TO: TRANSPORTATION AND FROM: Kerrie Romanow
ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE
SUBJECT: STATUS REPORT ON SOLID DATE: January 19, 2022
WASTE PROGRAMS
Approved Date
1/21/22
RECOMMENDATION
Accept the status report on San José solid waste programs, including residential and commercial recycling and solid waste collection programs, the local state of recycling, and the Recycle Right Public Outreach Program.
OUTCOME
Acceptance of this report will inform the Transportation and Environment (T&E) Committee on the City of San José’s (the City) solid waste programs. Staff will continue to refine these programs and pursue initiatives that will help the City achieve its goals as part of the emerging new Zero Waste Element of Climate Smart San José.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report provides a summary and update of various initiatives and projects relating to solid waste management in San José that help maintain a healthy, safe, and clean environment within the City. Solid waste is defined as residential, commercial, and municipal garbage, recycling, yard trimmings, construction and demolition materials, along with residential bulky items and household hazardous waste. San José has the reputation of being an environmental leader in recycling and has one of the largest solid waste management programs in the country. In FY 2020-2021, the City’s overall rate of diverting waste from landfills was 68 percent, continuing to surpass the 50 percent state diversion mandate. Despite challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic, San José’s solid waste programs have continued to deliver excellent and uninterrupted service to the City’s residents and businesses. Environmental Services Department (ESD) staff not only provided ongoing services for the City but also continued to invest in improving current systems and programs to ensure we stay at the forefront. The Transportation and Environment Committee will also develop an understanding of how City programs are addressing the T&E AGENDA: 02/07/22
ITEM: (d) 1
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requirements of SB 1383 regulation implementation, recycling contamination, and greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction efforts.
BACKGROUND
San José’s Solid Waste Program
ESD’s Integrated Waste Management (IWM) Division of 37 FTE oversees solid waste collection, processing and disposal for residential, commercial, and City facilities operations.
IWM develops and implements programs to meet or exceed state regulations, provide ease of use and exceptional value to customers, and improve and protect the environment by reducing greenhouse gases. According to the State’s Resource Recycling and Recovery Department (CalRecycle), organic waste in landfills account for approximately 20 percent of the methane emissions in California. One ton of methane in the atmosphere has approximately 80 times the warming impact of one ton of carbon dioxide, making it a particularly destructive greenhouse gas. Reducing solid waste related GHG can provide additional opportunities to further develop the City’s Climate Smart San José Plan through the Zero Waste Element and minimize our impact on the climate.
IWM’s initiatives are implemented through two sections: Residential Services and Business & Civic Services. Residential Services oversees the Residential Garbage and Recycling program, which provides curbside garbage, recycling and yard trimmings collection services to approximately 216,000 single-family dwelling (SFD) and 115,000 multi-family dwelling (MFD) households. This section also oversees garbage, recycling, and yard trimmings collection at City owned and operated facilities. Business & Civic Services manages the City’s commercial garbage, recycling, and construction and demolition program, reporting of division-wide data to CalRecycle, the City’s solid waste enforcement program, management of San José’s Environmental Innovation Center, waste-related legislative analysis, development plan review, grants, and policy review. IWM is actively involved in county, regional, statewide, and national industry networks to better understand industry trends and inform actions, including:
CalRecycle’s Recycling Market Development Zone (RMDZ) program; Californians Against Waste Local Government Collaborative, Bioenergy Association of California; Government Reuse forum and California Product Stewardship Council’s Policy and Education Advisory Committee. IWM staff serve on various technical organizations, including: Santa Clara County Recycling & Waste Reduction Commission; Northern California Recycling Association; California Resource Recovery Association; Urban Sustainability Directors Network; Solid Waste Association of North America; Bay Area Recycling Outreach Coalition; and the Bay Area Deconstruction Workgroup. Furthermore, San José is currently an “observing city” as part of San Francisco’s Game Changers Fund grant from Carbon Neutral City Alliance which builds an Online Materials Exchange that best supports secondary market for salvage/surplus building materials.
