infoCycling, July 2000

In this issue:

• Annual Reporting

• Outreach Efforts

• Trend Chart

• City of Oxnard

• City of Riverside

• City of Oakland

• SB 1066

• Trash Cutters

• Recycledibles

• Editor's Note

New and revised Web pages make annual reporting easier!

Each city, county, or regional agency with a Board-approved planning document (a source reduction recycling element or a countywide/regional agency integrated waste management plan) is required to submit an annual report to the Board by August 1 of each year for the prior calendar year.

The annual report must describe a city, county, or regional agency's progress in diverting waste and must include the diversion rate calculation and attachments of required documentation to support any changes to the numbers. In addition, the annual report must include a status report on any planned and implemented programs and facilities.

To help provide the information required by law (Title 14, California Code of Regulations, Chapter 9) and to help answer questions, the Board has provided an abundance of information and tools in the Local Government Central Web site at www.ciwmb.ca.gov/LGCentral/ .

Information you will find here includes annual reporting requirements, model annual report resources and tools, the online diversion rate measurement calculator, and reports from the planning annual report information system (PARIS) database.  New and updated Web pages are summarized below.

Revisions to the Model Annual Report

The 1999 model annual report was revised in 2000 to be more user-friendly. These resources and tools will assist cities, counties, or regional agencies in reporting progress in diversion program implementation and calculating diversion rates. You will find the newest additions and revisions to the model annual report below.

• Annual Report Contact Information Sheet
  To help Board staff answer a city, county, or regional agency's questions and to forward information to them, an annual report contact information sheet is now available on the Web. This sheet requests the following annual report contact information on a city, county, or regional agency: the name of the city, county, or regional agency; a primary and secondary contact name, title, phone and fax numbers; and e-mail and mailing addresses. A city, county, or regional agency may either submit the contact sheet with the annual report, or provide the information requested on the contact sheet in a cover letter accompanying the annual report. How do you access the contact sheet? From the LGCentral home page, follow these links: Reporting, the bulleted Annual Reporting, model annual report, and contact information sheet under "Annual Report Contact Information."

• Section A—Online Diversion Rate Measurement Calculator
  Section A provides an online diversion rate measurement calculator to help cities, counties, and regional agencies in completing annual reports. The calculator has been completely redesigned and now provides one convenient location for reviewing a city's, county's, or regional agency's Board-approved diversion rate data for past years and calculating 1999 diversion rates. The new calculator page summarizes a city's, county's, or regional agency's diversion rates and biennial review status from 1995 to 1999. In addition, for the first time you can view the calculation data used to determine a Board-approved or Board-accepted diversion rate for past years. Locate the diversion rate measurement calculator by accessing the LGCentral home page and following these links: Reporting, the bulleted Annual Reporting, model annual report, and Online Diversion Rate Measurement Calculator under "Section A."

• Section A— Report Year Tonnage Modification Request and Certification Sheets and Base Year Modification Request Certification Sheets
  Section A now provides the Report Year Tonnage Modification Request and Certification Sheets. Use these sheets to request a change in a reporting-year tonnage amount used in calculating the diversion rate. In addition, Section A has the Base Year Modification Request Certification Sheets. Use this form to request a change in a previously approved base-year amount used in calculating the diversion rate. You will find these two items starting at the LGCentral home page and following these links: Reporting, the bulleted Annual Reporting, model annual report, Sections to be completed by cities, counties, or regional agencies, and Section A: Measurement of Diversion Rate Requirements.

• Program Codes Glossary
  Although the PARIS Program Codes Glossary is not a new feature, we want to remind you of this valuable resource, which categorizes diversion activities into various program types. To make sure a city, county, or regional agency gets credit for all diversion programs in the annual report, all diversion programs and facilities used by the residents and businesses within a jurisdiction should be included, not just those that are funded by or operating within a jurisdiction. Also, by browsing in the glossary, programs that were not included as diversion programs may be identified. You will find the Program Codes Glossary by starting at the LGCentral home page and following these links: Reporting, Planning Annual Report Information System, PARIS, and Program Codes Glossary under "Terms and Codes."

