FAIRFAX TOWN COUNCIL MEETING
STAFF REPORT
AGENDA ITEM #6.j.
MEETING DATE May 7, 2025
PREPARED FOR Mayor and Town Council
PREPARED BY Bridget Wipfler, Climate Action Coordinator SUBJECT Receive Annual Report by Marin Sanitary Service for Solid Waste Services for 2024.
RECOMMENDATION
Accept the Annual Report by Marin Sanitary Service (MSS) for Solid Waste Services for the year 2024.
BACKGROUND
The Town of Fairfax maintains a franchise agreement with Marin Sanitary Service (MSS) for the exclusive collection of solid waste. Under this agreement, MSS is required to submit an annual report detailing their collection activities, recycling efforts, and overall service performance. The report ensures transparency and helps the Town monitor progress towards state-mandated waste reduction and diversion goals.
In 2024, MSS continued to work together with the Marin franchisors' group, including the cities of San Rafael and Larkspur, the Towns of Ross, San Anselmo, Fairfax, the Las Gallinas Valley Sanitary District, and the County of Marin. This collaboration focuses on overseeing MSS operations and complements the County-wide Zero Waste Marin Board's initiatives.
DISCUSSION
This report summarizes the 2024 Annual Report from Marin Sanitary Service (MSS). The report highlights the progress made in waste collection, recycling, and composting services within the Town of Fairfax.
For the full detailed report see Attachment 1.
Key updates include:
• Program Progress: MSS’s Food-2-Energy (F2E) program collects packaged and unpackaged food waste from grocery stores and restaurants, diverting over 500 tons annually from landfill and powering the Central Marin Sanitary Agency (CMSA) wastewater facility for about 50 days in 2024. With SB 1383 enforcement, expanded bin service, and outreach efforts like training videos, the program continues to grow—up 8% year-over-year—and now includes seven grocery stores and more participants through the POWER (Packaged Organic Waste Energy Recovery) initiative. • New Technologies: In 2024, Marin Sanitary launched key technology upgrades to boost diversion and material quality: the Optical Sorter (pending CalRecycle grant) will improve container sorting; the 3rd Eye Camera Technology pilot uses AI to detect contamination and may replace manual SB 1383 inspections. The TIGER Depackager expanded the POWER program for packaged food waste, and new Split Body Recycling Trucks, including a compact model, enhance safe, efficient recycling on narrow streets.
• Public Education: In 2024, MSS reached nearly 94,000 customers through bill inserts, hosted over 50 tours, distributed hundreds of compost pails, and trained multi-family and commercial participants to improve sorting and reduce contamination. Outreach included digital campaigns, social media, newsletters, in-person events, and the “Where Does It Go, Joe?” tool—while 2 contamination-prevention efforts led to over 4,400 direct customer actions and inspections of 3,143 carts under SB 1383 compliance.
• Service Metrics: MSS detailed statistics on waste collection volumes, contamination rates, and customer participation in recycling and organics programs. See page 31 of the attachment for MSS metrics.
The attached report also documents MSS’s efforts in greenhouse gas mitigation, emphasizing their transition to renewable diesel for their fleet, resulting in significant emission reductions. See Page 41 of the attachment for more details.
GENERAL PLAN CONSISTENCY
This report is consistent with the following measures of the adopted General Plan:
1. Objective CON‐7.1: Employ “zero waste” principles to reduce the amount of waste generated in Fairfax by 80 percent before 2015 and 100 percent by 2025.
2. Program CON-7.1.1.2: Work with the contracted waste disposal service to provide appropriate containers to all Fairfax households and businesses for different types of recyclable material, including plastics, metals, yard waste, and compostables.
CEQA AND CLIMATE ACTION PLAN CONSISTENCY
The Council’s acceptance of the 2024 MSS Annual Report is not a “project” under the California Environmental Quality Act, because it does not involve an activity which has the potential to cause a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment (Cal. Pub. Res. Code § 21065). This report is consistent with the following measures of the adopted CAP:
ATTACHMENT
Marin Sanitary Service 2024 Annual Report
2024 SERVICE AREA
ANNUAL REPORT
Marin Sanitary Service
1050 Andersen Drive, San Rafael CA, 94901
Tel 415-456-2601
www.marinsanitaryservice.com
TABLE OF CONTENTS
2 Contents
Description and Progress of Zero Waste Programs_________________________________________ 3 Status of New Technologies and Industry Practices Enhancing Progress Toward Zero Waste ________ 7 Public Education Activities Undertaken During the Year ____________________________________ 9 Recycling and Organics Program Participation “Set Outs” __________________________________ 32 Year-Over-Year Change in Customer Account Data________________________________________ 35 Recycling Rates ___________________________________________________________________ 36 Progress of Programs or Services Implemented in the Past Two Years ________________________ 39 Green House Gas Mitigation_________________________________________________________ 41 Other Information (Quarterly Report Data) _____________________________________________ 43 Household Hazardous Waste ________________________________________________________ 45 Contact Information _______________________________________________________________ 46
ZERO WASTE PROGRAMS
3 Description and Progress of Zero Waste Programs
RECYCLING PROGRAMS
Marin Sanitary Service continues to provide dual-stream recycling. Separating paper and cardboard on one side from glass, metal, plastic bottles, and cans on the other side ensures materials stay clean and maintain their value.