Solid Waste Regulations
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Subject: Status Report on Solid Waste Programs
The City’s solid waste program complies with multiple solid waste regulations centered around waste reduction, recycling, organics diversion, and climate change.Listed below are key regulations related to solid waste and recycling:
• AB 939 (1989), the Integrated Waste Management Act, requires California jurisdictions to divert a minimum of 50 percent of material from the landfill each year. Jurisdictions provide the State with this information through an annual report. • AB 32 (2006), the Global Warming Solutions Act, requires a reduction in GHG emissions throughout the state to 1990 levels by 2020, and to 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. • AB 341 (2011), Mandatory Commercial Recycling, was one of the measures adopted in the AB 32 Scoping Plan by the California Air Resources Board. AB 341 requires recycling by all businesses that generate four or more cubic yards of garbage per week and MFDs with five or more units.
• AB 1826 (2014), Mandatory Organics Recycling, requires businesses and MFDs with five or more units to recycle their organic waste depending on the amount of waste they generate. This law phased in the mandatory recycling of organics from these sectors over time.
• SB 1383 (2016), Short-Lived Climate Pollutants (SLCP): Organic Waste Reductions, set methane emissions reduction targets for California in a statewide effort to reduce emissions of short-lived climate pollutants and includes waste-related targets to achieve a 75 percent reduction in the level of the statewide disposal of organic waste from the 2014 level by 2025. An additional target requires that not less than 20 percent of currently disposed edible food is recovered for human consumption by 2025. Local jurisdictions are required to implement specific actions to help the State meet these targets. • AB 827 (2019), Customer Access to Recycling, requires businesses and MFDs with five or more units to provide indoor solid waste, recycling and compost receptacles. These receptacles must be easily accessible to customers, clearly marked and labeled with signage indicating the receptacle’s purpose and what material goes into each one.
SB 1383 is the most significant waste reduction mandate to be adopted in California in the last 30 years. Environmental benefits associated with the implementation of SB 1383 include fighting climate change, improving air quality, donating edible food to those in need, and decreasing tons landfilled. Most importantly, SB 1383 aligns with Climate Smart San José by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and it helps the City achieve its zero waste goals through waste diversion and by supporting local recycling markets. The regulations were finalized by CalRecycle in November 2020 and went into effect on January 1, 2022. This has significant policy and legal implications for the State and local governments.
Measuring Waste Diversion
IWM implements a variety of waste management programs to serve the community and leads the way towards diverting waste from landfills. San José’s policies, programs and infrastructure have resulted in a high citywide diversion rate. Diversion rates are typically represented as the percentage of material prevented from going to the landfill, as expressed in the formula below:
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Subject: Status Report on Solid Waste Programs
Diversion rate = Total tons diverted/Total tons generated Tons generated = Total tons diverted + Total tons disposed The current citywide diversion rate is 68 percent (see Figure 1 below) and includes the following sectors: Residential, Commercial, Construction & Demolition (C&D), and City Facilities. Most sectors within the City have high diversion rates, at or above 65 percent diversion. While the City’s Zero Waste goal of 90 percent diversion from landfill by 2022 has not yet been achieved, San José is in compliance with state diversion requirements and efforts are continually made to increase the amount of material that is reused, recycled, or composted.
Figure 1: FY 2020-2021 Citywide Diversion
Recycling Infrastructure
San José is unique in the amount of solid waste facility infrastructure located within city and county limits. This aligns with the goals of Climate Smart San José by keeping the carbon emissions associated with transport of solid waste low because waste does not have to be hauled over long distances for processing or disposal. Five materials recovery facilities (MRF) utilized for the City's residential and commercial programs are in San José (GreenWaste Recovery, California Waste Solutions, Zanker Recycling, Newby Island Resource Recovery Park, and Zero Waste Energy Development). Most of the compostable organics from these waste streams, such as food waste, yard waste, and compostable paper, are processed by the Z-Best compost facility located in south Santa Clara County. Additionally, eleven (11) City certified construction and demolition (C&D) waste facilities, each with different recycling and processing capabilities, are also located in San José. Four of the City Certified C&D Facilities process mixed C&D while the remaining seven (7) specialize in source-separated material. Some of the above-mentioned facilities are among the most advanced in the country and serve as national benchmarks. Most facilities also serve other local jurisdictions and provide employment opportunities for San José.