• Annual Report Checklist
  In May 2000, CIWMB staff mailed a letter to government agencies about a new checklist that is available on the Web. This checklist will help ensure that a completed annual report is submitted. We have provided the checklist in this issue. You can also access the checklist on line by starting at the LGCentral home page and following these links: Reporting, the bulleted Annual Reporting, model annual report, and annual report checklist.

Checklist

1. Did you use the Online Diversion Rate Measurement Calculator to calculate your jurisdiction's 1999 percent diversion rate?
2. Did you print and sign the printable form letter to accept the stated diversion rate? If you don't accept the default diversion rate, please submit documentation for the data used to calculate your alternative diversion rate.
3. Did you go through the Program Codes Glossary to be sure all your programs get reported?
4. Did you use the Planning Annual Report Information System (PARIS) link as a tool to update your jurisdiction's program implementation status?
5. If you are a county or regional agency, did you complete Section D and Section E?
6. If you are a jurisdiction whose fully/conditionally approved planning document had conditional stipulations/areas-of-concern requirements attached by the Board, did you complete Section F?
7. Did you fill out Section G? It is optional but it would help Board staff provide better assistance.
8. Did you use the Annual Report Contact Information Sheet to update your jurisdiction's contact information?
9. Did you submit two (not three) original, double-sided, legible, unbound copies of your annual report?
10. Please mail the 1999 annual report to: California Integrated Waste Management Board, Annual Report Coordinator, MS#8, 8800 Cal Center Drive, Sacramento, CA 95826.

If you have questions on how to fill out a model annual report, please call or e-mail your local assistance staff county contact, or call (916) 341-6199 for assistance.

Top

Outreach and problem-solving efforts pay off

The Board regularly investigates discrepancies between disposal tons reported to the county disposal report coordinator and the tons subject to the Integrated Waste Management (IWM) fee, which are reported to the Board of Equalization (BOE). At times, these investigations result in a sizeable "return" for landfill operators. Regulation (Title 14, California Code of Regulations, Section 18810 (a)) requires that disposal reporting system (DRS) tons be the same as the tons reported to the BOE. Also, any tonnage that has been diverted or recycled, or any hazardous waste tonnage on which the hazardous waste fee is paid are not subject to the IWM fee and should not be included in disposal tons allocated to jurisdictions by the disposal reporting system.

Recently, a county disposal reporting coordinator met with Board staff to resolve discrepancies between DRS tons and BOE tons in reports submitted by landfills. The two examples below may help you if disposal reporting numbers for your county and BOE are different.

At the first landfill, the operator had paid an IWM fee to the Board of Equalization on tonnage recycled as well as on tonnage disposed. IWM fees should not be paid on tonnage recycled. The discrepancy was identified because the landfill operator had correctly reported only the disposal tonnage to the county. Since more tonnage was reported to BOE than required, the landfill overpaid the BOE. Consequently, the landfill operator revised the landfill's IWM fee report and the landfill will receive a refund of almost $ 25,000!

At another landfill, it was discovered that hazardous waste (friable asbestos) tonnage was being included as solid waste disposal in the landfill’s disposal reports to the county disposal report coordinator. The landfill operator had paid a separate hazardous waste fee on this waste and had not included the hazardous waste tonnage in tons reported to BOE. However, since the waste tons reported to the county included the hazardous waste tons, the jurisdictions were being allocated hazardous waste disposal. Board staff requested that the landfill operator provide a report to all jurisdictions disposing asbestos in 1999 and correct the 1999 DRS data for all jurisdictions disposing friable asbestos at this landfill.

Future Investigations

DRS staff and county disposal report coordinators are working to resolve issues of jurisdictions being allocated waste tonnage that was actually diverted. We will continue to locate and correct these discrepancies.

If you would like to work with DRS staff on issues related to your disposal report, please contact Dianne Range of the Board’s Waste Analysis Branch at (916) 341-6204 or e-mail her at drange@ciwmb.ca.gov.

Top

Steps California has taken since 1989 in diverting waste

Trend chart showing tons of waste diverted, disposed, and total tons generated since 1989.   Click on graphic to view the complete picture.