The company continues to see non-recyclable plastics end up in the container side of the cart. Efforts to clean up the recyclables are detailed through this report. Exhibit 1 shows the rise of contamination since 2014. This trend has leveled out since 2018 and has been rangebound around 13-15% with a slight drop in 2024 over last year’s levels.
The company has been doing some testing of the market for plastic #1 clamshells. These items, typically used for take-out food, fruit and other uses, have not typically had an outlet for recycling.
This has changed in the past few years. In addition to ensuring there is a sustainable market for materials, the company also researches the processes associated with recycling these materials to Exhibit 1
ZERO WASTE PROGRAMS
4 ensure materials are responsibly managed. After almost two years of testing the markets and evaluating the processes, the company is ready to formally announce the collection of these items to our jurisdictions. This will be done in the April 2025 newsletter. While this has not been part of the company’s collection stream in the blue cart, many customers are not aware and have placed them in their containers. By formally making this change, the company hopes to see the volume of plastic #1 clamshells increase in the blue cart. Changes in materials accepted are handled with caution as markets can change, and the company seeks to ensure that markets are stable before formally announcing a change.
ORGANICS COLLECTION
Organic waste is collected through three different programs, curbside green waste, commercial organics, and Food 2 Energy (F2E). In 2023 the company implemented the Packaged Organic Waste Energy Recovery (POWER) program. This program is set up to capture packaged organic waste from grocery stores. This waste was previously destined for the landfill.
Curbside Green Waste
Residential customers may continue to place their yard clippings along with household food waste into their green carts. The company continues to promote SB 1383 and the requirement of residential customers to separate their food waste and put it in the green cart.
Commercial Organics
MSS commercial customers, including businesses, apartments and condo complexes are almost all registered in our organics collection programs. Adoption of SB 1383 requirements will be detailed later in this report. The company continues to see an increase in volumes and tonnages collected because of outreach efforts with business owners and property managers.
Food2Energy (F2E)
F2E service is offered to grocery stores and restaurants to capture their back-of-house organic waste.
Companies can place their food scraps in clear plastic bags to help keep cans clean and keep critters out. Starting in 2023, grocery stores and restaurants are now able to include packaged food waste in their green cart that was historically bound for the landfill. Seven grocery stores are participating in
ZERO WASTE PROGRAMS
5 this program and the company continues to look for opportunities to expand this service. MSS collection trucks pick up the packaged and unpackaged organic waste in dumpsters and bring them to the TIGER depackager for processing. In 2024 the expanded ‘POWER’ Program (Packaged Organic Waste Energy Recovery) resulted in an increase in volume of 8% YOY.
It is expected to see continued growth in the program as SB1383 is enforced at the local level with the help of Zero Waste Marin. MSS’s F2E route is expanding to include more participants with bin service, and the company expects to see an increase in volume as participants move from smaller carts into larger bins.
To assist with outreach efforts, MSS is producing a training video for participants and continuing to evangelize simplified messaging like FOOD IS NOT TRASH. This service continues to prove to be a positive addition to the processing capabilities at Marin Sanitary. With this new program the company is recovering over 500 tons of food waste per year from the service area that previously went to the landfill.
In 2024, CMSA received an increase of 19% in wet tons of food waste from MSS, producing about 727,000 kWh of electricity. With this material provided by commercial and residential customers within the MSS jurisdiction along with occasional deliveries from external sources, the CMSA wastewater facility was fully powered for about 50 days of the year in 2024.
ZERO WASTE PROGRAMS
6 0
20 40
60 80
100
120
140
160
F2E Tons in 2024
Tons Processed by the TIGER
Exhibit 2
STATUS OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES
7 Status of New Technologies and Industry Practices Enhancing Progress Toward Zero Waste
OPTICAL SORTER
In 2024 Marin Sanitary applied for a beverage container quality infrastructure grant from CalRecycle.
This grant will help to fund the purchase of a second optical sorter to add to our container recycling processing line. This will help to ensure that we are capturing all recoverable packages and keep out any contamination, bringing a higher value to the materials we collect and bale. Results for the grant should be available around April 2025.
3RD EYE CAMERA TECHNOLOGY
In 2024, Marin Sanitary installed a demonstration AI camera system on one of the company’s route collection trucks. This technology, 3rd Eye’s Pur-If-Eye, uses AI technology to detect contamination as a load is dumped into the truck’s hopper. This method of contamination detection could replace the inperson SB 1383 required inspections currently being done by the route auditor and outreach team.