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Subject: Status Report on Solid Waste Programs
Overview of San José Solid Waste Programs
Residential Program
The Residential Garbage and Recycling Program provides collection service through four contracted service providers: California Waste Solutions (CWS), Garden City Sanitation Inc. (GCS), Green Team of San José (GreenTeam), and GreenWaste Recovery (GWR). As shown in Figure 2, the city is divided into three solid waste collection Service Districts, District A (Downtown, East, and North San José), District B (West San José), and District C (South San José). Since 2007, CWS and GCS have served Districts A and C, representing 75 percent (166,000) of SFDs. GreenTeam has served District B, representing 25 percent (49,000) of SFDs since 2002, and all MFDs (116,000 units) since 1993. GWR has served Districts A, B, and C since 2000. Combined, this system is one of largest privatized solid waste systems in the nation with an annual budget of approximately $168 million.
Figure 2: Residential Service Providers, Services and Service Districts The residential program provides SFDs with garbage and recycling carts, and an optional yard trimmings cart. MFDs utilize large garbage bins and both carts and bins for recycling. San José has a yard trimmings collection system where most of the material is collected in loose piles set out on the street, rather than in a container. Garbage is collected and processed to recover organics (food scraps, compostable paper items and food-soiled items), which are sent to the ZBest facility for composting. Recyclables are collected and processed at the CWS and GWR facilities, and separated material commodities are sold on the recycling market. Yard trimmings are also collected, processed, and sent to the Z-Best facility for composting. Lastly, the residential program includes a free unlimited Junk Pickup program, which provides residents
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Subject: Status Report on Solid Waste Programs
with a convenient, curbside service. SFD and MFD residents can schedule free appointments to have large items (such as mattresses, sofas, refrigerators, and tires) picked up by their recycling service provider. Since the residential program represents 55 percent of the total waste collected through San José programs, it significantly contributes to the overall citywide diversion rate.
Commercial Program
Republic Services provides commercial solid waste collection services to about 7,600 accounts at business sites in San José. Republic collects the material by using three separate waste streams: Non-Organic Garbage (previously called “Dry”), Recycling (previously called “Customized”), and Organics (previously called “Wet”). Non-organic garbage and recycling are taken to Newby Island Resource Recovery Park for processing and disposal, Organics are sent to Zero Waste Energy Development Company (ZWED) for processing into energy and compost, and a fraction of Non-organic garbage is processed to recover organics and recyclables at ZWED. Some non-organic garbage is sent to landfill at Newby, within contractual limits.
IWM Enforcement Program
IWM Environmental Inspectors perform inspections and utilize education and enforcement tools to facilitate compliance with San José Municipal Code section 9.10 to maintain a healthy, safe, and clean environment. Inspectors investigate reports of non-compliance related to solid waste management and solid waste hauling. They issue Inspection Reports, Warning Notices, or Administrative Citations in accordance with the Schedule of Fines. Inspectors utilize multilingual (English, Spanish and Vietnamese) outreach to encourage proper solid waste management at residential and commercial facilities and inform residents about City-provided programs, such as the Junk Pickup program. The program also performs proactive inspections throughout the City for issues like unauthorized hauling, dangerous accumulation, and no collection service.
Construction & Demolition (C&D) Program
IWM manages non-exclusive franchise agreements with 30 C&D debris haulers to provide temporary drop-box and debris collection services for new construction, remodeling, and demolition projects and residential clean-outs. In FY 2020-21, C&D material represented approximately 25 percent of all tons generated in San José by weight.
The C&D waste stream represents a challenge because it is usually composed of heavy materials (concrete, asphalt, etc.), which do not break down in the same way as other waste. Therefore, C&D materials sent to landfill take up more volume. Focusing on reuse, salvage, and recycling of this material stream reduces the need for virgin material extraction, lessening the environmental footprint upstream.
IWM’s Construction and Demolition Diversion (CDD) Program was established in 2001. The initial program was designed to use financial incentives to encourage the recycling of C&D material. The program was updated in 2017 to respond to changes made to the California Green Building Standards Code (CALGreen), Title 24, Part 11. To comply with these requirements, the
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CDD program has two processes, and their applicability depends on the construction project type.
1. CDD Review and Final applies to all new construction and commercial tenant improvement projects valued at $200,000 or greater. The diversion requirement is 75 percent per construction project, which is above the state required diversion.
