium, lithium, or lead acid. In addition to these harmful elements, electronics contain valuable resources that can be recaptured and re-used, such as copper, silver, titanium, gold, and engineered plastics. Other components such as glass from screens, microphones, sim cards, phone cases, battery connectors, cables, keyboards can be reused or melted to create new products. By properly recycling these items we not only keep harmful materials from seeping into the earth and contaminating our soil and water, but reduce greenhouse gas emissions, save resources by reducing the need to extract new raw materials, and save energy from mining and manufacturing. As the name of the Act implies, recycling electronics creates jobs. And the Center for Hard to Recycle Materials, aka CHaRM, our community’s electronics recycler located at 6400 Arapahoe in Boulder, has done just that. In November of 2016, Eco-Cycle (who operates CHaRM on behalf of the city of Boulder) entered into a partnership with Blue Star Recyclers to disassemble and sort electronics on-site, rather than transport them to Denver for processing. Blue Star Recyclers was founded in 2009 to hire people with disabilities to work in the recycling industry and now employs eight individuals with disabilities at the Boulder site.There are fees associated with recycling most electronics, but some are processed at no charge. For information on fees and hours of operation, contact the CHaRM Center at (303) 444-6634.Items considered electronic waste devices include:

• Televisions• Central Processing units (CPUs)• Computer Monitors• Printers• Fax machines• Laptops• Tablets• VCRs and DVD players• Cellphones• Video game consoles• Radios and stereos

The Colorado Department of Health & Environment oversees the management of electronics and computer waste. For more information visit: colorado.gov/pacific/cdphe/ewaste.

HAVE YOU BEEN TO THE “PATTI SHACK”?

From left to right: Donna and Patti

From left to right: Angel, Mike and Todd

Page 3 • Summer 2019

In recent months Western Disposal has received many inquiries regarding the fate of the recycling material we collect. The following guest opinion was published by the Daily Camera in April and contributed by Darla Arians, Boulder County Resource Conservation Division Manager, and Judy Wong, Eco-Cycle Board President“Is recycling dead?” That catchy headline from the Atlantic, as well as a slew of news articles from everyone from the New York Times to Popular Science, has everyone talking about what’s going on with recycling. Boulder County residents who have heard about China’s “National Sword” policy and the resulting disruption of domestic recycling markets have been asking whether their recyclables are being landfilled instead of recycled. Before delving into details, let us reassure readers—your Boulder County recyclables are definitely being recycled (and they always have been) and are NOT going to the landfill – so KEEP RECYCLING! The Boulder County Recycling Center (BCRC), owned by Boulder County and operated by Eco-Cycle, has a national reputation for producing consistently clean, high-quality materials, largely because local residents and businesses have long been our partners as savvy and conscientious recyclers. While other recyclers are struggling with the fact that China has closed its doors to most imports of recyclables, the BCRC is actually faring Scott & Ratiya Edfors better than most. Our marketing strategy for recyclables has always been focused on producing high-quality materials for local and domestic markets. That said, over the last year or so, global recycling markets have taken a beating. In early 2017, when China closed its ports to paper and plastic recyclables that had more than .5% contamination (an almost impossible specification to meet), the U.S. lost a huge market that had been buying nearly one-third of our country’s recyclables for a decade. China signaled its intent as far back as 2013, but the U.S. recycling industry failed to heed the warning to reduce contamination levels and reinvest in domestic recycling facilities.The result has been steep price drops for recyclables worldwide, and demoralizing headlines about communities, especially on the coasts, that had no choice but to temporarily landfill paper and some plastics because their markets vanished overnight. Other communities stopped accepting certain materials, and contrarian pundits claimed that recycling was dead.Wrong. Recycling isn’t dead; it remains an essential element of a sustainable, circular economy, now and into the future. Locally, the BCRC continues to invest in high-quality material production. Over the past two years, Boulder County has invested several millions of dollars in BCRC equipment upgrades, including two new optical sorters for plastics and enhanced cardboard screens. These investments enable the facility to recycle additional types and more tons of plastic items than ever before, and to better recover growing volumes and sizes of cardboard. The county also has further plans to invest in the publicly-owned facility as it supports community values around human and environmental health. In truth, while we are in a short-term market slump, China’s National Sword has actually presented the U.S. recycling industry with an opportunity. Now is the time to focus on developing new end-markets within the U.S. so that the full value of these materials is reinvested in our own economies, and more green jobs are created in our state. For example, glass is a material for which there is a closed loop recycling system in Colorado. Momentum Recycling in Broomfield cleans and processes glass—from the BCRC and much of the Denver metro region--and then sells this material to the Rocky Mountain Bottling Company for Miller/Coors to use to make new beer bottles locally. In this way, recycling provides manufacturing feedstock and creates jobs locally, in a sustainable circular economy. We need to develop more end markets like this right here in Colorado—an idea that we have been promoting with our new governor and state legislature.In sum, recycling is alive and kicking in Boulder County, and is still one of the most important actions each of us can do every day to protect our environment, combat climate change, conserve natural resources, and create green jobs. So keep up the good work, recyclers! We’ll continue to do our part to help keep recycling thriving in Boulder County if you’ll continue to help us follow the guidelines for producing the cleanest, most marketable recyclables possible.

