infoCycling

infoCycling, Fall 2006, Continued

In this portion of the issue:

• Reduce, reuse, and recycle during the holidays
• Recycled-content materials
• Grant opportunity
• Plastic film diversion projects
• Editor's note

Reduce, reuse, and recycle during the holidays!

During the holidays, we tend to generate more waste. This article highlights efforts by the California Integrated Waste Management Board (CIWMB), jurisdictions, State agencies, and large State facilities (State agencies) to curb the extra waste.

To assist jurisdictions, State agencies, and others in reducing, reusing, and recycling during the holidays, the CIWMB is encouraging everyone to “Give the Gift of Green” by decking the halls with less waste. The CIWMB website, Deck the Halls with Less Waste This Year!, is your one-stop site for all the information needed to keep excess holiday waste out of landfills. These pages are loaded with useful tips on greening your holiday season.

These tip sheets include the following:

• No Waste Gift-Giving/Gift-Wrapping Ideas A few ideas and suggestions on alternative gift wrapping and gift-giving.
• Waste Prevention in Gift Wrapping Breaking the "gift wrap" habit isn't easy, so here are ten simple ideas to get you started.
• It's Time to Open the Gifts While opening the gifts, here are a few hints to get you through the mountains of ribbon, stuffing, and wrapping.
• Christmas Tree Recycling Once the big day has passed and the ornaments are safely packed away for next year, there's just one thing left to do: recycle the Christmas tree.

Read on to learn about holiday waste reduction efforts by the Sacramento Area Regional Recycling Group, City of Morgan Hill, and Lanterman Developmental Center Community Industries.

Sacramento Area Regional Recycling Group Holiday Campaign—Join the Effort!

The Sacramento Area Regional Recycling Group promotes reducing, reusing, and recycling materials during the holidays. The group has implemented an annual Regional Holiday Recycling campaign every year since 1995.

The campaign reminds people to reduce, reuse, and recycle because more waste is generated during the holidays than any other time of year. This year’s campaign will begin in mid-December 2006. The campaign officially ends January 1, 2007; however, TV and radio spots may run through mid-January 2007. Any city or county in northern California is welcome to take part in the campaign; there is no minimum dollar amount required.

This campaign features the television (TV) spot “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle,” which begins airing December 18, 2006, on Sacramento-area TV stations and cable outlets, and ends January 1, 2007. The TV spots include 15- and 30-second versions.

Expect to see various holiday materials being recycled during these TV spots. In addition, 60-second radio spots will air during the campaign on Sacramento-area radio stations. Last but not least, interviews with the group spokespersons will be conducted during the campaign. These interviews will be conducted on Sacramento-area TV talk shows, TV news stations, and radio stations.

For a summary of last year’s campaign, including a list of participants, media, TV spots, and other information, see the Holiday Recycling website.

What does this campaign remind people to do?

This campaign reminds people to reduce as much waste as possible during the holidays, such as packaging products and paper. This campaign reminds people to reuse items, such as the following, for next year’s holiday season:

• Boxes.
• Bows.
• Ribbons.

This campaign also reminds people to recycle items, such as the following:

• Beverage containers (aluminum and plastic).
• Cardboard.
• Food containers.
• Holiday wrapping paper.

This year, the campaign will increase efforts to remind people about ways to recycle their Christmas trees. For example, most trees can be placed in curbside green waste containers for recycling. Or, the Christmas trees can be dropped off at various community locations for recycling. In mid-December 2006, look for a listing of the drop-off sites for Christmas trees on the County of Sacramento website.

For more information on this campaign, contact Doug Eubanks, Recycling Coordinator, Sacramento County, at (916) 875-7165.

Morgan Hill—Promotes reducing, reusing, and recycling during the holidays

During the holidays, an abundance of gifts and holiday cards tends to create an unusual amount of extra waste. Some gifts are packaged in Styrofoam, cardboard, plastic, or all three, and wrapped in wrapping paper with ribbons and bows.

