City Council Memorandum
TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL DATE: JANUARY 16, 2024 FROM: PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT WARDS: ALL
SUBJECT: SUPPLEMENTAL JURISDICTION APPLICATION TO CALIFORNIA DEPARMENT OF RESOURCES RECYCLING AND RECOVERY (CALRECYCLE) TO JOIN CITY OF CORONA BEVERAGE CONTAINER RECYCLING PILOT PROGRAM AND ALLOW RECYCLE FROM HOME SERVICE AREA EXPANSION ISSUE:
Consider approving submittal of a Supplemental Jurisdiction Application to California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) to join City of Corona beverage container recycling pilot program and allow Recycle From Home service area expansion.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
That the City Council:
Approve the submittal of a Supplemental Jurisdiction Application to California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) to join City of Corona beverage container recycling pilot program and allow Recycle From Home service area expansion; and Authorize the City Manager, or designee, to execute all documents necessary to implement the pilot program expansion, including the Authorization Letter and other related documents, and making minor and non-substantive changes.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
On October 10, 2017, California Governor Brown signed Senate Bill 458 into law. This legislation authorizes the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) to approve pilot projects proposed by jurisdictions to provide convenient beverage container redemption opportunities in underserved areas.
In 2019, Assembly Bill 54 made changes to the program to allow for greater flexibility and to provide funding to support pilot projects.
In 2021, Assembly Bill 128 provided additional funding for new or existing pilot programs, and Assembly Bill 148 expanded the number of pilot projects and extended the timeline for the pilot project program through June 2026.
DISCUSSION:
CalRecycle Beverage Container Recycling Pilot Program
In 2020, the State of California notified recycling centers across the state of a new pilot program to provide better access to recycling redemption for communities that needed it. Recycle From Home’s concept of a mobile residential and office recycling service was selected and approved as part of the pilot program. CalRecycle, the City of Irvine, and Recycle From Home partnered to launch the state’s first beverage container recycling pilot program. Recycle From Home is the only mobile recycling service currently certified by the State to participate in the CalRecycle pilot program.
CalRecycle is authorized to approve a total of 10 pilot programs across the state through the program end date of June 30, 2026. All 10 pilot programs were awarded, and jurisdictions can join pilot projects already operational in order to participate.
The City was approached by Recycle From Home in October 2023 to discuss the possibility of joining the City of Corona’s pilot program and expanding the Recycle From Home service area to include the City of Riverside. The City of Corona has provided an Authorization Letter for Riverside to join their pilot program (Attachment 2).
To be eligible, jurisdictions must meet at least one of the following criteria as of the effective date of the pilot project application:
Have at least 6 unserved convenience zones
Have at least 75% of all convenience zones unserved
Located in a region designated as “rural”
Eligible proposed pilot project must serve at least one of the following:
At least 3 unserved convenience zones
One or more convenience zone impacting at least 30 dealers A rural region
The following map from CalRecycle indicates that Riverside currently has 11 unserved convenience zones (Attachment 4).
The Supplemental Pilot Project Jurisdictions Application (Attachment 1) is required for CalRecycle to consider Riverside’s request to join Corona’s existing program. Program funding to implement the expanded service area will be received directly by Recycle From Home from CalRecycle.
Recycle From Home
Recycle From Home is the evolution of Ryan’s Recycling, an idea launched by Ryan Hickman in 2012 when, at the age of 3, he told his parents he wanted to give the neighbors empty plastic bags to save their recyclables for him. Not only did the neighbors save their recycling for Ryan, but so did friends, families, and co-workers. Ryan’s Recycling was soon picking up recycling from homes throughout Orange County, with a goal of keeping cans and bottles from reaching the ocean.
Ryan’s story went viral in 2016, and he has been featured on websites, television, and radio stations worldwide. Ryan was selected in 2018 by MSN in their top 15 kids changing the world, Good Housekeeping in 2019 and 2020 for their list of 40 kids who have changed the world, Readers Digest 2020 List of Kids of the Decade Changing the World, and was featured in Time Magazine for Kids and National Geographic. In 2020, Ryan was a top finalist for Time Magazine’s Kid of the Year Award.
Ryan’s Recycling grew into Recycle From Home, a unique, collaborative concept providing customers with a convenient way to redeem their CRV recyclables from their home or office. Recycle From Home currently operates a recycling center in Santa Ana and hopes to expand into the Inland Empire if the pilot program is successful.
How It Works
Recycle From Home provides collection bags and barcode tracking labels directly to customers. Customers then sort CRV aluminum cans, plastic, and glass bottles, schedule a pickup online or by phone and put items out for pickup. Recycle From Home drivers pick up at the designated time and transport the recyclables to Recycle From Home recycling center where the items are weighed and redemption value is calculated within 24 hours of pick up. Recycling redemption funds are then sent to the customer electronically, or as a check sent in the mail, minus a 10% service fee to help cover Recycle From Home’s program costs. As part of the CalRecycle Pilot Program, Recycle From Home pays the refund value of up to 25 pounds of aluminum or plastic and up to 250 pounds of glass beverage containers per customer per day.
Recycle From Home offers a convenient way for residents and businesses to recycle, and is committed to promoting and making recycling easier. At the time that staff met with Recycle From Home in October, they had already received nearly 80 service requests from Riverside residents.
STRATEGIC PLAN ALIGNMENT:
This item contributes to Strategic Priority 4 – Environmental Stewardship and Goal 4.4 – Implement measures and educate the community to responsibly manage goods, products and service throughout their life cycle to achieve waste reduction outcomes.
This item aligns with each of the five Cross Cutting Threads as follows:
Community Trust – The Public Works Department is responsive to community requests, and the proposed partnership with the City of Corona and Recycle From Home is a result of feedback received by both the City Council and community members.
Equity – Recycle From Home offers a convenient way for the community to recycle more and receive CRV funds, and will be available citywide to all residents.
Fiscal Responsibility – There is no cost to the City of Riverside to join Corona’s pilot program and allow Recycle From Home to expand its service area to include Riverside.
Innovation – Joining Corona’s pilot program and allowing Recycle From Home to expand its service area to include Riverside will bring the first of its kind mobile recycling service to the city.
Sustainability and Resiliency – Encouraging the community to recycle more and making the process more convenient contributes to a more sustainable and resilient city.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no fiscal impact associated with this report.
Prepared by: Lee Withers, Deputy Public Works Director Approved by: Gilbert Hernandez, Public Works Director
Certified as to
availability of funds: Kristie Thomas, Finance Director/Assistant Chief Financial Officer Approved by: Kris Martinez, Assistant City Manager
Approved as to form: Phaedra A. Norton, City Attorney
Attachments:
Supplemental Pilot Project Jurisdictions Application
City of Corona Authorization Letter to Join Pilot
City of Riverside Authorization Letter to Join Pilot
Map
Presentations
CalRecycle Beverage Container Recycle Pilot Program & Recycle From Home Service Area Expansion ● Page 2