RECYCLING IS ALIVE AND WELL IN BOULDER COUNTY

CITY OF BOULDER’S ZERO WASTE ORDINANCE REQUIREMENTS UPDATED FOR GROCERY STORES AND RESTAURANTS (Article contributed by the city of Boulder)

Boulder is working to become a zero waste community. This means reducing the waste we create and then reusing, recycling and composting most of what we throw away. Our goal is to generate new materials from 85 percent of our waste by 2025 rather than send that waste to the landfill. This effort takes participation from everyone, from residents recycling at the curb, to businesses having the correct waste set-ups, to visitors composting their ice cream cones on Pearl Street.

A key part of Boulder’s zero waste efforts is policy. The Universal Zero Waste Ordinance, adopted by council in 2015, requires all property owners to subscribe to trash, recycling and composting collection services, and all businesses to have appropriate bins, signs and employee training. After several years of focusing on outreach, assistance and complaint-based enforcement, the city is phasing in a reporting requirement, Linda Wasson and Mark Oblinger where businesses will be required to report their compliance with the ordinance to the city’s Climate Initiatives Department. The ability to require reporting has always been part of the ordinance, though with the most recent update to the City Manager’s Rules that govern this ordinance, there are now official deadlines. By June 30, 2019, and annually thereafter, all Boulder restaurants and grocery stores will be required to report their compliance. By June 30, 2020, and annually thereafter, all Boulder food producing businesses will be required to report. No sooner than June 30, 2021, the City Manager may also require other businesses and property owners to annually report. Compliance is reported through a simple, online form.The city has many resources available to help businesses, including a step-by-step guidebook and easy ways to train employees. The city has also given away over $130,000 in compostable bags to Boulder businesses through its Green Bag Giveaway program. We are already seeing success from the ordinance. Since it began in 2015, diversion rates have gone from 39% of waste being kept out of the landfill to 57% now. We have seen improvements each year as all sectors of the community help move the needle of progress forward.90% of what ends up in Boulder’s landfill is recyclable or compostable. Together, we can change that. Thanks for doing your part to help Boulder become a zero waste community.

Launched in Spring 2019, the Western Disposal & Associates Foundation is dedicated to funding activities that enrich and improve the lives of local kids. We focus on supporting educational and extracurricular programs, breaking down barriers to participation so kids can build confidence and thrive.Western Disposal remains a primary sponsor of the Crayons to Calculators school supply program supporting children in the Boulder and St. Vrain Valley school districts. The Foundation provides the opportunity to accomplish even more to help kids within our community.100% LOCAL • 100% TO KIDSFor information visit: westerndisposal.com/foundation/ Western Disposal's support for local kids in need is made possible in part through the generous donations of our associate vendors, business partners and employees.

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Don’t forget we offer convenient online billing and payment options. Eliminate paper invoices and have the peace of mind of automatic payments – or make instant one-time payments. Visit westerndisposal.com and sign in or sign up under “My Account”.

If you go paperless and want to continue to receive your newsletter, sign up for e-minders at westerndisposal.com.

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Win One MonthFree Trash ServiceSeveral lucky residential customers will receive one month of free trash service for finding their names in this newsletter!

If you find your name, call our Customer Service Department at 303-444-2037 to receive credit on your account for one month of free service. Sorry, names mentioned as part of the stories are not eligible.

Locally Owned and Operated Since 1970

Ways to Reach Us...5880 Butte Mill Road • P.O. Box 9100

Boulder, Colorado 80301ph. (303) 444-2037Fax (303) 444-7509

contact@westerndisposal.comwesterndisposal.com

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Extended Hours April 1, 2019 – November 23, 2019: 7 A.M. – 5 P.M. Monday - Saturday

TRASH & RECYCLE CENTER

TWO SHRED DAYS LEFT!

Western Disposal partners with Shred-It, a document destruction company, to offer free shredding of confidential materials; other recyclables are not accepted.WHO: For Western Disposal residential customers only; events are not open to the general public.WHAT: Bring your confidential materials such as tax returns, medical forms, bank statements, etc., for safe and

secure destruction.•Volume limit: 5 copy boxes or 32-gallon bags weighing no more than 35 lbs. each•No separating required•Clips and staples are okay• Folders and notebooks are okay. No 3-ring binders please!•No phonebooks, catalogs or magazines •No electronic media—paper documents only.

LOCATION: Western Disposal’s Trash and Recycle Center, 5880 Butte Mill Road, BoulderDATES: Sunday, August 4th

Sunday, October 6th

9:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m.Please note: These events are held exclusively for Western Disposal residential customers and are not open to the general public. To be notified of upcoming events via e-mail, sign up for E-minders at www.WesternDisposal.com.

COLLECTION TIMES MAY VARY!Even if your collection is typically later in the day, Western asks residential customers to have their material out on collection day by 7 a.m.; route changes, weather, holidays and traffic can all affect actual collection times. For some customers, there may also be several hours between the time their trash is collected and the time the driver returns to collect recycle or compost. Most often, the reason for this collection gap is that the same driver and truck are being used for two different materials. So, if a driver has several hundred trash stops to make, all those must be completed and the material emptied before the driver returns for the other material.

We appreciate your cooperation in putting your carts out by 7 a.m. and your patience regarding collection of the second material.

WESTERN DISPOSAL LAUNCHES CHARITABLE FOUNDATION