Western Lake Superior Sanitary District (WLSSD)Food Waste Drop Site Program

2004 - 2010

Susan Darley-Hill

Environmental Program Coordinator

Western Lake Superior Sanitary District

Duluth, Minnesota

www.wlsssd.com

8 December 2010

Community characteristics

Population:

95,000 in greater Duluth (43,895 households)

133,000 area population (55,410 households MN + WI)

Open market hauling system

WLSSD Organics Program: basic facts

MN State capital grant for siteconstruction

Opened September 2001

Compost source-separated organicsand yard waste

MPCA Permit: 3950 tons yard waste+ 3950 tons food waste/year

Garden Green® Compost (USCC/STA)production: 2500 yds/year

Nine years of growth and change (2001-2010)

Voluntary organics recovery program for businesses &institutions (2001 – 2006)• 30-50 regular participants• 1 hauler• Organics acquisition contractor (part-time)

Residential curbside pilot (2003)

Stakeholder meetings: haulers & generators (2004)

Established food waste drop sites for residents and smallbusiness use (2004-2009) Seven sites in operation today

WLSSD Solid Waste Ordinance mandates businessdiversion of pre-consumer organic waste. (Oct 2006)

Phased roll-out of mandate covering ~150 businesses &institutions (2007-2010)

WLSSD established a trial drop site program in 2004

Why:

• No curbside collection by private haulers (density!)• Residents wanted an organics recycling option• Compromise: establish sites for centralized collection

How:

• Grant from State of MN• bio-compostable bags & Norseman curbside bins

• hauling costs

• Phased implementation• 3 residential/small business sites in 2004 (2 staffed by WLSSD)

• 7 sites in 2010 (6 residential, 1 business-only drop site)

Objectives

Provide greatest access at minimal distance to users

Maximize capture of residential and small businessfood residuals + intermittent special events

Explore and address challenges:

• Odors/pests?• Contamination/dump and run?• Adequate size/type of container?• Frequency of collection?• How best to educate/recruit users?• Viable alternative to curbside collection?

Started small with 3 sites and 1 hauler

Five businesses host drop sites now

Businesses provide oversight at non-WLSSD drop sites

Customer traffic (positive impact)

Community partnership/common vision

Shared or covered costs of disposal

Bins are sized to need & most are locked after hours

Today, 6 years later…

WLSSD still supplies bags at most sites (reduces slop factor for users)

WLSSD covers hauling costs at all but one large restaurant site (shared)

Reduced pick-up schedule November – May (cold) reduces hauling costs

Users make the best site monitors and program cheerleaders

Contamination remains extremely low; 2 sites no longer lock their bins

Tonnage has increased steadily since start-up (hard data for years 1-4)

Annual Totals

0

10000

20000

30000

40000

50000

60000

1 2 3 4

Annual Totals

Each site has its own character(s!)

Waste-Free Event kit: Loaned at no cost

Getting the word out

WLSSD’s Drop Site Program

In a perfect world…

• Cheaper hauling costs• More drop site locations• Better bins & trucks• Frequent cleaning• No maggots in July

But it works…

• Human scale that folks appreciate• Fulfills need – manageable size• Room to grow – we determine the rate• Many requests to add sites• Loop is closed locally