Leading the way in the delivery of waste reduction and recycling programs, RethinkWaste, aka the South Bayside Waste Management Authority, has built an efficient infrastructure in order to process all types of materials effectively and meet statewide goals.
RethinkWaste (known legally as the South Bayside Waste Management Authority) is a joint powers authority (JPA) of 12 public Agencies (Atherton, Belmont, Burlingame, East Palo Alto, Foster City, Hillsborough, Menlo Park, Redwood City, San Carlos, San Mateo, the County of San Mateo and the West Bay Sanitary District) in San Mateo County, CA and is a leader in the delivery of innovative waste reduction and recycling programs. RethinkWaste was formed in 1982 as a means to guarantee the flow of solid waste collected in the 12 public agencies served by BFI (now Republic Services) to the to-be-constructed San Carlos Transfer Station. The role of the JPA has evolved over the past 30+ years to also address joint management of uniform franchise agreements with one service provider for the purposes of solid waste rate setting, and meeting state recycling mandates, as well as the purchase and operation of the transfer station complex.
RethinkWaste owns and manages the award-winning Shoreway Environmental Center, a 16-acre complex in San Carlos (formerly referred to as the San Carlos Transfer Station), which receives all the recyclables, organic materials and discarded materials (i.e. solid waste) collected in its service area by a franchised service provider, Recology San Mateo County. Each of the 12 Member Agencies holds a franchise agreement with Recology through 2020. The Shoreway facility was purchased for $20 million from Allied Waste (formerly BFI and now Republic Services) in 1999 and underwent $46 million in master planned capital improvements initiated in 2009 and completed in April 2011. Operations of the Shoreway facility are contracted out to South Bay Recycling (SBR), a privately-owned company consisting of two joint venture partners (Potential Industries and Community Recycling), under a 10-year contract through 2020. In 2014, the Shoreway facility received a total of 449,893 tons of which 345,944 were handled through the Transfer Station and 103,949 through a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF). Figure 1, breaks-out the tonnage further over the past four years.
RethinkWaste is led by Executive Director Kevin McCarthy, who reports to a Board of Directors comprised of elected officials from the 12 Member Agencies. The JPA has a staff of eight and provides overall management of a $106 million per year recycling and solid waste management system as shown in Figure 2. The JPAs FY14/15 operating budget, inclusive of Shoreway operational costs, is $39.6 million. The organization’s service area is entirely within San Mateo County and comprises 10 cities, one sanitary district and all unincorporated portions of San Mateo County. The service area has approximately 450,000 residents with 93,000 residential accounts and more than 10,000 businesses.
An Efficient Infrastructure
RethinkWaste’s operations are primarily affected by changes in state laws and regulations as California continues to be a leader in enacting environmental policy addressing climate change and related issues. McCarthy explains, “Our JPA has been able to meet and in most cases exceed state mandates, such as AB 939, California’s recycling law that required 50 percent diversion from the landfill by 2000, AB 341 with mandatory commercial recycling requirements and statewide recycling goal of 75 percent by 2020, and AB 1826 which requires commercial generators to subscribe to recycling service. We’ve achieved this through effective solid waste planning and facility masterplan efforts. Implementing uniform collection programs across our service area with high diversion goals and performance standards for the franchised service provider as well as ensuring our transfer and processing infrastructure is state-of-the-art have kept the JPA ahead of the curve.”
Overall, the state of the economy has not significantly impacted the organization’s operations. While the economic downturn resulted in a modest reduction in their facility solid waste tonnage, most of the decline can be attributed to a significant expansion of recycling and organics collection programs starting in late 2010 and into early 2011. “During the past two years solid waste tonnage has increased 4.2 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively. The more notable impact in the past year or so has been a reduction in both residential and commercial yard waste tonnage attributable to a three-year drought in California. Our budget is also impacted somewhat by ongoing fluctuations in commodity prices for paper, cardboard, and plastics,” says McCarthy.