TIGER DEPACKAGER
The TIGER depackager has led to modifications to the F2E program allowing customers to put materials in clear plastic bags boosting participation. As previously discussed, the TIGER also led the company to implement the POWER program for packaged food waste that previously was going to the landfill. The company also receives occasional loads of spoiled food from food manufacturers and distributors. This new technology has been successful at expanding the amount and type of food waste that the company is able to receive and divert from the landfill.
SPLIT BODY RECYCLING TRUCKS
Marin Sanitary Service continues to invest in the best recycling collection vehicle technology. The company’s trucks are designed to ensure that materials are kept separated (paper from bottles and cans) to ensure the highest quality bales. Marin Sanitary has always had a reputation for clean recyclables and this helps to ensure that the company receives the highest value for these materials.
STATUS OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES
8 This is in turn shared with the rate payers. In 2024, the company was able to procure a small profile split recycling truck. The first of its kind in the industry, this truck allows for safer collection of dualstream recyclables in the community’s narrowest streets.
PUBLIC EDUCATION ACTIVITIES
9 Public Education Activities Undertaken During the Year
BILLING INSERTS
Fairfax San Rafael
Las Gallinas Valley
Sanitary District Larkspur Ross
San
Anselmo
County of
Marin Grand Total
Rate Increase Notification 2,059 12,407 2,907 4,155 629 3,493 25,650 Spring clean up 1,998 9,948 2,948 1,954 609 3,252 2,277 22,986 Fall Clean up 1,958 9,858 2,858 1,961 603 3,171 2,265 22,674 Recycle Right 1,958 9,858 2,858 1,961 603 3,171 2,265 22,674 Grand Total 7,973 42,071 11,571 10,031 2,444 13,087 6,807 93,984 Exhibit 3: Bill Inserts Sent in 2024
PUBLIC EDUCATION ACTIVITIES
10 PUBLIC EDUCATION ACTIVITIES
11 PUBLIC EDUCATION ACTIVITIES
12 PUBLIC EDUCATION ACTIVITIES
13 PUBLIC EDUCATION ACTIVITIES
14 CUSTOMERS DIRECTLY CONTACTED REGARDING DIVERSION SERVICES Contamination Program
Drivers identify contaminated containers, and our customer service representatives and outreach team follow up daily with customers on the contamination list to follow up on the notification and provide education. When necessary, contamination charges are applied. For multi-family and commercial customers, recycling or organics carts may be removed if ongoing contamination persists despite outreach efforts. Education and training are available to all multi-family and commercial participants. In 2024, a total of 4,476 actions were taken to reduce contamination. 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000
Customers Charged Contamination Fee
Customer Follow-up Calls
OBC Contamination
Cart Hangers
MobilePak Contamination Notices
Contamination Prevention Efforts
2022 2023 2024
Exhibit 4: Contamination Prevention
PUBLIC EDUCATION ACTIVITIES
15 Free Kitchen Compost Pail Give-Out
The company distributed over 250 kitchen pails during 34 multi-family trainings, including apartments such as Rotary Manor, HOAs including Villa Marin, and mobile homes including Contempo Marin. In addition to trainings and kitchen pail give-outs, MSS distributed over 386 door hangers with reminders to recycle food waste for tenants of Multi-Family Dwellings (MFDs).
Training
The outreach team trains businesses and other organizations. Presentations are given in both English and Spanish by request.
• Trainings included:
o Vivalon
o County of Marin, Marin Center staff
o Marin Health, hospital kitchen staff
o Multiple restaurants
o San Rafael City Schools janitors
o College of Marin President & environmental studies students o Grocery stores including United Markets, Whole Foods, and Mollie Stone’s.
Social Media
The company has focused on digital methods for communicating with customers. This includes using social media channels to provide information, reminders, and tips to divert waste from the landfill.
Social Media Activity
Facebook Instagram LinkedIn
Followers 877 1320 508
Posts 24 161
Engagement 705 661
Reach 6074 12395
Exhibit 5: Social Media Activity
PUBLIC EDUCATION ACTIVITIES
16 PUBLIC EDUCATION ACTIVITIES
17 Email Notifications
The company has pivoted away from traditional mailing campaigns to digital means of communication that can be tracked and provide better feedback for customer participation. Currently the company is seeing a 50% open rate for emails sent to customers (Exhibit 6). These include reminders about upcoming clean-up days, holiday schedules and Christmas tree collection information.