2. CDD Deposit applies to all residential alterations of $2,000 or more, all non-residential alterations of $5,000 or more, and all residential and non-residential demolitions. The diversion requirement for these projects is set at 50 percent and the deposit is fully refundable if the permit holder complies with the program requirements.
Both processes require that materials be delivered to a City certified C&D recycling facility for recovery.
Household Hazardous Waste Program
San José participates in the Countywide Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) Program. The City’s permanent and state-of-the-art HHW drop-off facility, located at the Environmental Innovation Center, opened in September 2014 and has been the primary drop-off location ever since for countywide residents and small businesses, excluding Palo Alto. Hazardous materials such as batteries, paint, pesticides, household cleaners, electronic waste, and other items containing harmful substances such as lead and mercury cannot be placed into garbage or recycling containers, but are accepted for free with a residential drop-off appointment. Residents can also drop off HHW with retail partners located countywide. Small businesses are able to drop off their HHW for a nominal fee.
City Facilities and Public Litter Can Programs
IWM supports waste and recycling programs at approximately 150 city-owned and operated facilities. Waste collected from these facilities is delivered to the GWR solid waste processing facility where recyclables such as cans, bottles, and paper are removed for recycling. Remaining material, consisting largely of food waste and soiled paper, is composted at the Z-Best facility in Gilroy. The City Facilities program consists of two basic streams: recycling and garbage. All facilities receive standardized, central station containers in sufficient quantities to capture the volumes generated; the containers are configured to meet each facility’s particular requirements.
Additionally, IWM’s Public Litter Can (PLC) program currently maintains 1,338 PLCs throughout the City and oversees their collection and processing. PLCs maintained through this program are primarily located in the City’s business districts and exclude those located at VTA stops, parks, community centers, and libraries. PLC maintenance includes graffiti abatement, painting of cans, repair of non-functioning equipment, and replacement of broken or damaged PLCs.
Recycle Right Public Outreach Program
Solid waste and recycling-related outreach responsibilities transitioned from the Residential service contractors to the City in July 2019 in order to provide more consistent, unified messaging to all residents. Since then, ESD has added staff to conduct comprehensive solid
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Subject: Status Report on Solid Waste Programs
waste and recycling outreach including deploying a major Recycle Right campaign. The primary goal of the campaign is to reduce contamination in residential recycling by educating residents and changing behavior to place correct items in the recycling container and in the garbage.
Recycling contamination levels also impact recycling hauler compensation and residential rates.
Collecting clean, high-quality recyclables help service providers meet strict contamination requirements in international recycling markets and send fewer non-recyclables to the landfill.
To support this critical objective, key campaign messages focus on which items are recyclable and eliminating food and liquids from the recycling stream.
ANALYSIS
COVID-19 Pandemic
The past two years have been unprecedented due to the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 has impacted solid waste in several ways: solid waste and recycling workers were deemed “essential workers”; stay-at-home orders increased solid waste generation at residences while commercial waste decreased. There has also been an increase in generation of non-recyclable single-use disposables including take-out containers, plastic bags, food packaging, grocery bags, and personal protective equipment; and the City’s and State’s plastic bag bans were temporarily put on hold. Despite these challenges, the San José residential and commercial recycling programs and solid waste service providers have continued to deliver excellent, uninterrupted service, in contrast to some U.S. cities that scaled back or halted their recycling programs altogether. The City’s service providers continue to adapt to uncertain recycling market conditions, as well. They continue to maximize landfill diversion and process material to the highest and best use for the available markets, reporting continued sales of most of the traditional, core recyclables, including paper, cardboard, metals, bottles, and cans.
Staff presented changes to the Residential waste stream due to the pandemic at the February 1, 2021 Transportation and Environment (T&E) Committee meeting.1 The waste stream has continued to evolve since that time. As shown in Figure 3, tonnages from the single-family program, including garbage tons collected, recycling tons collected, and recycling processing residue tons, increased after the start of pandemic, but decreased slightly in recent quarters.
Residue is the material sent to landfill after processing garbage or recycling. Even though many residents continued to work from home in 2021, the City did not see a significant increase in SFD garbage service levels. There was no significant increase in the number of upsized SFD garbage carts in 2021 as compared to 2020, which likely contributed to higher contamination levels in recycling carts, as some residents may not have had enough room in their garbage carts.