Top

City of Oxnard—A leader in waste diversion

Oxnard's diversion rate is 66 percent—outstanding! The City of Oxnard stands out as a leader among California's cities and counties in implementing waste diversion programs and successfully meeting diversion requirements mandated by the Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989.

Oxnard attributes its success in reaching a 66 percent diversion rate in 1998 to its many diversion programs and its persistence to reach and exceed waste diversion goals.

The attitude in Oxnard has been that it can do more; furthermore, there is a sense of pride about its waste diversion achievements throughout the residential, commercial, and industrial community. "Oxnard's accomplishment in achieving a 66 percent diversion rate has reinforced its efforts in implementing diversion programs," says Jay Duncan, Recycling Manager for the City of Oxnard. Consequently, Oxnard continues to plan and implement additional programs to wage its war against waste.

The programs that have helped Oxnard reach its goals consist of award programs, outreach programs, money-saving incentives, and specific materials being targeted to increase diversion.

City of Oxnard's Current Diversion Programs

Below are summaries of Oxnard's diversion programs.

• Business Waste Watch Awards Program
  Oxnard has a sustained public information and recognition project, going into its ninth year, in which it honors the top waste reduction and recycling practices of businesses, schools, and nonprofits that are implementing outstanding waste reduction plans. The winners receive 100 percent postconsumer manufactured plaques presented by the Oxnard City Council.

• Environmental Shopping Tours
  Oxnard teamed with its local supermarkets to offer environmental education program tours in the grocery stores on waste reduction and reuse practices. These tours include leading shoppers down each aisle and educating them on what products are considered overpackaged and what products are packaged in an environmentally friendly way. In addition, practices such as a "durable bag strategy," in which customers are encouraged to shop with reusable bags, are pragmatic and effective in reducing reliance on plastic bags for produce-shopping.

• Environment Today TV Show
  Oxnard co-produces and hosts a 30-minute weekly community television program dedicated to highlighting resource recovery practices in the public and private sector. The television show has aired since May 1994. Currently, Oxnard is working with Oxnard Community College students to enhance the students' media production skills and knowledge of environmental issues. This goal is accomplished by encouraging students to film shows at resource recovery-minded businesses and facilities. Recently, a show that originated from the city's Earth Day Festival took Oxnard residents on a tour of the Del Norte Regional Recycling and Transfer Station.

• Sewage Sludge Diversion Program
  In this program, Oxnard composts its sewage sludge. The compost is then taken to Kern County and plowed into a wildflower farm.

• Reduced Rate for Businesses Implementing Waste Reduction and Recycling Efforts
  Oxnard businesses see the economic benefits of reducing waste every month, on their trash bill. Businesses can save resources and reduce their next trash bill because the city charges half-price for collecting 2- or 4-yard mixed recycling bins instead of trash bins.

• Backyard Composting Classes
  Oxnard teaches courses, gives school presentations, and distributes a bilingual Guide to Easy Home Composting. Worm composting is a favorite topic among Oxnard school children.

• Del Norte Recycling Station Public Education Program
  Oxnard has a publicly owned facility (Del Norte Regional Recycling and Transfer Station) that offers an array of services. These services include a recyclable household hazardous waste (HHW) program, a buyback center, and a "self-haul program" (Del Norte accepts yard debris, bulky items, and tires from the self-hauler. Public outreach tours for the community, students, and teachers are offered. The tours feature a panoramic view of the tipping floor and resource recovery area, an education center that displays environmental statements on the walls, and attractive bronze sculptures that celebrate the facility's theme, "The future is our children." Del Norte's success has been featured in Municipal Solid Waste magazine.

• Partnerships
  Oxnard is the lead agency receiving a $195,990 Integrated Waste Management Board HHW grant shared with Ventura and Port Hueneme.

• Split-Container System
  Oxnard's waste management program includes a split-container system that utilizes 110-gallon "automated containers" (containers that are picked up by a mechanized arm attached to the garbage truck); the containers have two compartments, one for trash and the other for mixed recyclables. A dual-compartment truck is used to collect the contents of the containers. This system is used citywide, covering over 28,000 homes. The Oxnard co-collection system received accolades in a feature article in World Waste magazine.

• Green Waste Program
  Oxnard's waste management program includes a green waste program in which green waste is collected on a weekly basis.