Exhibit 6
PUBLIC EDUCATION ACTIVITIES
18 Sample Residential Notifications:
PUBLIC EDUCATION ACTIVITIES
19 PUBLIC EDUCATION ACTIVITIES
20 PUBLIC EDUCATION ACTIVITIES
21 Commercial email notifications:
PUBLIC EDUCATION ACTIVITIES
22 WASTE AUDITS AND RESULTS
SB 1383 regulations require that jurisdictions conduct education and outreach on organics recycling to all residents and businesses. This includes businesses where they can donate edible food, haulers, solid waste facilities, local food banks and other food recovery organizations. During route audits, MSS’s route auditor also conducts mandated SB 1383 route reviews by random selection. SB1383 route reviews are defined as a visual inspection of containers along a route for the purpose of determining container contamination and proper sorting of material or both. If contaminants are found, the route auditor takes a picture of the material and mails a letter to the customer for educational purposes. During 2024 MSS route auditors inspected 3143 customer carts. Results are shown in Exhibit 7.
Properly Sorted Prohibited Contaminants
Material: Total Total
cardboard recycling 0 11
containers recycling 23 26
food waste 6 0
landfill 1008 9
mixed organics 872 79
mixed recycling 986 99
paper recycling 31 9
Total 2910 233
In addition to SB 1383 route audits, MSS auditors ride along with drivers to verify current services within the MSS billing system match the service the customer is receiving. Exhibit 8 shows the results of these efforts. Customers are sent notices of the discrepancy and given an opportunity to modify their service or pay the correct amount for the services received.
Exhibit 7: SB 1383 Route Audit Totals 2024
PUBLIC EDUCATION ACTIVITIES
23 Route Audit Discovered Service Discrepancies
Total
Service Discrepancy-Less Service than pays for- smaller cart size 10 Service Discrepancy-More Service than covered for in service-larger cart size 49 Total 59
COLLECTION NOTIFICATION TAGS
Collection notification tags are placed for customers whose service is not completed as a means of educating customers on proper container set out, contamination, or other reasons. Exhibit 9 shows the cart tags left with customers in 2024.
Number of Tags Left
Notification Reason:
CARDBOARD
PLACEMENT 8
CART COMPACTED 6
CART CONTAMINATED 32
CART DAMAGED 1
CART TOO HEAVY 3
CART PLACEMENT 1
Grand Total 51
COMMUNITY INFORMATION AND EVENTS
The MSS Outreach and Customer Service Teams are present at many events in the County. Below are some events the company participated in throughout 2024:
• Pacifics baseball game tabling.
• Farm Day tabling at the Marin Center.
• Marin Teen Girls Conference.
• Canal Community Resiliency Council, gathered by Multi Cultural Center of Marin. • Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Posada.
• Ember Stomp.
• Extrafood.org volunteer thank you party.
• Fairfax Festival Parade “Dancing our Cans Off”.
Exhibit 8: Service Discrepancies
Exhibit 9: Collection Notification Tags
PUBLIC EDUCATION ACTIVITIES
24 • MSS outreach staff tabled in downtown San Anselmo for the Children for Change, Community Challenge.
• MSS donated recycling, compost and garbage services to the San Rafael City School’s Heads Up Carnival held at Davidson Middle School.
• The company provided laminated signage and supported the volunteers working on the waste/recycling stations at the event.
WEBSITE
There were approximately 99,000 visitors to the www.marinsanitary.com website in 2024, up 7% from 2023. After the homepage, visitors’ number one page viewed continues to be the Support/Pay My Bill page followed by the
Residential Information page.
Where Does It Go Joe? is an online resource and mobile application designed for MSS customers. This tool allows customers to search materials to determine if they are recyclable, compostable or belong in the landfill. This app is available to anyone in our service area in both English and Spanish. In 2024 the top searched items are similar to those from 2023 and are listed in Exhibit 10. We had over 24,000 materials searched and over 7,000 first-time visitors in 2024 (Exhibit 11).
PUBLIC EDUCATION ACTIVITIES
25 In addition to the material search tool, the app provides residential customers with the option to get service day information, pay their bill and set up weekly reminders by email, text, or phone call. As of the end of 2024, 18,150 customers were receiving weekly reminders. This represents an increase of 31% over the number of customers receiving notifications in 2023.
Exhibit 11: Where Does It Go Joe? Statistics
Exhibit 10: Top Items Search, Where Does It Go Joe?
PUBLIC EDUCATION ACTIVITIES
26 NEWSLETTERS
Newsletters were mailed to all MSS all 30,000 residential and over 3,000 multi-family and commercial customers in the spring and fall. California law SB 1383 is mentioned in each newsletter and customers can go to our website to read a Spanish version. Below are the newsletters sent in 2024.
PUBLIC EDUCATION ACTIVITIES
27 PUBLIC EDUCATION ACTIVITIES
28 PUBLIC EDUCATION ACTIVITIES
29 PUBLIC EDUCATION ACTIVITIES
30 PUBLIC EDUCATION ACTIVITIES
31 TOURS
Within MSS jurisdictions the outreach team gave 28 tours for 596 students and 150 adults including Laurel Del Elementary, Manor School, Marin Catholic, Ross Valley Charter, San Domenico, Sun Valley, Vallecito, and Venetia Valley.
Outside of MSS jurisdictions the outreach team gave 18 tours for 219 students and 53 adults including Marin
Country Day, Old Mill, Town School, Lycee Francais and the Redwoods senior housing.
OTHER ACTIVITES RELATED TO COLLECTION SERVICES
City of
San Rafael
Marin
County
Las
Gallinas
Valley
Sanitary
District
Town of
Ross
City of
Larkspur
Town of
San
Anselmo
Town of
Fairfax
Grand
Total
Email 714 38 17 9 89 67 32 966
Letter 2 1 1 4
Phone Call 625 29 20 6 77 73 41 871
Voicemail 215 7 4 1 23 30 15 295
Site Visit 353 24 34 16 40 55 32 554
Training 27 2 3 1 1 34
Issue SB 1383 Waiver 43 1 1 2 12 1 60
Verify SB 1383 Waiver 37 1 1 5 10 54
Grand Total 2017 103 78 32 241 248 122 2841
Outreach Activities 2024
Exhibit 12: Outreach Activities
RECYCLING PROGRAM PARTICIPATION
32 Recycling and Organics Program Participation “Set Outs”
RESIDENTIAL
All residential customers are offered three services as part of the bundled rate. These include a gray (landfill or garbage) cart, a dual sort split body recycling cart and a green organics cart. The bundled rate is based on the size of the landfill cart. Exhibit 13, 14 and 15 detail the total number of carts by material and size of current MSS residential customers.
Residential Weekly Landfill Service (# of Carts)
2022 2023 2024 24 vs 23 (%) 2024 % of Total Carts
Cart Size:
20 Gallon 6,167 6,141 6,239 2% 20%
32 Gallon 17,553 17,468 17,511 0% 57%
64 Gallon 6,088 6,025 6,175 2% 20%
96 Gallon 636 608 661 9% 2%
Total 30,444 30,242 30,586 1% 100%
Residential Weekly Dual Sort Recycling Service (# of Carts) 2022 2023 2024 24 vs 23 (%) 2024 % of Total Carts
Cart Size:
5 Gallon 506 460 264 -43% 1%
32 Gallon 23 17 12 -29% 0%
64 Gallon 26,910 26,291 25,249 -4% 83%
96 Gallon 3,467 3,977 5,016 26% 16%
Total 30,906 30,745 30,541 -1% 100%
Exhibit 13: Residential Landfill Cart Service Subscription Exhibit 14: Residential Recycling Cart Service Subscription
RECYCLING PROGRAM PARTICIPATION
33 Residential Weekly Organic Service (# of Carts)
2022 2023 2024 24 vs 23 (%) 2024 % of Total Carts
Cart Size:
32 Gallon 2,216 2,298 3,208 40% 9%
64 Gallon 33,678 33,449 33,756 1% 90%
96 Gallon 31 29 490 1590% 1%
Total 35,925 35,776 37,454 5% 100%
Scheduled Curbside Clean-up Program and Bulky Item Collection This program offers all residential customers the opportunity to set out additional recycling, yard waste and landfill waste twice per year for the removal of excess materials.
Bulky items like mattresses, appliances, and furniture are not collected during curbside clean-ups. These collections must be scheduled separately. Residential customers are allowed two scheduled bulky item collections of up to two items each time at no extra charge.
Annual Dedicated Program Stats
2022 2023 2024
Program Type:
Scheduled Clean-Up Tons
Collected 229 215 285
Bulky Items Tons
Collected 116 138 123
Illegal Dumping Tons
Collected 24 25 25
Total Tons Recycled 185 192 222
Bulky Items (# of Pickups) 2,945 2,809 2,808
Exhibit 15: Residential Organic Cart Service Subscription Exhibit 16: Curbside Collection and Bulky Item Participation
RECYCLING PROGRAM PARTICIPATION
34 COMMERCIAL
Commercial businesses are offered recycling services as part of a bundled rate. One of two organics programs is offered to all commercial customers. Food 2 Energy (F2E) for businesses with preconsumer food waste and commercial organics for all others. Exhibits 15 and 16 compare the total volume of material collected from commercial customers over the past three years.
Commercial Weekly Service (yd3)
2022 2023 2024 24 vs 23 (%)
Service Type:
Landfill 8,045 8,121 7,981 -2%
Recycling 5,368 5,485 5,756 5%
Organic 892 828 900 9%
Total 14,305 14,434 14,637 1%
*Snapshot of Service Levels
MULTI-FAMILY DWELLING
Multi-family Dwellings (MFDs) are offered recycling and organics services as part of a bundled rate.
Each property may have up to four organics carts at no additional charge. If more carts are needed, they are available for a monthly rental charge. In addition, after attending a workshop, MFD tenants receive kitchen pails for the collection of compostable materials inside their home.
Multifamily Weekly Service (yd3)
2022 2023 2024 24 vs 23 (%)
Service Type:
Landfill 3,851 3,840 3,809 -1%
Recycling 2,035 2,125 2,118 0%
Organic 563 607 623 3%
Total 6,449 6,572 6,550 0%
*Snapshot of Service Levels
Exhibit 18: Multi-family Weekly Service by Type*
Exhibit 17 revised: Commercial Weekly Service by Type*
YOY CHANGE IN CUSTOMER ACCOUNT DATA
35 Year-Over-Year Change in Customer Account Data
OVERALL CUSTOMER ACCOUNT DATA
Customer account information is stated below.
New Starts Closures
Total Total
Customer Type: Customer Type:
Residential
1,671 Residential
1,846
Commercial Business
109 Commercial Business
159
Multifamily
Dwellings
23 Multifamily
Dwellings
26 Total
1,803
2,031
2023 2024
Residential Commercial Multi-Family Residential Commercial Multi-Family Fairfax 2,512 83 27 2,505 85 27
Larkspur 2,565 180 158 2,561 259 156
Las Gallinas Valley Sanitary District 3,637 55 8 3,627 59 8 Marin County 4,116 86 34 4,123 86 33
Ross 797 19 - 795 25 -
San Anselmo 4,158 207 87 4,169 246 88
San Rafael 12,401 1,389 441 12,436 1,497 439
Total 30,186 2,019 755 30,216 2,257 751
Exhibit 19: YOY Customer Account Data
Exhibit 20: New Starts and Account Closures by Customer Type in 2024
YOY CHANGE IN CUSTOMER ACCOUNT DATA
36 Recycling Rates
RECYCLING RATES BY WEIGHT AND BY VOLUME
Exhibit 21 lists the tonnage information for the service area.
Exhibit 22 breaks down the tonnage by jurisdiction. As company routes go through multiple jurisdictions, the tonnage is calculated by jurisdiction based on an allocation tied to the quantity and size of dumpsters per customer. However, as some are not full and others are over-filled, this allocation is only an estimate.
Weight Based Recycling Rates by Sector (Tons)
Residential Commercial/MF Total
2022 2023 2024 2022 2023 2024 2022 2023 2024
Tons Collected:
Curbside Organics (Food & Yard waste) 22,574 24,456 25,699 1,188 1,287 1,353 23,861 25,744 27,051 Curbside Containers Recycling 4,980 4,825 4,527 1,842 1,785 1,674 6,765 6,610 6,201 Curbside Fiber Recycling 5,162 5,158 5,037 1,909 1,908 1,863 7,070 7,066 6,900 Curbside Cardboard Recycling* *N/A *N/A *N/A 4,117 3,928 3,902 4,117 3,928 3,902 Transfer Station 24,588 24,463 24,571 21,813 21,879 22,168 46,401 46,342 46,739 Commercial Food Waste (F2E) *N/A *N/A *N/A 2,385 2,608 2,923 2,385 2,608 2,923 Commercial processed at MRRC *N/A *N/A *N/A 5,008 4,595 4,602 5,008 4,595 4,602 Total Tons Collected 57,304 58,903 59,833 38,262 37,990 38,486 95,607 96,893 98,318 Total Tons Diverted 32,716 34,440 35,262 15,067 14,842 14,995 47,824 49,282 50,257 * Commercial yard waste is co-collected with
residential yard waste. Tonnage is included with
Residential.
Recycling Rate 57% 58% 59% 39% 39% 39% 50% 51% 51%
Exhibit 21: 2024 MSS Service Area Disposal and Recycling Rates (Tons)
YOY CHANGE IN CUSTOMER ACCOUNT DATA
37 Weight Based Sector Rates by Jurisdiction (Tons)
Organic Recycling Landfill Indoor Dump Total Diversion (%) Tons Collected:
Fairfax 2,090 1,505 2,271 1,389 7,255 63%
Larkspur 2,677 2,321 5,575 2,060 12,633 51%
Las Gallinas Valley
Sanitary District 2,974 1,473 3,097 32,690 40,235 69%
Marin - Unincorporated 4,646 2,001 4,304 37,540 48,491 69% Ross 959 409 696 1,671 3,735 69%
San Anselmo 4,332 1,956 3,787 39,850 49,924 69%
San Rafael 12,298 10,617 28,331 127,187 178,433 64%
Totals 29,974 20,282 48,061 242,387 340,706 65%
Exhibit 23 shows the landfill pounds per person per day for the service area. Based on the total tons and population estimates, waste generation remains unchanged. To estimate the population the company must use unincorporated County population assumptions as MSS does not service the entire unincorporated area.