Knowing that this is the norm for most families, the City of Morgan Hill decided to develop a toolkit to help residents deal with the flurry of the holiday season. The city’s Green Christmas Recycling Kit is a low-tech resource designed to encourage recycling during these special holiday celebrations. The kit includes:

• “How To” instructions for using the kit.
• Bag for collecting mixed paper to reuse or recycle.
• Bag for saving reusable bows and ribbons.
• Bag for collecting Styrofoam peanuts and strips to reuse or recycle.
• Envelope for collecting holiday cards with reuse ideas listed on the envelope.
• List of locations for taking your used toys and clothes.
• Bag for collecting nonreusable or nonrecyclable items.
• Response postcard for the users of the kit to let the city know how the kit worked.

While simple in design, these kits could be just the thing to keep your holiday from becoming a “hauliday.” You can pick one up free at the Morgan Hill City Hall, the Booksmart in Morgan Hill, or the Community and Cultural Center in Morgan Hill. (See the photo below of the kit.)

Select image to view larger version.

Green Christmas Tree Recycling Kit

If you have any questions about the kit, contact Anthony Eulo, Program Administrator, City of Morgan Hill, at (408) 779-7247.

The photo in the Morgan Hill portion of this article appears courtesy of Andi Borowski.

Lanterman Developmental Center Community Industries—Gifts made out of recycled and reused materials

Community Industries is a workshop located on the premises of Lanterman Developmental Center in the City of Pomona. Community Industries employs more than 300 developmentally disabled individuals. Carousel Corner is a gift shop operated by Community Industries at Lanterman Developmental Center where employee-made items are offered for sale to the public.

The gift shop displays a variety of handmade craft items that are creative and unique, with some of the items being seasonal in nature. For example, expect to find holiday decorations and wonderful gifts to give during the holidays. These handmade items are mostly fabricated from recycled materials such as wood scraps, shredded paper, used clothing, and donated items. (See photos of handmade items below.)

Select images to view larger versions.

Handmade Chicken

Handmade Frog

Recycled wood scraps are used for making snowmen, bookshelves, bookends, coat racks, witches, tin men, chickens, signs, and a variety of other handmade items. The items are cut to specification and then an employee will paint, decorate, and personalize each item, finalizing it for selling. (See photos of handmade items on below.)

Select images to view larger versions.

Handmade Decorative Chickens

Handmade Sun Wall Hanging

Handmade Signs and Decorations

Recycled clothing is cut to size, sewn, and then placed on stuffed craft projects such as frogs, witches, dolls, pigs, and other whimsical or decorative items. Buttons are often used for eyes. (See the photo of the handmade bookends below.)

Select image to view larger version.

Handmade Bookends

If you have any questions, contact Jerry Leggett, Lanterman Developmental Center, at (909) 839-1301.

Photos in the Lanterman Developmental Center portion of this article appear courtesy of Jerry Leggett.

Educating decision-makers on recycled-content materials

The Integrated Waste Management Act directed the California Integrated Waste Management Board (CIWMB) to assist local cities, counties, and regional agencies (jurisdictions) in diverting 50 percent of the waste.
When the act was passed in 1989, California was only achieving an 11 percent diversion rate statewide. The 50 percent diversion goal was obviously a very ambitious one, requiring the implementation of innovative diversion programs throughout the state.

California surpassed 50 percent diversion in 2005 by achieving a 52 percent statewide diversion rate. While this was a great environmental accomplishment, many individual jurisdictions in the state have yet to meet the 50 percent diversion. And with the nation’s eyes upon California, we are looking at the next 50 percent of waste still being disposed and how to continue to promote the best and highest use of our natural resources.

Realizing the great opportunities still to be found within our local jurisdictions, in August of 2005, CIWMB Board Members approved a two-year contract with Ogilvy World Wide (Ogilvy), a well-established public relations and government affairs firm. The concept behind this campaign was a two-prong approach in reaching the decision-makers, those that would have influence on how a jurisdiction was to use or procure recycled-content materials as well as the local technical staff that would help implement the decisions made.

The goal is to further educate decision-makers so that they will choose to increase the use of recycled-content products within their region. This is the first time a campaign of this nature has been implemented in California. Qualitative and quantitative research was conducted prior to the campaign launch to ensure that communication messages and vehicles would resonate with elected officials and key decision-makers.

The first phase of the campaign was the development of data through online surveys, one-on-one phone surveys, and group polling for establishing current status, trends, and needs of local jurisdictions.

Following this research, CIWMB and Ogilvy created a central message to deliver that is adaptable to local jurisdictions’ needs and highlights different recycled-content materials. The data collected—with input from CIWMB staff—was helpful in creating an opportunity for an initial list of jurisdictions to use recycled-content materials and products.

The initial outreach phase of this program will reach more than 50 jurisdictions and focus on the following products:

• Rubberized asphalt concrete.
• Organics.
• Tire-derived aggregate.
• Recycled aggregate.

The campaign’s primary communication mechanism is one-on-one meetings with local elected officials (such as mayors, council members, and supervisors). Additional communication strategies include paid advertising in appropriate trade publications, direct mail, media relations, website creation, conference participation, outreach/presentations to councils of governments, and informational material development (brochure and video).

The outreach effort also relies on third-party advocates who have successfully used selected recycled-content materials in their jurisdictions.
To date, the CIWMB in partnership with Ogilvy has experienced great success in reaching out to local elected officials, public works staff, and other interested parties. The meetings and communication strategies increased knowledge of these recycled-content materials and products and addressed misconceptions about their use, costs, and reliability.

The program has helped educate jurisdictions on the many benefits associated with the use of recycled-content materials and provided them with resources to implement their use. Ogilvy is tracking all meetings and communications with jurisdictions. The firm will develop a final report that will help the CIWMB to continue this great outreach effort.

The tools Ogilvy created, such as marketing and educational materials for promoting recycled-content materials, are available to all California jurisdictions. These tools can provide resources to promote procurement of recycled-content materials and help divert more resources from California’s landfills. Examples of these materials are available on the Zero Waste website.

If you have questions regarding this campaign to further educate decision-makers on increasing the use of recycled-content products, contact Jon Myers at (916) 341-445-1296.

Grant opportunity for biofuels research

The California Energy Commission's Public Interest Energy Research (PIER) Program supports energy research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) projects that will help improve the quality of life in California by bringing environmentally safe, affordable, and reliable energy services and products to the marketplace.

The PIER Program annually awards up to $62 million to conduct the most promising public interest energy research by partnering with RD&D organizations including individuals, businesses, utilities, and public or private research institutions. PIER brings new energy services and products to the marketplace and creates statewide environmental and economic benefits.

The PIER Renewables Program has released a grant solicitation for Biofuels Research Development & Demonstration.

This is a competitive grant solicitation with the intent of accelerating research, development, and demonstration of biofuel energy conversion technologies and refineries using lignocellulosic biomass (such as agricultural and forest residues and urban waste), food waste, beverages, waste grease, and crops grown for the purpose of producing energy.

The Program Opportunity Notice and application documents are posted on the California Energy Commission's website. The deadline to submit proposals was January 4, 2007, at 4:00 p.m.

Collaborative process moves to implementation of plastic film diversion projects

During the past two years, the California Integrated Waste Management Board (CIWMB) has been engaged in a collaborative process with stakeholders (local government, industry, and environmental representatives) to examine barriers and opportunities for increasing the collection and recycling of plastic film products. The consensus is that significant demand exists for recovered plastic film for reprocessing as plastic lumber and other durable plastic products, or as export (out of the country).

The CIWMB is focusing its efforts on increasing collection to help meet this demand. Through a collaborative process, collection projects were developed with a focus on targeting plastic films generated by the following sources:

• Agricultural (Ag).
• Residential and commercial.
• Hospitals.

CIWMB staff prepared an agenda item for the December 5, 2006, CIWMB Sustainability and Market Development Committee meeting that includes reports from key stakeholders regarding implementation of the plastic film collection projects. To access the agenda item and attachments, go to the CIWMB's website, select Board Meetings, and then scroll down to Item 15.

What was the key objective?

A key objective of the collaborative process was to reach an agreement on developing projects that demonstrate practical solutions and increased diversion of plastic film. As a result of this process, the CIWMB and stakeholders have agreed upon the categories of plastic film products to target for diversion. These products are:

• Ag film.
• Grocery and merchandise bags.
• Stretch wrap.
• Hospital blue wrap.

The CIWMB and stakeholders developed projects designed to increase the collection of these plastic film products. This process also led to:

• Funding of increased film processing capacity, either directly or indirectly.
• Interest among several recycling companies about siting new washlines (processing that uses water to clean contaminated plastic) and processing plants in California.
• Developing policy recommendations to prevent plastic litter and developing legislation to divert plastic film.
• Fostering research to support new technologies for diverting plastic film.