• Industrial Cardboard Rebate Program
  Oxnard's industrial cardboard rebate program at the Del Norte Recycling Station provides rebates to businesses that generate roll-off bins (13.4 yards or 30 yards) of clean cardboard loads on a bimonthly basis. In some cases, the cardboard rebate program offsets the entire cost of the waste management service for the business.

• Street Division's Pulverized Pavement Program
  Oxnard uses the pulverized pavement as fill, avoiding the disposal costs and loss of a valuable project resource.

• Partnerships with Local Businesses
  Oxnard participates yearly in America Recycles Day with Home Depot and in Procter & Gamble's Earth Day Education program.

• Compost Bin Purchase Program
  Oxnard offers compost bins at a discount rate, and upon receiving the Oxnard resident's order, has the compost bin shipped directly to the customer. This practice saves costs because inventory is not stored at a city facility until it is purchased, but is rather shipped on an "as needed basis" directly by the compost bin manufacturer.

• Earth Day Festival
  Oxnard's solid waste division coordinates a community festival celebrating Earth Day and the achievements of the residents and businesses for striving to reduce waste and save resources. Earth Day exhibits, ranging from air quality to water conservation, are set up in the downtown plaza park location.

Oxnard credits its program success to its community's willingness to be active participants. For example, Oxnard's infrastructure for implementing these programs was created with the commitment of its city council. Businesses are now practicing waste reduction on their own because they see the correlation between saving resources and saving money.

The solid waste management division continues to promote waste reduction in all city offices. In addition, to continue to increase diversion in Oxnard, more programs are being implemented.

City of Oxnard's Diversion Programs in the Works
Oxnard continues to improve diversion practices in its community by brainstorming, then developing additional diversion programs. Some future plans are listed below.

• Participate in Solid Waste Research
  Oxnard will have a significant role in research being conducted as part of a CIWMB/University of California, Los Angeles solid waste management project. Oxnard will participate in a technical oversight subcommittee that will review new protocols; it will also serve as a mentoring jurisdiction to assist other cities and counties in developing their solid waste infrastructure.

• Continue Internal Partnerships With Other City Services to Enhance Waste Reduction Practices
  Oxnard will continue working with its Parks and Streets Division on grasscycling, mulching, pulverized pavement reuse projects, and the possibility of a close-the-loop crumb rubber/tire regional recycling effort.

• Enhanced HHW Reuse Table at Oxnard's Monthly All-Purpose Residential and Business HHW Program
  Oxnard will continue this program, which accepts and redistributes household hazardous wastes as a creative waste reduction approach to using up common HHW products and reducing toxic disposal costs.

• Customizing Programs for Small Businesses
  Oxnard will implement small-container recycling and commercial green waste program development in the downtown, agricultural, and beach areas of the city.

• Increased Public Outreach and Support of Business Environment Green Teams
  Oxnard will focus on establishing a commercial/industrial green waste recovery system this year.

• Developing a Citywide Disaster Debris Management Plan
  Oxnard solid waste staff will take the lead in developing disaster debris management strategies with the city's Emergency Operations Center (EOC) team after attending a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) training center in Emmitsburg, Maryland. Oxnard will be using the Board's Integrated Waste Management Disaster Plan as a resource in developing the document.

• Partnership in Regional Tire Recycling Team
  Oxnard has joined the City of Thousand Oaks and the County of Ventura in a subcommittee whose mission is to attract businesses to utilize the tire waste stream and promote municipal use of crumb rubber in street improvement projects.

"I think recycling and waste reduction appeals to the sense of community in Oxnard. We are seeing children leading the residential recycling programs in the homes, partially because of the city's effort in school education. Saving resources is also important to the business world and to adults who are working toward a legacy of leaving less behind for the future," says Jay Duncan.

For additional information on the Oxnard's diversion programs, the Board's local assistance staff at (916) 341-6271 or at nmizwins@ciwmb.ca.gov. You may also contact Jay Duncan with the City of Oxnard at (805) 385-8059 or at jay.duncan@ci.oxnard.ca.us.

Top

City of Riverside—One of state's most successful in diverting waste

Riverside is to be commended for its outstanding effort to reach and exceed the year 2000 diversion goal and for continuing to look for additional ways to divert waste.

Riverside reached the year 2000 goal of 50 percent waste diversion, required under the Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989, five years early in 1995 with a 53 percent diversion rate. The city, 53 miles east of Los Angeles, is proud of its diversion accomplishments, as it should be, with a current diversion rate of 57 percent!

In order to achieve and maintain its diversion, Riverside took an immediate, proactive approach that has paid off. Careful thought was put into implementing timely and cost-effective diversion programs, such as identifying major material types identified in its waste characterization study and targeting them for diversion, green waste being at the top of the list.

City of Riverside's Current Diversion Programs

Working closely with its three waste haulers, Riverside developed diversion programs listed below, along with incentives and ordinances applicable to the community.

Green Waste. Riverside incorporated separate green waste collection into its twice-a-week residential collection program, collecting green waste on one day and regular household trash on the other day. This allowed Riverside to save $600,000 per year in disposal costs and divert 30,000 tons of green waste per year with no additional operations cost. Materials identified as green waste are plants, grass, weeds, leaves, tree limbs, wood waste, and Christmas trees. (Christmas trees are only collected for a two-week period after Christmas at a specified time in January.)

Residential Curbside. Riverside added automated curbside collection of recyclable materials to its residential collection service in 1997. Materials collected include paper, glass, metals, and plastic containers. In order to implement the most cost-effective curbside recycling program, Riverside purchased for its private haulers "automated containers" (containers that are picked up by a mechanized arm attached to the garbage truck) for commingled recycling. This step allowed Riverside to extend the amortization of the containers over a 12-year period instead of over the three years in the haulers’ contract. Riverside also lowered the haulers’ payment for regular trash collection by $.90 per month, since the recycling program reduced disposal costs. These two steps allowed Riverside to offer curbside recycling services to its customers for less than $1 per month.

Residential Drop-Off

• Newspaper Drop-Off
  Riverside, in co-sponsorship with the local Press-Enterprise newspaper, maintains eight 24-hour drop-off sites for newspapers in addition to providing curbside collection of old newspapers. Each site has a custom-designed barn made from 100 percent recycled plastic lumber to house the paper.

• Buyback Centers
  Riverside has over 116 buyback centers, including California Refund Value (CRV) facilities, scrap dealers, and used appliance buyers. These are listed on a Riverside County Web site at www.rivcowm.org/.

• Used Oil Recycling Centers
  Riverside has 24 certified used oil-recycling centers.

• Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) Drop-Off
  Riverside County operates three one-day mobile HHW collection events in an unincorporated area of the county near the City of Riverside. The collection program accepts HHW from residents in unincorporated and incorporated areas.

Riverside entered into an agreement with the County of Riverside to host additional one-day collection events in the City of Riverside. This agreement calls for the city to pay additional one-day setup fees, and the county to pay for disposal of HHW. This partnership increased the City of Riverside's HHW collection by 40 percent, averaging over 400 cars per event. The City of Riverside event uses city volunteers and workers to take customer information.

• Robert A. Nelson Transfer Station
  Riverside entered into a 15-year agreement with the County of Riverside for its waste to go to the Robert A. Nelson Transfer Station. (The City of Riverside and the County of Riverside are currently discussing expansion of the facility to include a materials recovery facility that will process over 20,000 tons of materials per year collected from the city’s curbside recycling program.)

• Concrete and Asphalt
  Riverside and Riverside County spearheaded the development of concrete and asphalt recycling facilities within Riverside County. Asphalt and concrete recycling establishments opened after Riverside County initiated higher tipping fees ("hard-to-handle" fees) at the landfills for concrete and asphalt disposal. The city also uses crushed asphalt and concrete as road base for road projects.

• White Goods
  The City of Riverside with its three private haulers conduct a free bulky item pickup program to collect white goods (appliances). Residents can schedule two free bulky-item pickups per year. White goods that are working and contain Freon (refrigerators and air conditioners) are collected by Riverside's utility company, which hires an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-certified contractor to remove the Freon. Customers who turn in their old working refrigerators receive a United States Saving Bond. Nonworking white goods that contain Freon are collected on an annual basis at one of the city-sponsored HHW collection events. The city’s Public Works Department hires an EPA-certified contractor to remove the Freon. All of the refrigerators are loaded into a roll-off bin (provided by a local recycler), and the city is paid $6.00 per ton for scrap metal.

• Tires
  Riverside offers a "Car Tire Amnesty Program" in conjunction with collections of household hazardous wastes. City residents are allowed to bring up to four used auto tires to these collection events. (Truck tires and tires from commercial sources are not accepted.) A company that recycles the tires into a crumb rubber product takes the tires received at these events.

• Telephone Books
  Riverside works in conjunction with Pacific Bell to collect residential telephone books. Programs include placing roll-offs (collection bins) at seven middle schools throughout the city and paying the schools 25 cents for each telephone book collected. The city is also currently developing a commercial telephone book recycling program.

• City Office Paper Collection
  Riverside promotes the use of office paper recycling by providing each city employee with a container for recycling white paper. In addition, the city recently converted all employees' large wastebaskets to mixed paper recycling containers. Employees were then given little wastebaskets that attached to their mixed-paper recycling containers, for nonrecyclable items.When the white and mixed paper bins are full, employees empty them into larger bins in a central location on each floor. The large bins are taken to the "city basement" by Ability Counts (a nonprofit organization that provides employment and employment training for developmentally disabled individuals). Collection costs are recovered from the sale of recyclable materials. The city was also able to reduce its collection service, as fewer bins were needed for trash once the office paper collection program was implemented.

• Economic Incentives
  Riverside allows private haulers to give a minimum reduction of 15 percent in refuse rates for businesses that recycle. The refuse rate includes three components: operation fees, disposal fees, and city fees. When businesses receive a recycling container, a disposal fee is not charged, because the recyclables are not going to the landfill. If the company has valuable material to recycle, such as cardboard and metal, it can receive up to a 100 percent rebate. The rebate may cover the operation fees, disposal fees, and city fees, so there is no cost to the customer.

• Ordinances
  Riverside has been proactive in passing ordinances that have helped create an environmentally friendly community. Riverside’s planning department has an ordinance that makes it easy for businesses to establish convenient zones for recycling. Riverside also passed an anti-scavenging ordinance that requires new developments to include space for recycling containers. Additionally, Riverside is part of a multi-jurisdictional recycling market development zone (RMDZ).

City of Riverside's Future Diversion Programs
Riverside continues to look at new ways to divert waste. For example:

• Riverside hopes to increase residential curbside participation by 5 percent this year by increasing efforts to promote curbside recycling in diverse areas of Riverside. Increased outreach through schools is one way Riverside plans on trying to reach these areas.
  
• Riverside plans to increase commercial waste reduction, reuse, and recycling by spearheading commercial recycling efforts: the city will require its haulers to recycle over 10 percent of the materials hauled beginning May 12, 2001. That’s an additional 18,000 tons of waste per year.
  
• Riverside is looking into increasing backyard composting and grasscycling. Again, the city sees outreach to school children as a key to promoting these activities.

For additional information about Riverside's diversion programs, call your local assistance staff contact at (916) 341-6199. You may also contact Harold Duffey at (909) 826-5967 or DHAROLD@ci.riverside.ca.us.

Top

City of Oakland—Pay as you throw

The City of Oakland's "pay-as-you-throw" residential solid waste program works! Most residents have opted to use smaller size waste containers for disposal over larger sizes thus sending less waste to the landfills and benefiting financially.

The service options and rate structure of the City of Oakland's residential solid waste and recycling service are successfully assisting Oakland in achieving its waste reduction goals. Oakland converted to curbside semiautomated solid waste service in 1995 when the city renegotiated its solid waste franchise agreement, and the new service has benefited the city’s residents financially and environmentally.

"I see this structure as a permanent fixture in the City of Oakland because of the financial and environmental benefits. As solid waste costs continue to rise each year, residents will have more and more incentives to reduce waste," says Mark Gagliardi from Oakland's Recycling and Solid Waste Program.

