Recycling in North Carolina A State Update

Transcription

1 North Carolina Recycling and Materials Management Section Recycling in North Carolina A State Update NC SWANA April 2018 Wendy Worley, Section Chief Recycling and Materials Management Section Division of Environmental Assistance and Customer Service NC Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ)

2 A Year of Changes and more changes Staffing Changes Legislative Threats Market Changes

3 Presentation Overview DEACS what s changed, what s the same Annual Reports how public program data can help advance recycling in NC Update on Recycling in NC A Brief on Recycling Market Changes DEACS Free Tools & Assistance

4 DEACS Recycling Program Provide technical and financial assistance to Local governments Recycling businesses Waste generators (manufacturers, commercial businesses, etc.) Staff Special Focus Areas Organics State Agencies / Colleges / Universities Outreach & Education NC Green Travel

5 Despite a year of change Our staff was hard at work 6 Local Government Networking Meetings and Infrastructure Tours NC Manufacturing Zero Waste Networking event With CRA & SC Commerce, Recycling Business Connections event Grant Cycles Carolina Plastics Recycling Coalition Annual Local Government Reporting Cycle Data collection & analysis Anti-contamination Toolkits and participation in regional messaging stakeholder meetings Technical support on market challenges Collegiate Recycling Annual Report

6 Local Government Annual Reporting NC 130A A establishes that local governments report annually to NC DEQ Annual report to include: Info about public education programs on recycling Amount of solid waste collected and disposed Amount and types of materials recycled Costs of solid waste programs and the methods used to finance those services Data gathered through annual reporting process is foundational to the work of state recycling program in NC

7 Local Government Annual Report Distributed as a fillable PDF, communities complete electronically and return via attachment Responses imported into SQL database Data becomes available for Analysis State reporting Technical assistance State dataset contains report responses going back to 1999

8 Form Highlights Recycling Tonnage: Asks communities to report by program Curbside Drop-off Other Asks communities to report by materials (allows for reporting of commingled ) Form automatically calculates totals (reducing error)

9 Quality Control Key ingredient to a highfunctioning dataset Every report reviewed by staff for accuracy and consistency Data compared to previous years, outlier responses verified, and corrected accordingly Staff review should catch red flag and call local staff to verify Example of Quality Control: Town of Stoneville, NC Curbside Recycling Tonnage Fiscal Year Curbside Recycling (Tons) FY FY FY FY FY FY

10 The Importance of a Dataset Data can be used to evaluate program performance (for communities and state system) Supports the discovery and establishment of metrics Allows for the measurement of change over time Data can be queried for customized analysis Powerful tool for technical assistance and to support decision making Examples to follow about how data can be put to work supporting community programs

11 Using Data to Help Communities Make Case for MRF Development MRF: the chicken and the egg Communities need access to a MRF to have BMP level recovery system, but need a critical mass of recovered tons to justify investment in a MRF State data can be used to help communities make the case for a MRF Example: southeastern NC

12 NC MRFs in approx Modern MRFs need a critical mass of local tons (~25,000 TPY) MRF operators need confidence that a critical mass of material exists to justify investment

13 NC MRFs in approx Southeastern NC last metropolitan area without easy access to MRF New Hanover County and City of Wilmington want to lure private MRF operator to help increase recycling program efficiency and effectiveness

14 Proving the Tons are Available State data about public recycling program tonnage in adjoining counties compiled and shared with county staff County (including municipalities within) Annual Community Tonnage, FY New Hanover County 16,227 Bladen County 537 Brunswick County 7,886 Columbus County 324 Pender County 2,543 Total 27,517 With tonnage data in hand, county staff are able to build confidence among private MRF Operators

15 Spring 2016: Recycling Works Newsletter

16 Using Recycling Data to Support Economic Development Data about recovered materials can validate business decision making Enough material to justify investment? Support from a state can demonstrate commitment to recycling businesses Case Study: Eggers Group

17 Wood Tonnage Private Facilities MaterialDescription Company City Mixed C&D Processing A-1 Sandrock, Inc.- Greensboro Greensboro Mobile Recyclers -- Wood Waste Wood Waste -- Pallets Mixed C&D Processing AAA Hauling Of NC Fayetteville Wood Waste -- Pallets Mixed C&D Processing Abbey Green Winston Salem Wood Waste -- Pallets Mixed C&D Processing Advantage Waste Recycling & Disposal, Inc. Mount Holly Wood Waste -- Boiler Fuel Mobile Recyclers -- Wood Waste American Property Experts, Inc. Wilmington Wood Waste -- Boiler Fuel Wood Waste -- Manufacturing Scrap Wood Waste -- Mulch Wood Waste -- Pallets Wood Waste -- Sawdust and Bark Wood Waste -- Boiler Fuel Andrews Wood Products, Inc. Lenoir Wood Waste -- Manufacturing Scrap Wood Waste -- Sawdust and Bark Wood Waste -- Pallets Buffaloe Wood Waste Recycling Facility & LCID Landfill Raleigh Wood Waste -- Sawdust and Bark Public Facilities # Convenient County Centers ALAMANCE COUNTY 1 ALEXANDER COUNTY 7 ALLEGHANY COUNTY 1 ANSON COUNTY 6 ASHE COUNTY 5 AVERY COUNTY 7 BEAUFORT COUNTY 11 BERTIE COUNTY 5 BLADEN COUNTY 17 BRUNSWICK COUNTY 4

18 Fall 2017: Recycling Works Newsletter Planned Investment = $700 million! Bringing 770 Jobs to Davidson County!

19 Data to Establish & Track Metrics: Curbside Recycling is Still Growing 328 Curbside recycling programs Three new communities with curbside Ocean Isle Beach, Ranlo, Stanfield 45.8% recyclables are collected by curbside recycling programs (excluding yard waste)

20 Recovered Traditional Recyclables

21 Recycling Markets & Pricing Update Markets fluctuate (like the overall economy) Until recently recyclable commodity trends have been favorable China s National Sword Policy Banning imports of mixed paper and mixed 3-7 plastics Setting extremely low bale contamination specifications

22 Fiber / Paper Recycling Pricing

23 What can communities do? Increase the Good Stuff Reduce the Bad Stuff Improve quality Plan for market swings Educate & Re-educate the Community What to recycle? What NOT to recycle? Use DEACS Support

24 State Recycling Grants Available Supports Programs & Markets Local Governments Away From Home Curbside in unincorporated areas HHW Hub and Spoke Food Waste Recycling Businesses MRF Upgrades Food Waste Domestic processing of materials affected by China policies (mixed paper and #3-7 mixed plastics)

25 DEACS Support & Tools Regional / Common Messaging Free Outreach Tools What s Acceptable List Anti-Contamination Graphics Anti-Contamination Social Media Toolkit

26 It may be challenging times, but we can get there together. Outlook We want to hear from you -- let us know how we can help your community or your business.

27 Thank you! Wendy Worley, Section Chief Recycling and Materials Management Section Phone: