HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-98 RESOLUTION•
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RESOLUTION NO. 9- 98
ASCAN t EDrS_.
A RESOLUTION APPROVING THE PROPOSED METHOD
CHANGE IN COLLECTING RECYCLABLE MATERIALS IN
THE RESIDENTIAL SECTOR.
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FAYETTEVILLE,
ARKANSAS:
Section 1 That the City Council hereby approves the proposed method change in
collecting recyclable materials in the residential sector. A copy of the proposal is attached hereto
marked Exhibit "A" and made a part hereof.
tla$”4D4AND APPROVED this 20th day of January , 1998.
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r /.. `;. 1`�'� APPROVED:
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ATTEST:
By:/62,,e. ,4/
raci Smith, City Clerk
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By: /44/1/14'7----
F ed Hanna, Mayor
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ITHE CITY OF FAYETTEVILLE, ARKANSAS
FAYETTEVILLE
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DEPARTMENTAL CORRESPONDENCE
TO: Environmental Concems Committee
THRU• Kevin Crosson, Public Works Director
FROM: r Cheryl Zotti, Environmental Affairs Administrato
DATE: October 31, 1997
SUBJECT: CURBSIDE BIN RECYCLING
VOLUME BASED RATES
INCREASING SOLID WASTE RATES
We are proposing to change the method in which we collect recyclable materials in our residential
program. We are also proposing two different methods to generate the additional revenue required
to operate a new collection program. These changes are prompted by Fulton Sanitation announcing
that they would no longer process recyclable materials delivered in recycling bags.
In the attached proposal, we are proposing to change our current residential recycling program from
a blue bag program to a curbside bin program. The proposal will also include two recommendations
to generate additional revenue: 1) change our waste collection and billing system from an unlimited
disposal service to a volume based disposal service or 2) raise residential rates by $1 per month per
resident. The $1 rate increase would be in addition to the Council approved, increases scheduled for
the years 1998, 1999 and 2000.
Please refer to the attached proposal for detailed information. Should you need additional
information or have questions, please do not hesitate to call me. Thank you.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
History 1
The Cost to Recycle 1
Curbside Bin Recycling 1
Two Different Collection Methods 2
A Blue Bag Program 2
A Curbside Bin Program 2
Operational Plan for a Curbside Bin Program 2
About the Bin 2
About Collections 3
Recycling Center Operations 4
About Costs 7
Volume Based Rates 7
Current Solid Waste Collection Method (Current Method) 7
What is Volume Based
Benefits of Volume Based Systems
Different Methods for Volume Based Systems (Different Methods)
Bag System
Why 104 Bags
About the Bag
Accounting for All Those Bags
How Residents Get Extra Bags
What About Revenue and Costs of a Bag System
Costs
What About Illegal Dumping
Summary
Increasing Residential Rates
Conclusion
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PROPOSAL
HISTORY
The Cost to Recycle
Our current residential recycling program cost $350,787 per year. The revenue needed to support
this cost is generated through the monthly fee we charge our residents for solid waste services
($8.50/month). It is often assumed that our recycling program pays for itself through the sale of the
materials we collect. This is not factual. We do avoid landfill tipping fees; however, that savings
is not substantial enough to support the cost of the program. The reasons that we offer recycling
opportunities at such highcosts are greater than the economics of our operations. There are
numerous environmental impacts that we address through recycling. We are educating our public
to reduce the amount of waste they generate and to recognize theneed to re -use products and
purchase products made of recycled material.
If we were to terminate our recycling program, we would save approximately $182,696 per year.
This number is less than the $350,787 because we would be required to expand our solid waste
collection services to collect the additional volume of material and pay a tipping fee at the landfill
to dispose of the material. These calculations are detailed below.
Cost of Recycling Program $ 350,787
Cost of Adding (back) One Residential Route $(106,256)
Cost of Disposing of Materials in Landfill $( 61,835)
Savings Recognized by not Recycling $ 182,696
When comparing this savings to the monthly solid waste fees charged to the residents, it amounts
to approximately $1.00 per month. In essence, the residents pay approximately $1.00 per month
through their $8.50 solid waste fee for curbside recycling options.
CURBSIDE BIN RECYCLING
We have experienced tremendous success with our residential recycling program since it was
implemented in 1995, maintaining a city-wide participation rate of 68%. We have enjoyed a
program that is successful, efficient and cost effective.
One of the elements which has allowed us to operate a cost effective program has been utilizing
Fulton Sanitation to process the materials collected in our residential recycling program. Fulton
processes our materials for a fee of $17 per ton, after a recent rate increase from $10 per ton. The
processing fee of $17 per ton is still a very economical fee for this service.
At the July 2 Council meeting, Fulton announced that they would be giving the City twelve months
to stop bringing recyclables in blue bags Fulton has elected to stop operating a picking line and only
process source separated materials.
Staff has maintained a contingency plan should our processing contract with Fulton be terminated
or dramatically interrupted, as has been done. Part of the planning has included allocating funding
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in our 1997 Capital Improvements Program for curbside recycling bins; conducting pilot projects
on different types of collection methods; visiting other cities and evaluating their recycling programs;
conducting cost analysis of different collection methods; and.: researching different collection
methods.
Two Different Collection Methods
We narrowed our research to seeking a method which would be cost effective; convenient for the
residents, and allow us to process the materials in our recycling center, while avoiding systems which
would greatly increase our operational costs. Two methods of collection. were most prevalent as
applicable to our City: a Blue Bag System and a Curbside Bin System.
1. A Blue Bag Program
A blue bag, system involves collecting the materials in the same manner as we do in our existing blue
bag program. The only change would be. that we would process the materials ourselves, at our
recycling center. It would cost approximately $191 per ton to process the materials ourselves, which
includes an investment of approximately $350,000 to purchase processing equipment, a picking line
and associated storage equipment. Appendix A details these capital costs. Trends across the country
are showing that entities are moving away from picking lines and blue bag programs. This is largely
due to the expense of operating a picking line. Please see Appendix A for a cost analysts of a
picking line system.
A blue bag program would require hiring a minimum of eight:employees to pick materials from a
conveying system. These types of jobs have high tumover rates and workers compensation claims.
With extremely high processing costs and operating challenges, we do not believe that installing a
picking line and continuing to operate a blue bag program is the best option for the City at this time.
2. A Curbside Bin Program
We believe that a curbside bin recycling program is the best option for the City. We are proposing
to implement a curbside bin program which provides sorting of recyclable materials before reaching
the recycling center. With a curbside bin program, residents would place their recyclables in one or
more recycling bins and place their materials at their curb for collection. There are numerous
different levels of separation and aspects to consider when establishing a curbside bin program. The
most beneficial aspect of this system is that it requires a separation of materials before they reach the
recycling center, which reduces processing costs. One of the biggest decisions to make is who is
going to do the separation. We can require the resident to do all of the separation or we can do the
separation with the routesman. We are proposing a combination of both. We are proposing that the
resident perform two primary sorts in their home and our routesman will provide the remaining sorts
on the curb.
Operational Plan
About The Bins
We are proposing to provide each resident with an 18 gallon bin. See Appendix B for a picture of
the bin. We will ask each resident to place all of their recyclable materials in the bin, except
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newsprint and cardboard. We will ask that residents place their newsprint either in a bag (brown
paper or plastic) or bundle it and place on top of the bin. We will continue collecting cardboard
boxes placed next to the bin. During inclement weather, they canplace their newsprint on top of the
recyclable materials in the bin and place the lid on it. With this method of sorting, they have
performed two sorts before their bin reaches the curb. Appendix B(1) shows a transfer of materials
from a blue bag to a recycling bin.
As proposed, residents will commingle their recyclables in one bin instead of a blue bag. The bin
will still be placed at the curb for collection on the same day as always. Once on the curb, the
routesman will finish the sorting process.
There is another option of requiring residents to sort their materials into numerous bins in their
home, so that they do all of the sorting themselves. With this type of bin program; a resident would
have at least five bins in their home. All five of the bins would be placed at the curb, by the resident,
on their collection day. This option would seem to make it easier on the routesman by reducing his
sorting time. However, it takes close to the same amount of time for a routesman to pick-up each
bin and dump it and place it back at the curb as it does to sort from one bin. This option was not
chosen because of the number of bins that would be placed in the household. It would also require
a larger investment to purchase the additional bins.
We elected to combine some sorting in the home and some sorting on the curb. We believe that this
will be a successful combination._ Newsprint constitutes 45% of the total volume of materials being
recycled by households Byrequiring that residents sort this material from thecontainers, the
routesman will save a significant amount of time. Using only one bin will keep the program
convenient for our residents which increases participation rates.
The bins will be competitively bid. We estimate that the bins will cost approximately $6 per bin,
which will require that we spend $114,000 to supply bins to all our residents. We currently have
$100,000 in our budget allocated for this expense. We will require the bin to be made of post and
pre -consumer recycled materials. The bin will have the City logo and will have a lid which will be
used in inclement weather. The bins have an estimated life of 5 to 7 years.
If a resident produces more recyclable material than one bin per week will contain, we are proposing
to sell the extra bin to the resident at our cost. We will get more accurate data on the number of
households needing multiple bins after the first year of the program.
About Collections
Once a bin is placed at the curb, city crews will sort the materials into a compartmentalized vehicle.
The vehicle will have a separate compartment for each type of material collected. The routesman
will then sort the materials by type into the correct compartment. Please refer to Appendix C for a
picture of a compartmentalized vehicle. This is similar to the type of vehicle we would use in the
proposed program.
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We do not currently have compartmentalized vehicles as part of our fleet. We would be required
to purchase this type of specialized equipment. We have perfoitned a time -motion study on similar
equipment in Manchester, Connecticut. We went to Manchester and timed an employee as he
collected and sorted materials from the curb into a compartmentalized vehicle. We also worked on
the route to get experience using the vehicle. They used the vehicle identified in Appendix C. The
residents of Manchester use a 14 gallon bin and they commingled their materials into the bin.
We also performed a time -motion study in Fayetteville, using Solid Waste employees and
Washington County's recycling trailers. We performed the time -motion study for one week. Two
solid waste employees collected the recyclable materials by emptying the contents of the blue bag
into an 18 gallon bin and then sorted the materials into the trailers The employees were timed to
see how long it took to sort the materials into different compartments. This method was not as
reflective as the Manchester study because of using a trailer instead of a compartmentalized vehicle.
When applying the data collected in both time -motion studies to our operation (population,
households, participation), we concluded it will require five routes to collect our recyclable
materials. We are proposing to purchase six vehicles, five for daily routes and one as a spare. We
would operate five, -.one-man, routes each day, four days per week... Curbside sort programs are
- . usually designed to use oneman routes, instead of two men. We currently have four employees that
work on our recycling routes. We would .be required to -add one additional position in order to
•_operate five routes.. Please see Appendix C(1) for data used to calculate number of routes needed
for a curbside bin program.
Recycling Center Operations
In the future, materials collected in either a curbside bin program or a blue bag program will be
processed in our recycling center. This will be a significant change from the current operation. Our
recycling center is currently being used to process the materials collected in our commercial
recycling programs. This volume of material itself absorbs most of the floor space in the center.
With a curbside bin program, utilizing compartmentalized vehicles, the planned operation of the
recycling center will be as follows:
Personnel: Weare requesting three additional positions with the implementation of a
curbside bin program. All three positions will be used to move materials, bale materials,
load materials into trailers and provide general operational duties of the recycling center.
We recommend a minimum of three people to maintain an efficient operation. It will be
absolutely essential that we maintain control of the flow of materials on a daily basis, given
our limited storage capacity.
Unloading materials: Each compartmentalized vehicle will unload materials at the
recycling center when they have completed their route, their vehicle is full, or one
compartment of their vehicle has reached capacity. The vehicle will back into the inside of
the center and unload, one material at a time. The vehicles are designed to unload each
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compartment independently. A recycling center operator will move each material into a
storage area as it is unloaded. For example, as steel cans are unloaded, they will be pushed
(using the skid -steer loader) into a storage bunker or bin._
Storing and baling materials: All materials will be moved into storage areas as the vehicles
unload Most materials, with the exception of newsprint and cardboard, will be stored for
a length of time before being baled. This storing process occurs because it takes a larger
volume than we collect in one day to make a bale of material. We also like to bale a volume
of material which produces several bales. This provides for more efficient operation of the
baler. We store the baled material for a length of time as well. We sell each material in a
quantity of approximately 45 bales. This amounts to a semi -trailer load. The mills that
purchase the material require that they receive materials by the semi -trailer load.
We will store steel cans in an existing indoor storage bunker, which is currently being used
to store newsprint Newsprint will be baled daily. The baled steel cans will be stored in one
of our existing outdoor bunkers until we get approximately 45 bales (a semi -trailer load).
It will take approximately 3 months to accumulate that quantity.
We will store our aluminum cans in a semi trailer parked on the outside of our recycling
center. The broker or mill which. purchases aluminum from recycling centers will place a
semi -trailer and a machine which blows the cans into the trailer at no cost. This allows for
outdoor storage as well as eliminates the baling process.
We will empty the glass collected into containers (which hold 20 cubic yards) located
outdoors. The glass will be transported in the same containers to the glass recycling mill.
This allows for outdoor storage as well as eliminates double -handling this material. We will
transport glass approximately once every two months.
The paperboard that we collect will be added to cardboard when baled. Therefore, it will be
baled on a daily basis.
We collect larger volumes of newsprint and cardboard than any other material. It is our
operational plan to bale this material on a daily basis. We do not have space in our center
to store this material for more than one day. If we are baling newsprint when a collection
vehicle arrives at the recycling center, we will move the newsprint unloaded from the vehicle
onto the conveyor. We would then move cardboard to a designated area to be baled later in
the day or first thing the next morning. The same process would occur if we were baling
cardboard when the collection vehicle arrives at the center, except it would be newsprint that
would be stored for baling later in the day and cardboard that would be baled immediately.
The bales of newsprint and cardboard will be stored inside the recycling center in two
different areas. We currently store this material until we accumulate approximately 45 bales.
The only difference in this storing process will be that we will sell the materials to a broker
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weekly instead of monthly.
Storage areas: The most challenging aspect of the recycling center will be storage capacity.
It will be essential that we maximize the space we have for storage and that we also have
additional storage capacity in place before we start a curbside bin program.
We will need additional storage capacity (beyond our existing floor or outdoor space) for
plastics. It takes approximately 35 cubic yards of plastic to make one bale. It takes a large
area to store 35 cubic yards of loose plastic containers. We will need an area that will hold
a minimum of 70 cubic yards of each type of plastic to make two bales. We will collect
approximately 150 cubic yards of plastics each week from our residential program. As you
can visualize, we will need a large storage area for plastics. We will sort the plastic into two
classifications, separate #1 plastics from #2 plastics. Therefore, we will need two large areas.
We are proposing to modify two outdoor storage areas at the recycling center. We have two,
small outdoor storage areas which have overhead doors, making them accessible from inside
the recycling center. These modifications will require extending large concrete walls and
extending the roofing system over each area. We estimate that this will cost approximately
$85,000 for construction and engineering costs. We have placed $100,000 in our 1998
Capital Improvements Program requests to fund these modifications.
Once the plastics are baled, they will be stored in two existing outdoor bunkers until we
accumulate a semi -trailer load. We will accumulate at load every three months.
Marketing baled material: We currently market all of our commercial materials. We take
price quotes when we have 45 bales of a material. A semi -trailer will hold approximately
45 bales of material. The broker which we sell our material to will fumish a semi -trailer to
transport our material (that cost is included in all quotes). When the semi arrives at our
recycling center, we immediately load the trailer and it then proceeds on to the recycling mill.
The entire process takes approximately 2 hours.
We sell the material to the broker which quotes the highest per ton price. All brokers quote
and buy based on a semi -load of material. We sell approximately 2 semi -trailer loads of
material per month.
Our marketing plan will change when we increase our volume of materials. We would
release a bid for purchase of our materials prior to beginning the curbside bin program. We
would then negotiate with the selected broker to enter into a 12 to 24 month contract for the
handling of our materials. We would like for the contract to be for at least 12 months to
ensure a guaranteed price but not more than 24 months because the markets for recyclable
materials fluctuate regularly. For example, in November of 1996 cardboard was selling for
$72.50 per ton and in August (1997) it was selling for $125 per ton.
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We will have over a year of working history with brokers of recyclable materials prior to
implementing a curbside bin program. That history wi11 be very useful when selecting a
broker to enter into a long term contract with for all of our materials. Processing and
marketing our commercial materials has provided us with good experience that will be very
beneficial in our management of the volume of materials from the residential sector. We
refer to this experience as getting our feet wet before jumping in.
About Costs
Our financial analysis has indicated that it would cost approximately an additional $162,000 each
year in operational costs to switch to a curbside bin program, as proposed. This extra cost is largely
due to requiring additional equipment and personnel. We currently use three vehicles for blue bag
collection. .With this new program, we would require six vehicles and would necessitate four
additional positions.. See Appendix D for a detailed financial analysis.
Compartmentalized vehicles cost approximately $85,000 per vehicle, depending on the
specifications. The equipment will be purchased by the Fleet Maintenance Division, using the shop
fund. Funds are allocated in the shop fund for this expenditure. The Fleet Maintenance Division
would charge the solid waste fund monthly replacement and maintenance charges for each vehicle,
as detailed in Appendix D.
We would use one man to operate each vehicle (run each route). We currently have four people that
collect our blue bags. We would need one new position to work as a fifth routesman. Due to the
.increase in volume of materials to be processed, we would also need three new positions to work in
our recycling center. One employee would operate the baler, while the other two employees would
move the materials as they are Unloaded on the conveying system or in the storage areas. They
would also be required to keep baled material moved to storage areas. Compared to similar
operations, our recycling center is relatively small, and because of this, we will need to control the
flow of materials at all times.
Our current rate structure will not support additional operational costs in the amount of $162,000
per year. We are proposing two options to generate the required revenue: 1) volume based rates or
2) increasing current solid waste rates. We will need approval of one of these two options before
implementing the curbside bin recycling program.
VOLUME BASED RATES
Current Method
Currently, residents pay a monthly sanitation fee of $8.50 per month. Every resident pays this
amount regardless of waste generation habits. There is no limit on the bags of waste any household
can place out for collection. For $8.50 per month, one household can dispose of 5 bags of waste
each week while their neighbor who also pays $8.50 per month only disposes of 2 bags of waste each
week. This obviously is not equitable.
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What Is Volume Based
Volume based, also known as variable rate pricing or pay -as -you -throw, is a system which requires
residents to pay for municipal waste management services by the unit of waste collected rather than
through a fixed fee. Unit pricing takes into account variations in waste generation rates by charging
households or residents based on the amount of trash they place at the curb, thereby offering
individuals an incentive to reduce the amount of waste they generate and dispose of each week.
Benefits Of Volume Based Systems
Waste reduction. Volume based systems reduce the amount of waste disposed of by
residents. Because residents pay more if they generate more, they learn to generate
less. Some communities with volume based pricing report that they reduced their
waste disposed of by 25 to 45 percent.
Reduced waste disposal costs. When the amount of waste is reduced, the amount
of funds expended in waste disposal fees reduces. The amount paid to waste disposal
facilities (landfills, incinerators, etc..) decreases. The revenue previously spent on
disposal fees can then be allocated to recycling, composting or other diversion
activities.
Increased waste prevention. Residents will typically modify their traditional
purchasing and consumption patterns to reduce the amount of waste they produce
.These behavioral changes have beneficial environmental effects beyond reduced
waste generation, often including reduced energy usage and materials conservation.
Increased participation in composting and recycling programs. Under volume based
pricing, recycling and composting programs become opportunities for residents to
divert wastes for which they otherwise would pay. Participation in recycling and
yard waste programs usually increase substantially.
More equitable waste management fee structure. With the current flat fee rates,
residents who generate a small amount of waste subsidize the greater generation rates
of their neighbors. Under volume based pricing, waste removal charges are based on
waste generation.. This is similar to the way residents pay for their other utilities, like
water, gas and electric.
Different Methods
Volume based systems have two basic forms. Residents can be charged by:
1. Weight of waste, with the municipality measuring at the curbside the weight of
waste set out for collection.
2. Volume of wastes, using bags, tags or stickers, or prescribed sizes of waste cans.
We have analyzed different methods and ways of implementing a volume based system. We
narrowed our research to a system that would fit into Fayetteville's environment. We evaluated
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programs which would bring equity to our system but not require Targe increases in the fees that we
charge our residents. The elements Which Would require Targe fee increases are increasing personnel
and purchasing different collection equipment. We, therefore,:eliminated systems which would
require replacement of current equipment, like weight based systems which requires equipment that
weighs the cans as they mechanically dump it. We evaluated different volume based methods using
cans, stickers or tags, or bags:
CANS: Volume based systems often use a can program. With a can program, residents are
issued different sized cans, ranging from 20 to 95 gallon cans or carts. They pay a fee based
on the size of container. This type of system requires automated equipment which dumps
the containers. Implementing this type of system also requires expending a significant
amount of funds to purchase the cans or carts. Experience has also shown that this type of
system does not work well in cities with hilly terrain, ditches or on -street parking. This is
largely due to the type of equipment used. This type of system makes billing systems more
complex. With this type of system, residents would not have a real incentive to not fill the
can or cart.
STICKERS OR TAGS: Volume based systems often use stickers or tags to identify their
units for disposal. With a sticker system, residents are issued and/or sold stickers which they
must place on their trash bags. Trash bags which do not have stickers will not be collected.
We evaluated this option carefully. Stickers would be cheaper for us to purchase than cans
or bags and residents usually understand a sticker system. However, stickers often do not
adhere in rainy or cold weather; retailers are more hesitant to stock stickers; sticker systems
make it difficult to enforce size limitations of the bags; stickers are easily duplicated by
counterfeiters; stickers are easily stolen off of bags at the curb; and stickers are easily lost by
the resident. We believe that a bag program is a better option for the City.
BAGS: Volume based systems often use a bag system. With a bag system, residents are
required to place their waste in designated bags. They can no longer place waste in any bag
other than the one required to be used by the City. Waste that is not placed in the designated
bags will not be collected. Most cities select a distinguishable color for their bag with some
type of identification (city logo, city name, etc..). Residents usually find a bag system easy
to understand. They can purchase the designated bags from the municipal offices or various
retail outlets within the city.
We found a bag system most applicable to our City and the remainder of this report recommends and
explains a bag system for Fayetteville, if we elect to go to a volume based system.
BAG SYSTEM
We propose that we maintain our base solid waste rate of $8.50 per month, with the originally
scheduled rate increases. We are further recommending that we issue residents 104 waste bags every
12 months. The residents will be required to place their waste in these designated bags, and we will
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not collect any waste from the residential sector that is not in the designated bags. If a resident needs
more than 104 bags in 12 months, they will be required to buy the additional bags for $1.50 per bag.
The bags will be available at the City's Solid Waste Division and in area grocery stores.
Why 104 Bags
There are some cities which implement volume based systems which charge the residents a base rate
and then require that they purchase the quantity of bags they need or just charge for the bags. Staff
chose to issue bags for several reasons:
Rate Study. The rate study which was approved by Council in 1995 provided for rate
increases over a five year period. The rates that were established included a disposal fee for
the solid waste we dispose of each year. The study included taking our yearly volume of
waste disposed of and calculating an average volume of waste produced for each household.
This was fiirther reduced to the amount of waste collected each week from each household.
The rates established through the study includes collecting and disposing of .33 cubic yards
of waste each week from each household. This translates into approximately two, 30 gallon
bags of waste each week. The importance of this information is that our current rates allow
for the disposal of two, 30 gallon bags of waste per household each week. We are finding
- through audits that some household put one (small) bag of trash out for collection and other
households place 5 (large) bags of waste out for collection, as indicated in waste audit below.
Waste Audit. We have been performing waste audits for several years. During our waste
audits, we record waste generation habits for each household in the audit area (number of
bags of waste, blue recycling bags, and cardboard boxes they place at curb each week, etc..).
Our audit has shown that households are placing 5-6 bags of waste out for collection each
week, on an average basis. Again, this is an average. There are homes that regularly place
8-10 bags out for collection, and homes that regularly place 2 bags of waste out for collection
each week. The bags range from 13 to 30 gallons in size. We concluded the majority of
households place at least two bags of waste out for collection each week and the households
that placed more out could reduce their generation habits by recycling and purchasing,
differently.
Familiarity. Residents are familiar with being issued bags because of our current curbside
recycling program. It would not be a totally new concept to deliver bags to a household once
per year. A bag program is easy to understand and if properly educated, a resident will
quickly learn to manage their waste so that they can make the 104 bags last over twelve
months. The Solid Waste Division is also familiar with distributing bags.
Reasonable. Most people also understand reasonable quantities. If we properly reach and
educate our public, we can present them with a program that we believe is reasonable. For
$8.50 per month, we believe that two bags per week is reasonable. If they want to generate
more, then they pay more It especially becomes reasonable when we educate the public
about other programs available like our recycling programs, bulk pick-up program, yard
waste program, and household hazardous waste round -ups.
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Consensus. It is important to staff that we build a community consensus which favors or at
least understands why we are implementing this program. Often, a community automatically
perceives a volume based system as a negative program or as a program to further regulate
the public. By giving the resident a supply of bags, we make the program more convenient
and user friendly. We know this works because of the feedback and success with our blue
bag recycling program. While some may not like the idea of quantity limitations, they will
have the bags, start using them, and over time they will adjust. If they are required to
purchase bags, fail to do so and we do not collect their waste, their frustration and opposition
levels will increase.
By supplying the resident with a yearly supply (104 bags); they may place one bag out for collection
one week and three bags out the next. This becomes especially equitable during times when
households are on vacation or away from their home. They can utilize their bags at a later date, like
holidays. We calculated 104 bags per year based on there being 52 weeks in a year and allowing
each resident two bags per week.
About The Bag
We are recommending a 30 gallon bag which is a distinguishable color and displays the "The City
of Fayetteville" and logo on each bag. We will specify that the bag be high quality (capable of
holding 50 lbs.) and have a draw string. Please refer to Appendix E for an example of the bag . The
example displays the size and thickness of the bag, not color and logo. The bags will be distributed
in two rolls of 52.
Accounting For All Those Bags
We will distribute the waste bags once per year. We will distribute them in the same manner that
we do our blue recycling bags. We will distribute the first supply of bags at the same time that we
distribute the initial installment of recycling bins. This will allow for only one distribution cost for
the City and one day for the resident to remember to collect their materials. We will distribute the
bins and bags with solid waste crews. The solid waste crews are best to use because they know the
routes and where every house is in Fayetteville.
We will utilize our current billing system to account for new citizens and people that move from one
location to another. The billing system retains information for at least three years. We will have the
capability to look up a residents' name or an address to find out if that person has received bags
within the last twelve months. If a resident moves from one address to another mid -year and calls
to ask for another supply of bags, we will be able to look up their name in the computer database and
find -out if they received bags during distribution. We will also be able to get a history on addresses
from the computer database. This will hopefully help us account for who has and has not received
bags. We will also educate our citizens that if they move from one location in the city to another,
they should take their bags with them. We may also give a reimbursement to those residents that
move out of our city and turn their remaining bags back into our office.
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How Residents Get Extra Bags
When a resident needs additional bags, they will have two options:
Solid Waste Offices The bags will be available at the solid waste offices. We will
sell the bags for $1.50 per bag in rolls of twenty. Our office hours for bag sales will
be 7 00 am until 5:00 pm. The cost of the bag, $1.50, is detailed in the Revenue
section of this proposal.