Most of RethinkWaste’s challenges have centered around what nearly all public-sector solid waste managers face which is the ebb and flow of convincing decision makers to invest in their solid waste and recycling system in light of municipal budget challenges and ever rate-sensitive customers. “Although the JPA is a manager of an enterprise system with strong cash flows and has remained in a strong financial position throughout the ‘great recession’, it is not easy to increase solid waste rates to pay for new programs and infrastructure.” Ultimately, the organization’s winning strategy has been to demonstrate to decision makers the value proposition for customers. The JPA’s vast array of programs and services are delivered in a cost-effective manner and offer customers a convenient way to manage their recyclables, organics and solid waste” (see Summary of Services sidebar, page xx).
All of RethinkWaste’s programs and services are supported by a robust, multi-faced public education and outreach effort focused on maximizing customer knowledge of and proper use of the services offered. Outreach efforts are tailored as appropriate based on survey results, benchmarking data and analysis of its efforts to ensure its effectiveness. Outreach tools used include: direct mail, newsletters, electronic media, social media (mainly Facebook and Twitter), collection vehicle signs, website, and bill inserts, among others, for message delivery. “Recology also takes the lead on direct technical assistance to help businesses set-up recycling and compost collection programs. Recology provides hands-on technical assistance for businesses and multi-family dwellings through a team of eight outreach representatives using collateral developed by RethinkWaste and also providing customers internal containers (deskside, and blue and green slim jims),” says McCarthy.
A Massive Transformation
From 2006 through 2011, the JPA focused on transforming their collection and processing system culminating in new service provider contracts exceeding $1 billion for collection and processing services over 10 years and completion of $46 million in capital improvements to the Shoreway Environmental Center. These efforts were inter-connected as new franchised collection services necessitated facility improvements. In late 2010 and early 2011, new franchised collection services (cart-based, single stream recycling, organics collection, etc.) were rolled-out for 93,000 residential accounts and 10,000+ commercial accounts in partnership with Recology San Mateo County. These collection services replaced an outdated, largely manual collection service with tubs for recycling, customer provided garbage cans, and a high percentage of customers with side and backyard service. This old collection service was also managed by Allied Waste through a cost-plus compensation methodology (actual operating expenses plus a guaranteed profit margin) with little incentive for implementing any cost savings.
In March 2011, the JPA completed the $46 million in capital improvements to the Shoreway Environmental Center, which included:
- A new 70,000 sq. ft. MRF with highly automated processing equipment
- Greatly expanding the public tipping area within the Transfer Station
- A new Public Recycling Center
- New traffic flow, scales and scale-house has eliminated traffic backups
- A new education center and other environmental enhancements
Completed $1 million under budget, McCarthy emphasizes the finished project as RethinkWaste’s most outstanding achievement to date and says that the JPA is proud to have received wide-praise and local, state and national recognition for the above efforts including:
2012
- SWANA Recycling Systems Excellence Gold Award for the Shoreway Environmental Center
- S. Green Building Council LEED Gold Certification for the Shoreway Environmental Center
- City of San Carlos/San Carlos Chamber of Commerce Beautification Award for the Shoreway Environmental Center
2013
- California Resource Recovery Association (CRRA) Outstanding Recycling Program Award for the CartSMART and BizSMART collection programs and Shoreway Environmental Center
- Telly Award: Internet/Online Commercial, Green/Eco-Friendly for the “Where Your Stuff Goes: From Curbside to Shoreway Environmental Center and Beyond” education video
- Sustainable San Mateo County Green Building Award for the Shoreway Environmental Center
- Acterra Business Environmental Awards: Sustainable Built Environment Finalist for the Shoreway Environmental Center
2014
- SWANA Public Education Excellence Gold Award for the Shoreway Environmental Education Center and Tour Program
- Acterra Business Environmental Awards: Environment Project Award for the Shoreway Environmental Education Center and Tour Program
Upcoming Plans
McCarthy points out that a number of upcoming strategic decisions are driving RethinkWaste’s current focus and workload and future planning efforts, such as:
- Decisions by Member Agencies in 2017 to extend or not the term of existing Franchise Agreements with Recology, including determining the scope of work for future collection services agreements
- Future decision by the JPA whether or not to extend the term of the Shoreway Operations Agreement with South Bay Recycling, including determining the scope of work for a future agreement
- Future expiration after December 31, 2019 of the Ox Mountain Disposal Agreement
“These decisions will be influenced by significant policy drivers such as California’s 75 percent statewide recycling goal by 2020 and mandatory commercial recycling provisions, ongoing regulatory decisions implementing California’s climate change law, and the JPA’s continued policy goal of rate stability and predictability,” says McCarthy. “More broadly, the solid waste industry faces a patch-work of state-by-state laws and regulations and no coherent federal policy around recycling and solid waste management. This limits investment in new technologies, fails to address critical future end market needs, and does nothing to address the solid waste management challenges around the ever changing waste stream.”
Starting this past fall, the JPA embarked on the development of a long-range plan to achieve 75 percent measured diversion by 2020. A draft of the plan is due to the Board of Directors in late March 2015 and will address potential policy, infrastructure and service enhancements. “The JPA is exploring a large-scale processing operation to recover organic waste from the mixed waste stream and some enhanced outreach and policy options to drive higher diversion,” remarked McCarthy. “We are also in the process of implementing a commercial recycler reporting ordinance which will give us critical missing data on non-franchise commercial recycling activities. This information is critical so we know how much more diversion we need to get to 75 percent.”
For more information, contact Kevin McCarthy, Executive Director of RethinkWaste, at (650) 802-3505 or via e-mail at [email protected]. Visit RethinkWaste at www.RethinkWaste.org or follow them at www.Facebook.com/rethinkwaste or www.Twitter.com/rethinkwaste.
Sidebar
Summary of Services
Each of the 12 Member Agencies participated in the RethinkWaste-led competitive procurement request for proposals (RFP) process which resulted in each Agency executing a 10-year Franchise Agreement with Recology San Mateo County, commencing January 1, 2011 through December 31, 2020. These Franchise Agreements provide the exclusive right for Recology to collect recyclables, organic materials (compost) and garbage from single-family dwelling (SFD) residential customers and garbage from commercial customers, which include multi-family dwellings (MFD), businesses and Member Agency facilities. Recyclables and compost is also collected from commercial customers on a non-exclusive basis. Recology uses a mix of collection vehicles which includes both automated (for carts) and semi-automated (for carts and bins) truck types, all collecting a single material (i.e., recyclables, compost or garbage). All materials collected by Recology are delivered to the RethinkWaste-owned Shoreway Environmental Center in San Carlos for recycling processing, transportation and disposal. The franchised services also include an array of other appointment based or seasonal services that customers can use including but limited to:
- Twice annual on-call bulky item collection program
- Holiday tree collection
- Community events such as compost giveaway events, shred/e-scrap events, etc.
There is also subscription or fee for services (“unscheduled services”) that customers can use such as back-yard service, extra pick-ups, additional carts, container cleaning, etc. that are detailed in Attachment Q to the Franchise Agreement.
RethinkWaste also manages a separate contract with At Your Door Special Collection (WM Curbside, LLC) to provide door-to-door collection of household hazardous waste (HHW) upon request from SFD and MFD customers. All twelve Member Agencies participate in the Door-to-Door HHW Collection Program as of March 1, 2015.
More detail on the collection services is provided as follows: :
CartSMART Residential Services
Approximately 93,000 SFD households (one to four living units) are provided weekly curbside recycle, compost and garbage collection services through the CartSMART residential program. Each household sets its materials out in wheeled carts (20, 32, 64 and 96 gallon) provided by Recology which are then collected by automated trucks. Recycling is single stream/commingled, and the compost program includes yard trimmings, food scraps and food- and beverage-soiled paper products. Used motor oil and motor oil filters, cell phones and household batteries are also collected curbside weekly by Recology.
BizSMART Commercial Services (for businesses and multi-family dwellings)
Approximately 9,200 MFD (five or more units) complexes (totaling 45,000 units), businesses and Member Agency Facilities are provided recycle, compost and garbage collection services through the BizSMART commercial collection program. These customers subscribe to a minimum of weekly garbage collection in Recology provided carts or bins of various sizes. Recycle collection services is offered at no additional charge for customers who subscribe to the garbage collection services provided by Recology. Compost/plant materials collection is offered at a discounted rate that is 25 percent to 50 percent below the cost of garbage service depending on the Member Agency.
Also included in the BizSMART service is collection of Member Agency public containers located on streets and in parking lots and parks that are accessible for curbside collection. MFD complexes are also eligible for household battery and cell phone collection with their BizSMART carts or they can request a designated container to centralize collection.
Commercial Recycling Technical Assistance
A key component of the BizSMART commercial services is the Franchise Agreement required commercial recycling staff of eight full-time Recology employees to increase waste diversion. This team is exclusively dedicated to promoting the BizSMART collection services and providing technical assistance to all commercial customers, including MFDs and Member Agency Facility customers. The technical assistance includes on-site waste assessments, visual audits, and direct contact/meetings with customers to promote programs and services, distribution of outreach materials and other assistance as needed.
Distributed items include recycling “buddy bags” and MFD toolkits to MFD complexes; internal containers to businesses (e.g., cardboard and plastic deskside recycling bins, “slim-jims” for recycling and organics) and Member Agency Facilities; and posters, labels and other related collateral to all commercial accounts. The cost for these items is included in the RethinkWaste annual budget and $70,000 was included in the FY14/15 budget.
Beyond the Cart Services (Other Services)
In addition to the Recycle, Compost and Garbage collection services included in the CartSMART and BizSMART programs, SFD and MFD customers are provided the following services:
- Twice Annual On-Call Bulky Item Collection Program—SFD residents contact Recology to schedule a recycling collection of large items such as mattresses or appliances, excess plant materials and wood, and to dispose of excess trash or bulky items. The twice-annual service is provided between February 1 and December 31 and households are limited to the amount of materials they can set out each collection. MFD complexes are also eligible to schedule this service twice annually and the amount collected is based on the number of units. MFD property owners/managers must schedule the collection. In addition, Member Agency Facilities can receive this service annually upon request and the amount of materials collected is limited. Additional collections for SFDs, MFDs and Member Agency Facilities can be scheduled for a fee for service based on approved rates.
- Holiday Tree Collection—Recology collects holiday trees curbside from SFD residential customers between December 26 and January 31 each year when placed adjacent to resident’s green Compost cart. Trees up to eight feet in length can be set out, but all decorations and tree stands must be removed. Flocked trees are accepted. Multi-family complexes are provided holiday tree collection in bins or drop boxes per request of the property owner/manager at no additional cost.
- Door-to-Door Household Hazardous Waste Collection—All SFD and MFD residences are eligible for the Door-to-Door HHW Collection Program managed by RethinkWaste and provided by At Your Door Special Collection (WM Curbside, LLC). Residents can schedule this service throughout the year upon request.
Community Events
The Franchise Agreements with Recology provide Member Agencies with compost giveaways, confidential document destruction and winter coat drive events and RethinkWaste organizes compost giveaway and shred/e-scrap events, as follows:
- Compost Giveaway Events—A Recology “Bring Your Own Bucket Event” is provided to each Member Agency annually at no additional charge. Member Agencies can also request to have additional compost giveaway events for a delivery fee. The compost provided by RethinkWaste at no additional cost for the giveaways is through the JPA’s organics processing contracts with Republic Services-Newby Island and Recology Grover Environmental Products.
- Shred/E-Scrap Events—Recology provides one Confidential Document Destruction Event annually for each Member Agency and additional events are provided for a fee. Upon request by a Member Agency, RethinkWaste organizes E-Scrap collection to coincide with the Shred Event.
- Coats for Kids—Recology provides an annual “Coats for Kids Program” to collect used winter coats curbside and at drop-off locations for a period of one to two weeks typically in the fall for donation to local non-profits organizations.
Commercial/Businesses, Large Events and Member Agency Requested Specific Services
- Community Events—Recology provides recycle, garbage and compost (if one or more cubic yard of compost material is generated per day at the venue or event) collection services for those events as specified in each Member Agency’s Franchise Agreement – Attachment C. Member Agencies can also request the staffing of a booth hosted by Recology for these events. RethinkWaste supplements Recology’s community events services by providing two trailers and 500 ClearStream® Recycle, Compost and Garbage containers owned by RethinkWaste. In addition, Community groups, organizations and Member Agencies can also request the use of the ClearStreams for their events.
- Abandoned Waste Collection Services—Recology collects abandoned or illegally dumped waste from public rights of way within 24 hours upon request from Member Agencies.