1998 Trash Cutter Award Program Case Studies

City of Los Angeles: Procurement

• Program Description
• Program Summary
• Costs
• Benefits
• Contact

Program Description

As part of the City of Los Angeles' Facilities Recycling Program, staff has implemented Buy Recycled 2000. This program educates the buyers, specificers, and supply clerks to include recycled-content specifications for city products ordered through various contract mechanisms, such as annual contracts, one-time orders, and blanket purchases. The program's procurement component also requires closed-loop purchasing. This program  requires suppliers, vendors or contractors of various products to purchase recycled feedstock from the city's contract recyclers and use the material to manufacture new products for the city.

Program Summary

CFRP was established as part of the city's response to the source reduction and recycling element (SRRE) of AB 939 plan. CFRP's recycling infrastructure enables city employees to conveniently recycle and participate in a wide range of programs. Aside from office recycling, CFRP also has a materials exchange/reuse program, a special events recycling program, and a buy recycled program. Education is a major component of this program.  Its educational activities impact a combined 52,000 employees, as well as the commercial sector. In 1998, CFRP received the Recycling at Work Leadership Award for its Employee Education and Outreach. This award was given by the National Office Paper Recycling Project under the auspices of the United States Conference of Mayors. In 1995 CFRP received the CRRA Waste Prevention Education Award.

Market development efforts

CFRP's aggressive education program addresses:

• Buy Recycled 2000. Educates buyers, specifiers, and supply clerks to include recycled-content specifications for city products ordered through various contract mechanisms (annual contracts, one-time orders, blanket purchases, petty cash).
• Closed-loop purchases. Educates and requires suppliers/vendors/contractors of various product commodities to purchase recycled feedstock (paper, glass, aluminum, plastic, etc.) from the city's contract recyclers and use the materials in the manufacture of products supplied to the city through contracts.

Costs

Total annual program cost of $600,000 is offset by revenue and savings amounting to $456,000 for a new program cost of $151,000. In addition to the hard-dollar savings, there are significant soft-dollar savings from this program. The table below reflects savings on 1,650 tons.

Reduced disposal is achieved through recycling and waste prevention activities. Revenues of $65,000 are captured yearly. Avoided hauling, transfer, and tip fees amount to $58,000 annually. Avoided purchasing and storage costs amount to $200,000.  Avoided custodial labor costs due to reduction in frequency of trash pickups for selected facilities amount to $36,400 per year. A city-wide duplexing program saves $96,000 in paper purchases.

Environmental Savings	Quantity	Dollar Equivalent
Trees	28,050	$1,318,350
Water	11,550,000 gallons	22,523
Kilowatt Hours	6,765,000 kWh	744,150
Oil	4,125 barrels	61,875
Pollution Effluents	102,240 pounds	not available
Total Value of Savings		$2,146,89

Benefits

Regular employee participation in CFRP. 36,000 city employees participate. In addition, CFRP provides assistance to 16,000 employees from the independent city departments (Airports, Harbor, and  Water). Employee education and training programs are uniform and are applicable across the board. Promotions are done regularly to sustain employee awareness (quarterly contests, newsletters, calendars, reuse arts, etc.). CFRP has an established network of 200 department recycling coordinators who ensure regular employee participation in the program. Recycling report cards are done biannually to monitor employee participation in the program. Customer satisfaction surveys are conducted to secure feedback on program participation.

The County of Alameda, City and County of San Francisco, Cities of Fremont and San Diego and the County of Los Angeles have routinely requested CFRP for recycling information applicable to their specific programs. CFRP received the Quality and Productivity Excellence Award in 1996 and the Good Earthkeeping Award in 1995.

The City of Los Angeles generated 6.3 million tones of solid wastes in 1995 of which 2.8 million tons were diverted from landfills. This 44.5 percent diversion was mostly through voluntary initiatives by various sectors. Half of the city's waste is either collected by city crews, generated at city-owned or city-leased facilities, or dispose through City contracts. Where the CFRP fits is in this first half. City departments disposed of 15,270 tons of waste or eight percent of the Citywide waste stream. It clearly shows that city agencies have direct control of at least 30-45 percent of the total waste disposed and can clearly impact waste prevention and recycling through CFRP's education programs, policies, and initiatives.

For Further Information Contact:

City of Los Angeles
111 East First St., Room 701
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 847-2821