Grocery Outlets The bags will also be available at grocery supplying outlets. In our
area this will be at grocery stores and WalMart Superstores. We have only made
contact with WalMart and IGA Superstore at this time. They were agreeable. The
grocery outlets may, however, charge more than $1.50 per bag. They mayadd a
profit margin on the bag. Because this is only a proposal, we have not started any
negotiations with the outlets. If residents want to buy the bags at these outlets, they
should be willing to pay for the convenience. We will, however, try to negotiate with
outlets to sell the bags for $1.50 each. We will also request that the outlets supply
rolls of 20 bags.
What About Revenue And Costs
Revenue:. We estimate that if volumetric rates are implemented, the amount of waste disposed of
in the residential sector will be reduced by 10% the first year and 25% by the third year. The amount
of waste generated by residents will reduce because they will be financially penalized for producing
more waste. An example If a household currently generates five 30 gallon bags of waste each week
and were to continue this pattern after we implement a volume based system, they would pay an
extra $234 per year in waste disposal. This would amount to an extra $19.50 per month or a total
monthly sanitation bill in the amount of $28 ($8.50 base fee plus $19.50)!
A 10% reduction in our waste disposal costs, in the residential sector, results in a savings of
approximately $36,000 per year.
We estimate that 30% of the residents will buy at least one roll (20 bags) of extra bags during the
first twelve months of the program. This will generate approximately $153,000 per year. This figure
combined with the savings in waste disposal will generate the additional revenue needed to support
a curbside bin recycling program.
The per bag cost ($1.50) that we are reconunending was calculated by applying actual disposal costs
that will be incurred by collecting each bag. It costs the City $1.32 to dispose of 30 gallons of waste
(that is what Sunray/USA Waste will charge to dispose of that bag of waste). We then added $.07
to the figure for the actual cost of the bag. The remaining $.11 will allow for administrative costs
and allowance for increases in disposal fees over time.
COSTS
The majority of the additional costs for implementing a volume based waste collection program will
be the purchase of the waste bags.
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We will release a bid for manufacturing the bags. We have been in contact with vendors of bags and
they have given us an approximate cost of $.07 per bag. We would order 36,000 rolls with 52 bags
in each roll. This would allow us to distribute to approximately 17,000 homes and maintain an
inventory to distribute to people that move into our city. We will also order 3,000 rolls with 20 bags
in each roll, which will be used to sell to residents. We estimate that it will cost $131,040 to
distribute bags and maintain an inventory for new residents.
We allocate $60,000 each year in our operational budget to be used to purchase blue recycling bags.
Because we will be replacing the blue bag program, we can now allocate that funding to purchasing
waste bags. The $71,040 ($131,040 - $60,000) difference will be funded through use of solid waste
fund balance.
What About Illegal Dumping
One of the biggest concerns when implementing a volume based system is illegal dumping. Rather
than purchase the additional bags, will residents illegally dump their extra waste? Some
communities have faced increases in illegal dumping. We believe that our illegal dumping will not
increase significantly for three different reasons:
1. Commercial dumpsters often become the target for dumping extra waste. We have
ordered container locks for dumpsters in our City. We have worked several years
with different companies to develop a reliable container lock system which allows
our routesman to dump the container without unlocking it. We have found a system
which works well with our containers. The locks are also very economical, costing
approximately $35 per locking system. We plan to place a locking system on all of
our newly leased containers and also sell the locks to our business community at our
cost. This will include the Solid Waste Division installing the Locks for the business.
Trends show that locking systems greatly reduce dumping problems.
2. By charging residents a base fee, giving them 104 waste bags and free recycling
options, we believe that our residents will find it easy to make our proposed program
work for their household. They will be paying for the service regardless, so they will
most likely take advantage of curbside collection.
3. Data from other cities indicated that bulky items represent the majority of illegal
dumping problems, not bags of trash. We will continue offering our residents
collection services for bulky items (furniture, appliances, metal items, ..) for no
additional charge. We will include information about this service in our education
program.
SUMMARY
Staff has been working on building an integrated solid waste management program for the City of
Fayetteville over the past four years. This has involved many changes. We have brought security
to not only our waste disposal programs but also our recycling programs. We believed that we had
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to implement a curbside recycling program and allow it to become stable before implementing
volume based rates. Residents must have the option or means to reduce their household garbage
before they are introduced to a volume based billing system.
With the volume based program we are proposing, residents will learn to do several things to prevent
using more than 104 waste bags per year:
1. Residents will take advantage of our free recycling program. We will supply
information about our recycling program and how it can be used to reduce the
amount of waste a household disposes of as trash. We collect a wide variety
of materials in our recycling program. As a result, we will see participation
in our recycling program increase It would not be unrealistic to anticipate
a participation rate of 85% by 1999. We will also see an Increase in the
amount of materials we collect, which makes collection and processing costs,
on a per ton basis, decline.