How were the plastic film products selected?

The plastic film products were selected based on amounts in the waste stream, contamination issues (the cleaner the better), environmental impacts, handling and disposal challenges, and potential demand.

The collaboration produced information on targeted film products for the CIWMB conference “Increasing Plastic Film and Container Collection & Recycling.” Held on October 11–12, 2005, the conference provided information on collection programs, end use products, and disposal data for a broad audience.

What was involved in planning plastic film diversion projects?

Following the Increasing Plastic Film and Container Collection & Recycling conference, CIWMB posted information on proposed projects to its website. In addition, a kickoff workshop for developing additional collection programs took place on January 25, 2006.

CIWMB presented two proposed projects, the Residential and Commercial Film Recycling Project and the Agricultural Recycling Project, and requested feedback from stakeholders on both projects. Information and presentations from the conference and workshop is available on the following CIWMB web pages:

• Increasing Plastic Film and Container Collection & Recycling Conference
• Kickoff Meeting: January 25, 2006

Throughout the spring and summer of 2006, stakeholders and the CIWMB continued to discuss and refine the projects. Four distinct projects emerged based on targeting specific generators of plastic film waste and diversion opportunities. Detailed implementation schedules have been developed by the CIWMB and stakeholders. A common theme in each project is the need for education and outreach.

Another focus is the development of case studies and demonstration projects to help lead the way to establishing a new and expanded plastic film collection infrastructure. More information on all of the projects is available on the Plastic Film Cooperative Recycling Initiative web page. This web page will be updated after the December 7, 2006, CIWMB meeting to reflect direction given by the Board Members regarding project implementation.

The communication channels that have been opened as a result of this process have created a network of people, businesses, and organizations that are now working in concert to increase plastic film diversion in California, and to expand the knowledge base of all those involved.

What is involved in implementing plastic film diversion projects?

With the planning phase of the plastic film collection projects complete, the CIWMB and stakeholders are ready to move to the implementation phase. The CIWMB Local assistance staff will act as liaison between jurisdictions and other stakeholders, assess their needs during the implementation of the projects, promote tools and best practices, and compile information on plastic film diversion opportunities.

Full implementation of the projects will continue through mid-2009 and include an annual review of projects. After the projects have been implemented, the CIWMB and stakeholders will present the final results of the entire effort at a CIWMB Board meeting and host a conference to share the results at the end of 2009.

The current status of the four projects being implemented is summarized below:

• Agricultural plastic film

The ag film collection project is developing information on:

• Types, amounts, and locations of ag film.
• How to most efficiently remove ag film from the agricultural fields.
• Stakeholders needed to participate in a network to effectively promote ag film recycling.
• Existing collection and processing infrastructure and the expansion necessary for recycling ag film.

Initial collection projects will focus on, but are not limited to, the following counties:

• Imperial.
• Monterey.
• San Luis Obispo.
• San Benito.
• Santa Cruz.
• Tulare.
• Ventura.

After the installation of an automated washline that processes agricultural plastic films, a plastics company and the Ventura County Recycling Market Development Zone program hosted a grand opening of the facility on November 28, 2006.

Let us know
If a jurisdiction is considering development of or has already developed a collection program for ag plastic films, please contact your Local assistance staff representative for technical assistance and information sharing purposes.

• Grocery and retail store plastic film drop-off

With the enactment of Chapter 845, Statutes of 2006 (Levine, AB 2449), grocery and retail stores, as defined, are required to provide drop-off recycling service for grocery and merchandise bags. Three different industry partnerships and programs were already under development prior to the passage of AB 2449. The industry partnerships developed tools that will help in the implementation of similar diversion programs.

• The Progressive Bag Alliance will continue to work with the CIWMB to help grocery and other retail stores set up successful drop-off programs. In addition, they have developed educational and promotional materials for grocery and retail stores to establish effective source reduction and recycling programs.
• The American Plastics Council will continue to provide funding for development and support of the website, which includes a searchable web-based inventory of stores and recyclers that have drop-off programs and information on setting up collection programs. Currently more than 1,400 locations are listed. The CIWMB will continue to work with industry staff to update their web-based database as the numbers of stores offering drop-off recycling grows under the requirements of AB 2449.
• The Wal-Mart Kids Recycling Challenge program allows schools to earn money for diversion of retail bags from the waste stream. The program began as a 2004 pilot in limited areas of California and Salt Lake City and has expanded to cover California, ten other western states, and Arkansas.