2022 2023 2024
Population* 114,423 115,156 115,894
Landfilled (Tons) 47,783 47,611 48,061
Ton disposal per Capita 0.42 0.41 0.41
Pounds per person per day disposal (PPD) 2.29 2.27 2.27 *Estimate based on available Census Data
Exhibit 24 details the commodity pricing for 2024. Commodity pricing had mixed results across fiber products, aluminum cans, glass, and plastic materials. Most fiber products saw sharp increases yearExhibit 22: 2024 MSS Service Area Disposal and Recycling Rates by Jurisdiction (Tons) Exhibit 23: Landfill Pounds per Person per Day (PPD)
YOY CHANGE IN CUSTOMER ACCOUNT DATA
38 over-year: conversely, plastic materials and aluminum cans saw steep decreases. Commodity markets continue to remain highly volatile, predominantly driven by supply and demand market forces, therefore price fluctuations are expected to continue into the foreseeable future.
Annual Average Commodity Price ($)
2022 2023 2024 24 vs 23 (%)
Commodity Type:
Cardboard $ 142.33 $ 137.34 $ 176.94 29%
Newspaper $ 167.87 $ 106.01 $ 148.80 40%
Office Paper $ 278.58 $ 239.31 $ 201.88 -16%
Mixed Paper $ 109.23 $ 57.58 $ 100.41 74%
Aluminum Cans $ 1,628.48 $ 1,307.23 $ 359.32 -73%
Glass $ 40.00 $ 41.94 $ 45.00 7%
HDPE # 2 Natural (Jugs) $ 937.65 $ 855.03 $ 135.92 -84% HDPE # 2 Colors (Jugs) $ 288.52 $ 235.25 $ 87.61 -63%
PET # 1 (Bottles) $ 383.98 $ 173.48 $ 69.78 -60%
Mixed Rigid Plastics (#3-7) $ 50.00 $ 50.00 $ 50.00 0%
Exhibit 24: Commodity Price Changes 2021-2023 Average Price Per Ton
PROGRESS OF PROGRAMS IMPLEMENTED IN
THE PAST TWO YEARS
39 Progress of Programs or Services Implemented in the Past Two Years
SB 1383 IMPLEMENTATION
In 2022, the company added a commercial organics recycling route to address the increased volume of organic materials. This route has grown from three days per week to four days per week. Other customers have also been absorbed by pre-existing routes. Contamination among these new accounts has increased significantly. This is especially prevalent with multi-family properties. The company is removing organic and recycling services from customers with consistent contamination notices. This will make them non-compliant with state regulations. The company will work with the jurisdictions and Zero Waste Marin on enforcement.
The outreach team visited over 600 businesses and multi-family properties in 2023 to educate, train and help set up recovery programs. In addition, over 1900 carts were checked to ensure proper usage.
Of these, 9% had prohibited contaminants.
Exhibit 25 shows the number of commercial businesses and multi-family dwellings that are participating in MSS organic waste collection. Customers who self-haul or do not produce enough waste will be visited and this alternative compliance will be documented. Those not producing sufficient volume or with insufficient room to store additional containers will be issued a waiver. Noncompliant customers who refuse to add services will require enforcement actions by the jurisdiction or Zero Waste Marin.
PROGRESS OF PROGRAMS IMPLEMENTED IN
THE PAST TWO YEARS
40 City of
San
Rafael
Marin
County
Las Gallinas
Valley Sanitary
District
Town of
Ross
City of
Larkspur
Town of
San
Anselmo
Town of
Fairfax
Total Generators 1,407 87 54 19 183 216 82
Compliant 633 56 41 14 91 103 62
Waivers 344 8 7 1 43 28 8
Not Compliant 430 31 13 5 49 113 20
Total Subject to Compliance Review* 778 51 32 115 13 83 56 Subject to Compliance Review Compliant* 760 51 31 115 13 81 56 % Subject to Compliance Review Compliant* 98% 100% 97% 100% 100% 98% 100% % Compliance 69% 74% 89% 79% 73% 61% 85%
City of
San
Rafael
Marin
County
Las Gallinas
Valley Sanitary
District
Town of
Ross
City of
Larkspur
Town of
San
Anselmo
Town of
Fairfax
Total Generators 369 29 8 N/A 142 68 23
Compliant 343 29 8 138 68 23
Not Compliant 26 - - 4 - -
Total Subject to Compliance Review* 339 23 7 131 54 20
Subject to Compliance Review Compliant* 321 23 7 129 54 20 % Subject to Compliance Review Compliant* 95% 100% 100% 98% 100% 100% % Compliance 93% 100% 100% 97% 100% 95%
Commercial
Multi Family Dwellings 5 units +
*Previous year was reported only showing those subject to compliance review (2 cubic yards of solid waste per which which are reported to Calrecycle. Moving forward Total Generators will be reported, not just subject to compliance review.
Exhibit 25: SB 1383 Compliance
GREEN HOUSE GAS MITIGATION
41 Green House Gas Mitigation
GREEN HOUSE GAS MITIGATION
MSS has tracked operational emissions annually since 2006 and avoided emissions since 2009. This report shows MSS has fully offset its direct emissions on average 18 times. This is well beyond Net-Zero.