2. People that participate in our recycling program will learn to carefully
examine all items they dispose of to see if they are recyclable. We conducted
an audit of households which place 4 or more trash bags and one recycling
bag out each week for collection. We wondered why a household had that
many bags of trash if they were recycling. We found that people still throw
away a lot of items that are recyclable. One big item found was plastic
containers. Residents are not examining all their plastic containers to see if
they are recyclable. They were recycling soda bottles and milk jugs but they
were not recycling their colored plastics. Paperboard was another item which
was often missed. We found that once we removed the recyclable items from
the waste bags, the household could reduce from 5 bags to 2 bags, even less
in some instances.
3. People will learn to change some of their habits. They will look for items
that are sold in recyclable containers. They will consider buying in bulk.
This is a change that will have effects reaching much further than
Fayetteville's recycling program. This is often referred to as closing the loop,
when people buy with recycling in -mind and recycle the item when it is
discarded. We want our educational program to not only teach diversion of
materials but also reduction of materials. Therefore, we will educate on
reduction.
By implementing volume based rates with our new recycling system, residents will be able to see
how to put it together.
INCREASING RESIDENTIAL RATES
The other option to raise the additional revenue required for a bin based recycling program is to
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increase our residential rates. This would only be needed if the Council elects not to implement a
volume based system. We estimate that rates will need to increase by $1.00 per month, to generate
at least an additional $162,000 per year. Increasing rates in the residential sector by $1.00 generates
an additional $204,000 in revenue each year. This revenue would allow for the additional
operational costs of a curbside bin program, and it would also allow for additional funds for capital
improvements to our recycling center. Rather than increasing rates to generate exactly $162,000
each year and the next year we actually need $175,000, we would propose that we increase rates by
$1.00. See Appendix F for a table which shows how revenue generation is calculated.
When rates were approved in 1995, the Council approved a solid waste rate study which increases
rates over the next five year period, as detailed below. Residential rates are scheduled to increase
as follows:
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
$8.50
$8.75
$9.00
$9.25
$9.25
f increasing rates is selected over volume based rates, staff recommends increasing rates in 1998
by $1.00 more than the scheduled increase, raising the rate to $9.75. We recommend future
increases to $10.00 in 1999 and $10.25 in 2000.
Increasing rates would be the easiest method to generate the needed revenue. We would still,
however, have a rate system which is not equitable and does not reward residents for reducing their
waste generation and disposal habits.
CONCLUSION
Staff recommends approval of a conversion of our existing recycling program to a curbside bin
program. We have no other alternative but to change our recycling program, because of Fulton
Sanitation's decision to no longer accept our recyclables in blue bags.. If you refer to Appendix G,
you will find a financial comparison of a blue bag program and a curbside bin program. Both;
options include processing all materials at our recycling center. Our financial analysis indicates that
a curbside bin program is the most economical method to collect and process our materials.
With implementation of a new recycling program, our operational costs will increase. We will be
required to generate additional revenue to fund the additional costs In this proposal, we propose one
of two options: 1) implementing volume based rates or 2) increasing residential rates. Staff believes
that implementing volume based rates would bring equity to our solid waste collection program.
Volume based rates would also encourage recycling efforts. Implementing volume based rates
would be a difficult transition for our residents. It would also be more difficult to administer for the
Solid Waste Division. However, staff recommends this option over increasing rates.
Regardless of the option chosen, we will be required to do extensive education on both the change
to a curbside bin recycling program and a new rate structure. Education will be critical to the success
of our recycling program. We would like nine months for this educational period. We will also need
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that amount of time to order equipment. Appendix H
educate the public on a curbside bin system and a new
Please refer to the additional appendices for additional
identifies some of our planned methods to
rate sttucture.
information related to this proposal.
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APPENDICES
APPENDIX A COST ANALYSIS FOR A PICKING LINE
APPENDIX B PICTURE OF A BIN
APPENDIX B(1) PICTURE OF BLUE BAG AND BIN WITH MATERIALS
APPENDIX C PICTURE OF COMPARTMENTALIZED VEHICLE
APPENDIX C(1) CALCULATION OF NUMBER OF ROUTES
APPENDIX D COST ANALYSIS ON A CURBSIDE BIN PROGRAM
APPENDIX E EXAMPLE OF TRASH BAG
APPENDIX F REVENUE GENERATION TABLE
APPENDIX G COMPARISON OF BLUE BAG AND CURBSIDE BIN PROGRAM
APPENDIX H EDUCATION PLAN
APPENDIX I OTHER CITIES
APPENDIX J EPA FACT SHEETS