• Recovering plastic film through curbside collection and materials recovery facilities

This project targets the collection of plastics such as plastic bags, stretch wrap, and dry cleaning film, but focuses on collecting those materials through curbside programs and separation at materials recovery facilities (MRF).

San Jose
In California, curbside collection of retail bags and plastic films in mixed recyclables as a “Bag in Bag” program option was first developed by the City of San Jose. The “Bag in Bag” program consists of bags being processed and used as postconsumer material in some end products such as composite lumber, outdoor decking and railing products, park benches, garden and lawn edging, and other durable products. The program has been successful since it began in 1993. The CIWMB has been able to identify 47 jurisdictions that have added “Bag in Bag” recycling to their curbside service.

San Juan Capistrano
Collection of bags for recycling back into bags has been successfully demonstrated in a 2005 pilot project conducted by the City of San Juan Capistrano, its hauler and MRF operator, and a plastic film manufacturer. This “Bag to Bag” recycling program has now been expanded to include several other southern Orange County jurisdictions. The “Bag to Bag” program consists of bags being processed and made into new plastic film bags.

Let us know
If your jurisdiction is considering development of, or has already developed a curbside collection program for plastic films, please contact your Local assistance staff representative for technical assistance and information sharing purposes.

Additional information

• Local government, industry, businesses, environmental stakeholders, and the general public are encouraged to use the education and outreach materials developed by Progressive Bag Alliance.
• In addition to curbside programs, an opportunity is available to increase the collection of bags and other plastic film products through sorting at materials recovery facilities. Some MRFs that are using automated sorting technologies experience equipment shutdowns when plastic bags and film clog their sorting equipment. As a result, they often end up with significant cost impacts and bales of plastic film products looking for a home. The CIWMB will work with MRF operators and potential end-users to explore options for increasing the amount of film products collected by MRFs and for finding end-use markets for this material.

• Hospital blue wrap

Blue wrap is sterile polypropylene film packaging used to contain surgical equipment and supplies. Some hospitals had established recycling programs for this film product, but their one buyer, a plastic lumber manufacturer, no longer wanted the material.

The CIWMB and representatives from U. S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 9, Department of Health Services, Kaiser, Department of Toxic Substances Control, the UC Davis Health System, Sutter, Catholic Health Care West, John Muir, Daughters of Charity, and other hospitals and recyclers are now working together to set up regionally targeted collection programs for blue wrap and other plastic films from hospitals.

U.S. EPA Region 9 has developed a fact sheet on Environmental Best Practices for Healthcare Facilities, including blue wrap recycling.

A hospital survey went to targeted hospitals in Northern California through the hospital industry, the Department of Health Services, the Department of Toxic Substances Control, and U.S. EPA Region 9 listservs to learn about the types, amounts, and existing handling practices for plastic films. Survey results were compiled at the end of November 2006.

Collection programs for hospital blue wrap and other plastic film types are being established first in Northern California before possible expansion statewide. CIWMB will contact local recycling coordinators and haulers and invite them to participate in the planning of the regional projects.

For more information on healthcare waste, visit the CIWMB’s Waste Prevention Information Exchange Health Care Waste web page, which is a directory of informational resources for waste prevention.

What’s next?

This is the first part in a series of articles to bring you more information on the expansion of plastic film diversion opportunities and programs for local government, industry, businesses, environmental stakeholders, and the general public.

If you would like more information on any of the projects being implemented, please contact Christine Flowers at (916) 341-6267, or contact your Local assistance staff representative.

Editor’s note

I hope you enjoyed this edition of infoCycling. In the winter 2007 edition, look for an article on detailed characterization of waste disposed and diverted by selected industry groups. Please contact me with suggestions on articles you would like to see included in infoCycling and announcements of events in your jurisdiction or at your State agency. You can e-mail me or reach me at (916) 341-6240. Your comments and suggestions on infoCycling are always welcome!

Tracy

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Last updated: December 28, 2007