Key features of the solid waste service are the 20-gallon minican and an economic incentive for residents to reduce their service level of solid waste collection. Residents can benefit because what they pay for their solid waste collection service is directly proportional to the amount of waste they send to the landfill. This truly is a "pay-as-you-throw" program!

Financial Benefits

Besides the 20-gallon minican, residents can select from a 32-, 64-, or 96-gallon cart for their trash. The 32-gallon cart is the "standard" service level. However, the 20-gallon minican is the best pick for cost savings; for instance, there is a $44.63 per month difference between service for the 20-gallon minican and the 96-gallon cart.

Monthly rates for single-family residential solid waste service for July 1, 1999, to June 30, 2000, are listed below.

Monthly Rates for Single-Family Residential Solid Waste Service

The monthly rates listed above include weekly collection of paper and commingled recycling materials in 18-gallon bins. In addition, the above costs include the collection of yard trimmings every other week in 64-gallon carts. For an additional $5.00 per month, residents can receive expanded yard trimming collection services, allowing them to divert large amounts of yard waste when necessary.

Since the solid waste service rate is directly proportional to the amount of garbage sent to the landfill, Oakland residents who use the 32-, 64-, or 96-gallon carts do benefit financially by reducing their waste to 20-gallons a week.

Some ways Oakland residents reduce waste to 20-gallons a week are by home composting and taking advantage of the recycling and yard trimming collection services offered. Residents have unlimited recycling service (paper and commingled) without additional fees; the cost is the same regardless of the volume of recyclables set out for collection. The cost per gallon of waste disposed, however, increases with increased volume.

Environmental Benefits

The rate structure and service level options of Oakland's waste management and recycling service make it simple "to do the right thing." By taking advantage of recycling and composting opportunities, residents of Oakland are sending less waste to landfills, and thereby treating our resources and environment with respect!

If you have any questions regarding the City of Oakland's waste reduction programs, please contact Eric Bissinger in the Board's local assistance staff at (916) 341-6201 or at ebissing@ciwmb.ca.gov.

Top

Guide for preparing requests for a time extension or an alternative diversion requirement—on the Web

To help jurisdictions understand SB 1066 (Sher, Chapter 672, Statutes of 1997), which allows them to request a time extension (TE) or alternative diversion requirement (ADR) as they work toward meeting Integrated Waste Management Act goals, the Board has prepared a useful guide on the Web. The guide, Preparing Requests for a Time Extension or an Alternative Diversion Requirement—A Guide for Jurisdictions will save you time and reduce your costs when preparing either a time extension or an alternative diversion requirement request (SB 1066 requests).

To develop a process for applying for SB 1066 requests, Board staff conducted 11 regional workshops to solicit input regarding the implementation of SB 1066. At the workshops Board staff presented the requirements as outlined in statute and alternative draft applications and optional formats to attendees. Participants at the workshops shared their thoughts regarding the application, the application process, and the criteria that the Board should consider when reviewing applications.

Based on feedback from workshop participants, staff have completed a guide, containing the SB 1066 application, which provides guidance on the information and documentation needed to meet the requirements identified in PRC Sections 41820 and 41785.

The Board approved the guide, Preparing Requests for a Time Extension or an Alternative Diversion Requirement—A Guide for Jurisdictions, at the May 23-24, 2000, Board meeting, with the expectation that the Board’s local assistance staff would begin providing technical assistance to jurisdictions interested in submitting an SB 1066 request.

By identifying those jurisdictions that intend to submit an SB 1066 request, local assistance staff can begin providing assistance on assessing diversion programs and identifying inaccuracies in diversion measurement. However, if you do not submit an SB 1066 request now, there will be additional opportunities to request the Board’s assistance and to submit an SB 1066 request.

In order to meet the varied needs of local jurisdictions throughout the state, the Board is providing numerous opportunities for jurisdictions to secure Board assistance and submit SB 1066 requests. They are as follows:

• Sending a letter to request assistance on assessing diversion programs and identifying inaccuracies in diversion measurement.

• Choosing to wait until June 2001 to submit an SB 1066 request, when you have your 2000 Disposal Reporting System data.

• Submitting a request with your 2000 annual report (due August 1, 2001) based on anticipated need for the TE or ADR.

