SUBJECT: NEW PROGRAM PROPOSALS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2016 BUDGETING

Transcription

1 Agenda Report TO: FROM: CCCSWA FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE KEN ETHERINGTON, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR BART CARR, SENIOR PROGRAM MANAGER LOIS COURCHAINE, PROGRAM MANAGER DATE: APRIL 15, 2015 SUBJECT: NEW PROGRAM PROPOSALS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2016 BUDGETING SUMMARY RecycleSmart has a stated goal of increasing its diversion rate to 75% by This commitment requires focus on providing cost effective and convenient waste reduction and recycling programs. With the new 2015 Franchise Agreement and associated programs currently being rolled out by Republic Services, RecycleSmart staff is recommending new projects for fiscal year 2016 that will: a) further increase the Agency s knowledge and development of marketing tactics and materials to the customer base; b) increase Agency knowledge about customer recycling behaviors in the Multifamily sector; and c) help our communities prepare for responding to a natural disaster where recycling continues to occur with governmental funding. Attachment A to this report is a chart summarizing proposed new projects, which include: 5-Year Strategic Marketing Plan Multi-Family Recycling Program Single-Family Food Scrap Recycling Outreach Project Disaster Debris Management Plan RECOMMENDED ACTION 1. Provide direction and comment to staff for the selection of new programs to be included in the FY 2016 budget for consideration by the CCCSWA Board of Directors. Page 1 of 6

2 DISCUSSION Proposed Project: 5-Year Strategic Marketing Project Proposed Cost: $100,000 One of the agency s most important responsibilities is to help all RecycleSmart customers understand the importance of waste reduction and recycling, thus stimulating potential behavior change and increasing diversion. With the new Franchise Agreement rollout underway, staff is recommending that the Board now consider a 5-Year Strategic Marketing Project to educate customers on the new recycling opportunities and goals. Staff has researched the benefits of developing a comprehensive outreach plan. Similar agencies, like StopWaste and RethinkWaste have implemented such plans. An important first step in an overarching marketing strategy has already begun with the launching of the new RecycleSmart brand and services. The agency now needs to align all public information components (e.g. printed materials, website, and social media) with a well-developed plan to realize maximum benefit from those outreach materials and efforts. Additionally, development of a long-term marketing strategy will help to leverage all facets of our outreach with stakeholders such as: Republic Services, member agencies and other agencies with similar goals and interests (e.g. Central Contra Costa Sanitary District, et al). The cost/budget for this project is being proposed as part of the larger RecycleSmart Advertising budget. Funds for this project would be primarily used for engaging a marketing management firm that would be responsible for a marketing strategy that will help us align current outreach programs and projects with potential future activities: a. Concept development of: printed materials for Residential, Commercial, and Multifamily sectors (brochures, posters, flyers, etc.) b. RecycleSmart website upgrades; and c. Social media plan Facebook, Instagram, etc. The proposed costs would not include mailing and printing costs. Many of these costs are built in the Republic rate structure. Proposed Project: Multi-Family Recycling Program Proposed Total Cost: $217,680 While staff understands the importance of developing a comprehensive plan that covers all sectors of the customer base (single-family, multi-family, businesses), in this program, particular emphasis would initially be placed on multi-family properties which is the lowest performing recycling sector at 16% diversion. The multi-family sector has a history of underperforming in recycling. In fact, during 2013, recycling at multi-family complexes in the agency s jurisdiction decreased by 10%.* Apartment and condominium residents are generally the least likely to recycle for several reasons: Indoor and outdoor space constraints and container capacity Page 2 of 6

3 High tenant turnover rates Lack of consistent information/motivation about recycling The proposed Multi-family Recycling Program tasks, outlined below, would start to address these issues to improve diversion in this sector. * RecycleSmart Board Report from September 2014 (AB 939 Annual Report for 2013 Calendar Year) Task 1: Enhanced Outreach to Residents and Property Managers - Proposed cost: $135,000. Under the new 2015 Franchise Agreement, Republic Services and Cascadia Consulting are currently working with multi-family complexes to better understand the behaviors and motivational factors that are important to increasing recycling participation in the RecycleSmart service area. Cascadia has experience in other large metropolitan areas of the West Coast; and they have found that effective informational materials and person-to-person contacts are needed to help both property managers and tenants understand recycling opportunities and how to use them. With the completed baseline recycling service assessments of 25 multi-unit buildings in spring 2015 (currently underway), this project will use the baseline findings to identify and test new assistance and outreach activities for improving the multi-family sector diversion rate. Staff anticipates that baseline assessment recommendations will include outreach and assistance improvements such as: Outreach material development (container signage, wall posters, collection bags, tag/door hangers). Property management assistance visits, in addition to Republic s outreach efforts. Door-to-Door (D2D) resident outreach. The proposed task will also include development of a property manager contact database that will support future manager interface for diversion efforts. This task will target up to 5,000 tenants/units with information and assistance to begin or expand recycling participation. Staff estimates this is 25-30% of the multi-family units in the RecycleSmart service area. Staff has researched what works in other communities with higher multi-family recycling rates. These include effective informational materials coupled with person-to-person contacts, both beneficial in helping management and tenants understand recycling opportunities and how to use them. In separate projects conducted for King and Snohomish Counties in Washington State by Cascadia Consulting, the following results were recorded: King County (Approach: Door-to-Door Outreach) Recycling increased at 7 of 8 properties included in the sample project. Average net recycling rate increased from 20% to 35%. Page 3 of 6