Higher contamination rates are reflected in the increased processing residue tons shown below in Figure 3.
1 https://sanjose.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=818213&GUID=239C0297-AA80-4DCE-8D8B1A1135799712&Options=&Search=
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Figure 3: Tons of SFD Garbage, Recycling & Recycling Process Residue by Quarter During the COVID-19 pandemic, junk pickup tonnages also increased, without service interruptions. SFD and MFD junk pickup tonnage increased approximately 10.2 percent (from 9,620.5 tons in FY 2019-20 to 10,720.8 tons in FY 2020-21). In response to increased junk pickup requests, service providers met the increased demand by adding additional collection routes. Due to the increased demand, appointment turnaround times increased in some instances to three weeks out (versus two weeks pre-pandemic).
In FY 2020-21, over 42,400 San José residents made drop-off appointments through the Countywide HHW Program to dispose of an estimated 1,552 tons of hazardous waste. In addition, about 132 San José small businesses made drop-off appointments in FY 2020-21. The number of residential appointments increased by 60 percent in FY 2020-21 as compared to FY 2019-20, primarily due to the suspension of HHW drop off events for three months from March 16 to June 10, 2020 during initial County shelter-in-place orders. This caused the annual amount of HHW collection events to be reduced by 25 percent in FY 2019-20. Residential appointments in FY 2021-22 are projected to be approximately 41,500, about two percent lower than the previous year.
The commercial exclusive franchised hauler, Republic Services, services more than 10,000 bins in San José. Due to COVID-19 impacts in 2020, commercial tonnages collected decreased by -
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approximately 20 percent compared to the previous calendar year (as shown in Figure 4). In the initial months of the pandemic, approximately 900 accounts were put on hold (no weekly scheduled service) or on call (service scheduled as needed). As COVID-19 rates continue to decrease in San José and businesses re-open, commercial tonnages have started to return to prepandemic levels. Additionally, 20 to 25 new accounts are initiated in San José each month since June 2021.
Figure 4: Tons of Commercial Waste by Quarter
During the COVID-19 pandemic, most City facilities kept their regular subscribed services, however, tons collected decreased. On a typical year, GWR processes 6,300 tons of waste but during the COVID-19 pandemic, this number dropped to 3,093 tons, a reduction of 51 percent.
IWM’s Enforcement team continued to provide services during the County of Santa Clara’s shelter-in-place orders. Complaint follow-up and violation resolution times were not impacted by the pandemic as IWM Enforcement staff effectively connected via phone and email with responsible parties despite a reduction of in-person meetings during on-site inspections.
Climate Smart Zero Waste Element
A Zero Waste Element (ZWE) of the Climate Smart Plan is being developed to provide a roadmap to reduce solid waste related GHG emissions and reduce material to landfill. This Element will assess the City’s net GHG emissions resulting from the solid waste sector as well as reevaluate the prioritization of the City’s zero waste strategies. It will also address related critical issues regarding recycling markets, changing waste regulations (i.e., SB 1383), domestic reuse potential, local infrastructure related to solid waste, and landfill capacity. There is an ongoing
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Subject: Status Report on Solid Waste Programs
stakeholder engagement component of the ZWE that will help analyze the City’s state of solid waste and the impact it has on San José’s community wide GHG emission, to quantify returns on investment, and to provide innovative solutions. Internal and external stakeholders are being given the opportunity to contribute to the ZWE. Staff expects to bring ZWE to Council in Spring 2022.
Residential Program
Agreement Renewals
As directed by City Council, staff concluded negotiations with all four contractors and executed Amended and Restated Agreements valid through June 30, 2036. Key service enhancements, guided by the Integrated Waste Management Workplan, are listed in the table below.