• Completing the disclaimer in the 2000 annual report (due August 1, 2001) to allow the option to still submit a request based upon the outcome of the Board’s 1999/2000 biennial review. This method would be used if you are not sure that you will need to submit a request, but want to be "covered" in the event that the Board-approved diversion rate is less than 50 percent.

To find this guide, access www.ciwmb.ca.gov/LGCentral/ , then select Reporting, and then Time Extensions or Alternative Diversion Requirement. If you are interested in receiving local assistance staff assistance with the SB 1066 application process, or if you require additional information about the SB 1066 process, please contact your local assistance staff representative at (916) 341-6199.

Top

2000 "Trash Cutters" awards

The California Integrated Waste Management Board is conducting the third annual "Trash Cutters" awards program for local governments. This program recognizes local government agencies for their outstanding efforts in waste diversion.

Winners of the Trash Cutters awards will receive statewide recognition for their efforts: they will be featured on the Trash Cutters Web site, announced through a press release, and recognized in an infoCycling article. The selected programs can become models for other jurisdictions to emulate. The winning local government agencies will also receive a plaque (made of 100 percent recycled materials) recognizing their successful programs at a special ceremony.

To be eligible to compete for a Trash Cutters award, a local government's completed application must be received at the Board by August 30, 2000 (faxed applications will not be accepted). For information on the application contents or to request an application, please visit the Trash Cutters Web site at www.ciwmb.ca.gov/TrashCutters/. You can also contact Vickie Adamu of the Board’s local assistance staff at (916) 341-6278 or vadamu@ciwmb.ca.gov.

Top

Recycledibles

"Food Fight!" No, we’re not talking about kids going crazy in a cafeteria. We’re up in arms about food waste.  In recent years, wasted food has "piled up" to number one in the top ten material types disposed in California’s overall waste stream! Why has food waste moved to the number one position?

Perhaps it's because jurisdictions are doing more and more to divert the other material types in the overall waste stream. Another possible reason is that more money is being spent on groceries and eating out. Food waste can make up 15 percent or more of a jurisdiction’s (city, county, or regional agency) waste stream, depending on the types and number of businesses in the community.

There are several different ways to recover food from the waste stream, which we have ranked in a "food waste hierarchy."

Waste Prevention Practices—Do not create excess food in the first place. Food producers and individuals are asked to look at their practices to see where processes can be streamlined and resources used more efficiently.

Food Banking and Prepared Food Rescue—Food that is still packaged and/or edible but no longer wanted should go to food banks. Each year California food banks re-distribute 120 million pounds of excess food. Prepared food should not be overlooked as a waste diversion option. Food rescue operations collect food from corporate dining rooms, restaurants, cafeterias, hotels, and hospitals and promptly redistribute it in their community.

Inedible Food to Animal Feed—Excess food that cannot be donated or is inappropriate for human consumption can often be taken for on-farm animal feed programs or by feed manufacturers and made into animal feed.

Composting and Vermicomposting—Inedible food can be composted on site or taken to permitted compost facilities. Vermicomposting is an interesting and effective method using worms to eat food waste—very popular and educational for school waste reduction programs!

Look for more information on food waste diversion in upcoming issues of infoCycling. Help the trash-fighting troops win a big diversion victory!

For additional information and resources, contact Chris Kinsella at (916) 341-6274 and visit the Board’s food waste management Web page at www.ciwmb.ca.gov/FoodWaste/ . You can also access a page on the top 10 material types disposed at www.ciwmb.ca.gov/WasteChar/Study1999/T2Matrls.htm .

Top

Editor's Note

I hope you enjoyed this issue of infoCycling. Look for articles in the October 2000 issue on the 1999 waste characterization data available on the Web, a report on the contractors and their programs for food scrap diversion projects, further information on disposal reporting investigations, and other useful information that will help you meet your diversion goals. Please contact me with your suggestions on articles you would like to see included in infoCycling and announcements of events in your jurisdiction. I can be reached at (916) 341-6240 or by e-mail at twebb@ciwmb.ca.gov . Your comments and suggestions on infoCycling are always welcome!
--Tracy Webb, Editor

Publication #341-00-013

infoCycling Home | Download This Edition

Last updated: November 01, 2007