California RoundtableMay 23, 2005

Sacramento, California

Donna PeralaCity of San Jose

Single Stream & Beyond

• 11th Largest City in US

• 945,000 Residents

• 200,000 SFD Households

• 3,200 MFD Complexes

• 90,000 MFD HouseholdsCitywide Diversion (preliminary) for 2003: 59%

A Little About San Jose . . .

Residential Service Districts

Norcal of San Jose (80% of City)

GreenTeam of San Jose(20% of City)

District A

District C

District B

Yard Trimmings CollectionGreen Waste Recovery - A B

Norcal - C

Multi-FamilyCity Wide CollectionGreen Team of San Jose

San Jose Materials

• Glass

• Mixed paper

• Newspaper

• Mixed plastics

• Metal cans

• Scrap metal

• Cardboard

• Polystyrene

• Plastic bags

• Aseptic packaging

• Textiles

• Service is meeting performance standards– Missed collections at minimal levels– Routes completed by required times– Other services completed on time

• Haulers have identified problems with contamination in some areas of the City

– Pay-as-you-throw system can encourage residents to put extra garbage in recycling cart

– 96-gallon recycling cart may provide contamination opportunities

This Past Year . . .

4-Sort System vs. Single Stream Comparisons(SFD Tons)

4 - Sort Startup Year 2 % ChangeFY01-02 FY02-03 FY03-04 FY01-02 to 03-04

Garbage 176,659 167,558 162,939 -7.8%

Recycling 86,172 110,915 107,815 25.1%

Residue 6,749 33,262 16,614 146.2%

SFD Diversion 30.2% 27.9% 33.7% 11.5%

Total Diversionw/ MFD & YT 45.0% 43.9% 49.5% 10.0%

San Jose’s Single Stream Challenges

• Trade-off for collection efficiencies and convenience = higher contamination

• Some Rejected Paper Shipments

• Highest and Best Use goals compromised

San Jose’s Single Stream Challenges

• Outreach and education to targeted audiences more critical than ever

• Business model challenges & opportunities

Business Model Case Studies

Business Model #1

• Collection contractor owns and operates MRF

Business Model #2

• Collection contractor subcontracts processing

Business Model #1

Owner Operated

Contractor has incentive to maximize diversion because:

Gets contract extension ($$$) if meets 35% diversion requirement

Receives bonus payment if achieves over 40% diversion

Stays within Permit and avoids solid waste fees if under 10% residual

Business Model #1 (cont’d.)

Owner Operated

Contractor pays $35 / ton to dispose of residual

Contractor motivated to invest in new processing technology and even pay to divert material

03-04 Average Residue: 7.6%

03-04 SFD Diversion: 41.6%

Business Model #1 (cont’d.)

Owner Operated

Innovations include:

MFD Compostable Pilot introduced in 2003 to meet 35% MFD diversion requirement

Installed optical plastic sorter last year

Plans to install optical paper sorters to clean up loads

Pays to recycle hard-to-market commodities

Business Model #2

Processing Subcontracted

Subcontractor has minimal incentive to maximize diversion because:

No direct relationship with the City, so not involved in many contract issues

Hauler, not processor, would receive bonus payment if Sub achieves over 40% diversion

Sub now has Solid Waste Facility Permit so no LEA problems if over 10% residual

Business Model #2 (cont.d)

Processing Subcontracted

Subcontractor does NOT pay for disposal of residual

Subcontractor has minimal incentive to invest in new processing technology or look for innovative ways to divert material

03-04 Average Residue: 17.3%

03-04 Diversion: 31.6%

Solutions tried so far….

Outreach• Over $2M spent on transition outreach• Over $350,000 / year spent on on-going

outreach • Annual hauler outreach requirements• Door-to-door outreach in 2003, visiting

2,000 households in targeted areas

Solutions tried so far….

Enforcement

• An average of 360 Non-Collection Notices per month are issued by haulers

• Cart upsize policy in place, but emphasizing outreach and education first

What Have We Learned?

• Contract incentives help make Single Stream work

- take great care when reviewing terms of any subcontracts

- take great care to maintain control of materials stream

What Have We Learned?

• Outreach and education play a vital role in transitioning to Single Stream and beyond

• Consider offering a 64-gallon recycling cart as default size rather than a 96!

Is It Worth It?

All-in-all …..

Single Stream is still worth the trade-offs• Fewer worker injuries; reduced labor costs• Participation and diversion have increased• Tonnages of recyclable materials collected have

increased• Updated technology and on-going education will

help address quality issues

Thank you!

n Questions?