Integrated Waste
Management
Workplan
Key Service Enhancements
Reduce Per Capita
Waste to Landfill
• Provide SB 1383 program support and reporting required by the regulations to ensure City meets its responsibilities for compliance • Recyclables Material Recovery Standard assessed by annual residue and bi-annual recycling waste characterization studies. Studies identify program material present in processing residue (requirement is 20% or less) and the amount of non-program material present in curbside recyclables
Improve Ease of Use
• Quarterly customer satisfaction surveys and an option for a “secret shopper” to assess call centers
• Minimal call hold times and number of abandoned calls • Performance standards for missed collections
• Online customer access self-service features on contractor’s website • Ability for contractors to interface with City’s digital platform (San José 311) to resolve missed collections, cart exchange requests, and fulfill junk pickup appointments
• Guidelines for issuing Non-Collection Notices
• Return of containers to point of collection, upright, lids closed and locked (secured) if applicable
Competitive Rates
• ‘Safety net’ for recycling commodity markets
• Transition of public education and outreach from contractors to City; enabled contractors to offer lower rates
• Recycling compensation structure based on percentage of nonprogram material found in recycling carts • Refuse Rate Index updated to use published U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indices specific to San Francisco Bay Area
Other Terms and
Conditions
• A Modified Living Wage requirement to compensate covered workers at contractors’ regional processing facilities
• Option for Global Positioning System tracking and electronic inspection for residential street sweeping, per City Auditor’s recommendation
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Recycling Lid Pilot
A study conducted in Fall 2020 revealed that an average of 51 percent of material collected from SFD recycling carts is non-recyclable, or contaminated. As part of ESD’s comprehensive Recycle Right outreach campaign to inform residents on how to recycle properly, and to improve recycling quality, the City assessed the impact of a new molded education label installed on recycling cart lids for about 4,767 SFD homes in the Spring of 2021. The trilingual (English, Spanish and Vietnamese) easy-to-understand labels, seen in Figure 5 below, displayed colorful imagery of recyclables and non-recyclables along with text such as, “No food. No liquids.” Figure 5: Spring 2021 SFD Recycling Lid Pilot Label.
On average, the proportion of non-recyclables found from the participating higher-contaminating SFDs decreased significantly from 72.8 percent pre-lid to 58.0 percent post-lid. The results of this successful pilot have led staff to explore options for installing sticker labels onto more SFD recycling carts. It is anticipated that stickers for existing SFD recycling carts will be rolled out in phases, beginning with areas of high contamination in early 2022.
San José 311 Expansion
San José 311 expanded in March 2021 to include residential garbage, recycling, and yard waste service requests through the website and mobile app, which is available to residents 24 hours a day in multiple languages. As of November 2021, over 50 percent of all service requests received by the service providers originate as a San José 311 request submitted online.
Approximately 15 percent of all SFDs have submitted a service request online. Subsequently, the service providers’ call centers have observed reduced call volume and hold times as web-based requests increased. The Junk Pick-up program experienced significant growth among SFDs as • Future fleet replacements to be fueled by Compressed Natural Gas; or Alternative Fuel such as renewable biodiesel (for GWR)
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the ease of use allowed many more households to access this highly demanded service which quickly became the highest used service in the 311 system.
City Facilities Improvements
In an effort to improve waste separation at City facilities, IWM has begun updating recycling signage and lids, and will be consolidating internal waste containers. The bottles and cans container will be removed, and the new signage (as shown in Figure 6) will direct that these items be placed in the commingled recycling container. A new paper-only container will be added in key locations in order to keep paper that can be recycled clean. The program update began with City Hall in November 2021, and all other City facilities are expected to be completed by December 2022.
Figure 6: City Facilities Improved Signage
Recycle Right Outreach
ESD continues to provide an expansive Recycle Right public education campaign for San José residents. The campaign includes more than 100 unique tactics to reach San José residents primarily through trilingual digital ads, videos on social media and streaming websites, community engagement activities and direct mail.
Contamination in residential recycling increased during the COVID-19 pandemic as San José residents spent much more time at home and generated more waste. ESD met this challenge by refining and enhancing proven outreach strategies and introducing new, innovative tactics.
In 2021, due to the continuing pandemic and safety restrictions on large gatherings the Recycle Right staff pivoted to reach residents at home with enhanced online public outreach including video ads on YouTube, Hulu and other streaming services, and live Zoom presentations, focus groups, and online workshops. In-person outreach opportunities became more available in the summer, and Recycle Right staff were once again able to engage with the community at tabling events and presentations.