4 Overall, average weekly recycling volume increased by more than 80% across all properties, after fully implemented. Snohomish County (Approach: Management Assistance & Outreach) 6 of 9 pilot sites that received assistance increased their recycling and an overall average weekly recycling volume increased by 41%. 5 of 9 sites that received technical assistance decreased contamination by at least 20%. Although the programs conducted for the two Washington state counties are different than what is proposed for RecycleSmart, they are similar in that they used significant tenant outreach and management assistance. Testing these outreach and assistance methods, along with improved new franchise collection services, are important to increasing recycling participation and avoiding costly high diversion collection program costs in the future. Task 2: Multi-Family Building Doorstep Recycling Collection Pilot - Proposed cost: $67,100. Staff is proposing to conduct a pilot program to test valet (doorstep) collection of recyclables in multi-family buildings. The goal of this test is to see if the convenience created by doorstep collection increases tenant participation in recycling. If successful, doorstep collection may be used with other program improvements to increase the recycling rate for multi-family buildings. Staff is proposing to conduct a six month pilot program to test weekly doorstep collection for up to 2,500 tenant units in multi-family buildings throughout our service area. The proposed cost for this test is $67,100. The services include 1) set up of participating buildings with disposable plastic collection bags (inserted into Republic s Multi-Family Collection bag), 2) tenant education, and 3) atunit weekly collection services. Once at-unit recycling materials are collected, they will be placed in the franchised collector s on-property recycling containers for collection. This proposed program responds to the need to increase multi-family recycling rates by creating a convenient recycling opportunity for the tenant. This approach is not currently in use within the S.F. Bay Area. However, experience in other areas where it has been used show a 10% to 26% increase in participation for doorstep collected recycling materials. Proposed Project: Single-Family Food Scrap Recycling Outreach Project Proposed Cost: $100,000 According to CalRecycle, landfilled material is comprised of approximately one-third organics. With the recent push by the State to divert those materials for composting, and the State s 75% diversion goal, staff recognizes the importance of increasing food waste recycling in the residential sector. While most single family homes use their green carts for yard trimmings, increasing food scraps recycling is crucial to reaching our goal of 75% diversion by The cost/budget for this project is also being proposed as part of the larger RecycleSmart Advertising budget. Funding for this project would be used to design, print and mail a residential brochure highlighting the components and convenience of the Food Scraps Recycling Program. Page 4 of 6

5 Proposed Program: Development of Regional Disaster Debris Management Plan Proposed Cost: $100,000 A natural disaster event can create large quantities of debris requiring expedited removal to maintain public health, transportation, and community safety. In addition to providing detailed direction for waste removal and disposal, a well-developed Disaster Debris Management Plan (DDMP) will also support material diversion and maximize Federal and State funding assistance to support waste removal and material diversion activities. Currently, one RecycleSmart member agency (Danville) has a DDMP. Although commendable that Danville staff have developed this plan, it should be reviewed to confirm compliance with all requirements outlined in Federal Emergency Management Agency s (FEMA) Public Assistance Debris Management Guide which would be part of regional DDMP development proposed here. The RecycleSmart does not have a regional Disaster Debris Management Plan for use in case of earthquake, wildfire, or other potential disaster events. A majority of RecycleSmart member agencies do not have debris removal plans and would look to the RecycleSmart for this assistance. The RecycleSmart franchise agreement with Republic does not provide detailed disaster debris removal planning, only the assurance that Republic will provide debris removal services where required. Staff is proposing to contract with a consultant that specializes in developing disaster debris planning that will support regional and member agency needs to remove, temporarily store, recover for diversion, and dispose of disaster debris. This plan will be written to meet federal guidelines for disaster debris response and funding by FEMA. The plan would include: Pre-Qualification of Contractor Services Debris Clearance and Removal Operation Guidelines Identification of Debris Storage & Management Sites Debris Recycling Disposal Monitoring Development and adoption of a regional DDMP that responds to these guidelines will qualify RecycleSmart member agencies for maximum funding assistance available from California Office of Emergency Services (OES) and FEMA. Maximum funding assistance includes a FEMA contribution of 75% of debris removal costs with Cal OES covering 18.75% of the remaining 25% of costs leaving member agencies responsible for 6.25% of their debris removal costs. This is the basic federal/state formula for assistance if debris removal and disposal guidelines are closely followed. The City of Napa, which experienced a significant earthquake and resulting damage last August, had an internally developed DDMP in place that was used immediately after the event and has been in use during the ongoing recovery period. This plan met most, but not all, FEMA DDMP requirements. The City has had to hire an outside consultant to assist them in responding to FEMA information requests in order to receive full funding. The City of Napa completed processing disposal costs for the August 2014 earthquake in February 2015 and anticipates receiving either full or nearly all funding assistance available from FEMA and Cal OES. A key takeaway from the Napa experience is the requirement to document everything, maintain 24/7 monitoring of temporary disposal sites while operating, and take a cradle to grave approach in in documenting the disposal process. Use of an outside consultant Page 5 of 6

6 who has developed DDMPs that meet FEMA standards will allow RecycleSmart to meet these and other requirements. The proposed cost of $100,000 represents the cost estimates provided in response to staff s request for estimates to develop this planning. This proposed cost will support necessary work to develop a RecycleSmart regional DDMP that will satisfy current FEMA/Cal OES requirements. ATTACHMENT A. Summary Chart of FY 2016 Proposed New Projects Page 6 of 6