Most emissions originate from direct mobile combustions including on and off-road vehicles. MSS switched the fleet to renewable diesel in 2020, lowering overall emissions impacts.
Exhibit 26: Emissions Reporting
GREEN HOUSE GAS MITIGATION
42 Zero Emission Vehicle Developments
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has two related emissions regulations that impact the waste industry. The first is the Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) regulation which states that manufacturers must produce only Zero Electric Vehicles (ZEVs) by certain deadlines.
Following the ACT, CARB developed the Advanced Clean Fleets (ACF) regulation which required fleets in the state of California to only purchase ZEV by designated dates. Both regulations were designed to move the state toward more electric and other alternative fuel vehicles leading to cleaner air for the state. Forthe regulation to go into effect, it required a waiver from the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Without this waiver the state could not enforce this regulation.
In January, CARB withdrew their waiver request, which effectually ended the ACF regulation. ACT already had their federal waivers in place. This has left the industry at a place of uncertainty; however this change could be seen as good because the electric vehicles introduced into the marketplace are still not developed to the point of providing a reliable one-to-one replacement for waste and recycling collection vehicles. They are also more costly. By having the ACF requirements removed, this allows manufacturers to further develop their technologies before the waste industry is required to convert to the new trucks. Manufacturers will continue to move forward with ZEV vehicles, and this could impact near-term purchasing. As a company, Marin Sanitary continues to research hydrogen fuel-cell technologies as the solution that makes sense for the waste industry.
OTHER INFORMATION (QUARTERLY REPORT
DATA)
43 Other Information (Quarterly Report Data)
RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIAL/MULTI-FAMILY CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS The total number of complaint calls are detailed in Exhibit 27. Missed collections and broken containers are the primary reasons for complaints. In most cases, the drivers were able to empty the missed containers on the same service day or the next business day. All broken containers were either repaired or replaced.
MSS had 124 documented compliments for staff in 2024. A detailed complaint log is available for review upon request.
2022 2023 2024 2022 2023 2024 2022 2023 2024 2022 2023 2024 Jurisdiction:
County of Marin 542 469 537 631 599 569 25 17 21 50 34 17 San Rafael 1,245 1,539 1,457 2,064 2,039 2,087 80 71 71 83 44 53 Las Gallinas Valley Sanitary District 290 247 207 634 666 604 9 5 12 25 16 10 Ross 129 122 127 113 109 84 6 3 4 4 8 2
Larkspur 308 362 347 350 322 361 23 29 22 26 12 12
San Anselmo 968 806 676 1,155 1,104 944 40 34 34 34 21 23 Fairfax 306 297 301 306 351 327 18 14 17 26 16 7
MSS Service Area Totals 3,788 3,842 3,652 5,253 5,190 4,976 201 173 181 248 151 124 Missed Collections Broken Containers Misc. Service Issues Compliments Exhibit 27: Complaints and Compliments by Type
OTHER INFORMATION (QUARTERLY REPORT
DATA)
44 REPORTS OF INJURIES AND DAMAGE TO PROPERTY
The company has put a renewed emphasis on safety and is seeing a benefit to these efforts. In 2024 the number of preventable accidents dropped again with twenty-eight incidents occurring in 2024 (Exhibit 28).
2022 2023 2024
Preventable Damage/Accident
56 35
28 Non-preventable Damage/Accident
20 7
2 Work Comp Injuries
15 12
17 Exhibit 28: Injuries and Accidents in 2024
HOUSEHOLD HAZARDOUS WASTE
45 Household Hazardous Waste
HHW FACILITY PARTICIPATION NUMBERS
Usage of the county’s HHW facility is a part of the service offerings available to all county residents paid through the monthly rate. Below is a list of the total number of participants by jurisdiction at the facility. Unincorporated Marin County includes all the county and not just MSS service area. The County does provide HHW collection events in West Marin and other remote areas of the county.
HHW PARTICIPANTS BY CITY
City:
Fairfax 1,264
Larkspur 1,280
Ross 620
San Anselmo 2,530
San Rafael 10,800
Unincorporated Marin County* 3,058
Total Participants 19,552
*Includes all unincorporated Marin County, not just MSS service area Exhibit 29: HHW Participation
CONTACT INFORMATION
46 Contact Information
PATTY GARBARINO
PRESIDENT AND CHIEF
EXECUTIVE OFFICER
JASON RALEIGH
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
JUSTIN WILCOCK
CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER
Tel 415-485-5648
[email protected]
Tel 415-456-2601
[email protected]
Tel 415-755-9528
[email protected]
Thank you to the following contributors:
Ryan De Vera
Steve Rosa
Shelby Tiegen
Jennifer Grenier-Selvig
Vanessa Hernandez
Madga Loczi
Joe Suarez
Jan Lee