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One of the Recycle Right campaign messages is to visit ESD’s Recycle Right website, SanJoseRecycles.org. It is a user-friendly and accessible tool to educate residents about which items are recyclable and share informative recycling content. Due to the promotion of the website, the website traffic has drastically increased since its inception in 2019. Average daily users have increased from 450 per day at the beginning of 2020, to over 1,000 daily users at the end of 2021. In total, more than 600,000 residents have visited the website since 2019, with 300,000 residents visiting the website in 2021. SanJoseRecycles.org’s reach is expected to expand substantially this year when translated Spanish and Vietnamese versions of SanJoseRecycles.org are deployed. These new sites will enhance current trilingual outreach and provide equitable access to recycling and waste information to our Spanish and Vietnamesespeaking residents.
The City’s underserved communities, including low-income households and Spanish- and Vietnamese-speaking residents, are prioritized in the Recycle Right campaign. Fifty-eight percent of the FY 21-22 budget is allocated to outreach focused on these audiences. Tactics designed for low-income residents and Spanish- and Vietnamese- speakers include direct mail postcards, distribution of trilingual tote bags via San José community centers and the library’s free summer lunch program. The Behavioral Insights Team, an expert consultant in behaviorchange messaging, was enlisted to support staff in creating a targeted campaign to reach residents with the most recycling contamination. To address common barriers for these audiences, these tactics are highly visual, include common sense recycling tips, and do not rely on digital devices or internet connectivity. Messages were developed to resonate with Latin and Vietnamese communities in mind.
For the Spanish-speaking audience in San José, the campaign has 12 targeted tactics, including digital and radio advertising, television commercials, and interviews. ESD’s partnership with the San José Earthquakes includes Spanish language tactics focused on the Earthquakes’ key demographic of young, Spanish-speaking males. The 20 different tactics designated for the Vietnamese-speaking audience in various age categories include digital and newspaper ads, television interviews, radio spots, and short newspaper articles.
Commercial (Republic/ZWED) Program
Commercial Collection
Republic Services, the exclusive commercial franchised hauler, processes up to 200 tons per day of materials placed in the non-organic garbage containers at their recycling facility. The remaining material in excess of 200 tons per day in the non-organic garbage stream may be direct hauled to the landfill. This change from processing all non-organic waste to allowing direct landfilling was implemented with the amended and restated commercial solid waste agreements of 2020, which, among other things, resolved an ongoing dispute between Republic, ZWED, and the City regarding performance of the 2011 agreements. Republic is developing a “Low Recyclable Content Dry Diversion” plan to address the material that is landfilled, with the intent to encourage commercial customers to generate higher levels of recyclables and improve overall diversion. Through this plan, Republic will conduct outreach to accounts that are sent to
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landfill and ensure that all commercial accounts are compliant with State regulations (AB 939, AB 341, AB 1826, and SB 1383) for recycling and diversion. Staff has been working with Republic and their third-party consultant on implementing the first phase of this plan since July 2021. Republic provided the data collected, activities performed, the compliance status of the businesses with state regulations (e.g., how many businesses need assistance to be compliant), and recommendations for steps to be successful in the ongoing implementation of the plan in San José. Republic has ensured that the non-organic garbage that is directly landfilled does not have significant amount of recyclable material. In summary, Republic is landfilling approximately 429 tons per week (~10 percent of total collected), has so far added 7.65 tons per week of recycling and organics service as a result of this plan, and plans to continue targeted outreach through April 2023 to commercial accounts with non-organic material going direct to the landfill in order to ensure compliance with state regulations.
As part of efforts to increase diversion, improve the ease of use, and reduce confusion, staff worked with Republic to rename the separately serviced waste streams. These new more common sense designations are Organics (formerly Wet), Non-Organic Garbage (formerly Dry), and Recycling (formerly Customized). Customers have been, and continue to be, informed of these changes through Republic’s informational postcards, updated outreach guides, as well as new designations on their monthly bills.
Commercial Organics Processing
ZWED must process 105,000 tons per year of organic and non-organic waste delivered by Republic and has a diversion requirement of 60 percent. Since the amended and restated agreement execution date of May 1, 2020, through October 2021, ZWED has processed over 77,000 tons of organic and recyclable material, sold over 3,500 tons of compost, and is producing an average of 464,780 kilowatt-hours of electricity per month, similar to previous years. ZWED’s diversion rate is currently around 45 percent. Due to COVID-19, organic material deposited in the commercial organics containers decreased, but were still kept on-site by businesses and became contaminated with non-organic materials, increasing residues, which impacted ZWED’s diversion rate. ZWED continues to research and work towards improving processing to reduce residues and increase recovery, as well as continue ongoing collaboration with the City and Republic to refine public education and outreach.
Construction & Demolition Program
IWM’s Construction and Demolition (C&D) program is a well-established program ensuring that the City follows state requirements and goes above and beyond through an interconnected system of City certified recycling facilities, non-exclusive franchised haulers, and building permit holders. Currently, with the change in recycling markets and industry practices, the program needs a comprehensive analysis to adjust and refine the program. Part of developing the Climate Smart Zero Waste Element included reviewing program elements and recommending program updates. Staff has started exploring options for revised city certification standards for
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the recycling facilities, equitable fee structure for franchisees, and improvements to deposit refund rates.
IWM Enforcement Program Update
From July 2020 to Dec 2021, the Enforcement team conducted 1196 inspections and issued 19 citations and 326 warning notices. IWM Enforcement continues to plan and prepare for the implementation of SB 1383 enforcement requirements.
Public Litter Can Program Update
Despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, the IWM Public Litter Can (PLC) staff continued to provide PLC maintenance and new PLC installation during the County’s shelter-in-place orders. During FY 2020-2021, PLC staff completed the installation of 500 Litter-ature PLCs that featured environmentally conscious poems written by local middle school students. From December 2020 to May 2021, PLC staff were assigned to the EOC to assist with illegal dumping cleanup. Staff was able to provide complaint-based PLC maintenance and install new PLCs as time allowed. The PLC program has been impacted by the pandemic due to extended shipping times for new PLCs, increased shipment costs, and supply chain issues with PLC repair material such as paint.
SB 1383 Implementation Update
SB1383 regulation is multi-faceted and impacts various departments and services within the City. ESD has taken the lead in the implementation and provided guidance and direction to other departments. ESD staff is engaging in a collaborative approach to comply with SB 1383 regulations. The response includes solid waste program adjustments, interdepartmental and interagency coordination, stakeholder engagement, and public education and outreach. • IWM staff presented an overview of SB 1383 requirements and their alignment with IWM solid waste programs during the April 12, 2021 City Council Study Session.2 Staff continues to work with the haulers and contractors to discuss cost-effective solutions to comply with container color and labeling requirements, container contamination minimization, regulation of haulers, procurement requirements, etc. • Staff is exploring options to increase outreach to organic waste generators on their requirements to properly separate materials in appropriate containers, methane reduction benefits of reducing the landfill disposal of organic waste, etc. • San José Municipal Code and Schedule of Fines were amended in December 2021 to serve as an enforceable mechanism for SB 1383 as required by the regulation. • Staff is in the process of updating the City’s Environmentally Preferable Procurement Policy (EP3) to satisfy the procurement requirements. This will enable the City to track 2 https://sanjose.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=4906063&GUID=32D1BBEB-7C75-41B4-9619- A08020D4EF35&Options=&Search=
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current usage of products that would count towards our recovered organic waste procurement target.
• IWM is coordinating with the City’s Finance Department on a Request for Quotations (RFQ) for a data management solution to satisfy SB 1383 requirements.
Residential Compliance with SB 1383
The Residential Program’s collection and processing of garbage, recycling, and yard trimmings material are compliant with SB 1383 requirements. Residents do not need to do anything differently when setting out garbage, recycling, and yard trimmings. Food and food soiled-items should continue to be placed in the garbage and not in yard trimmings piles or carts (as some other cities do). The regulations require that garbage be sent to a High Diversion Organic Waste Processing Facility to recover at least 50 percent of the organic material by January 1, 2022 and 75 percent of the organic material by January 1, 2025. Residential garbage is processed at GWR’s MRF which is contractually required to perform as a High Diversion Organic Waste Processing Facility as defined by the SB 1383 regulations. GWR’s agreement includes a per ton compensation rate for the garbage processing that allows San José to meet SB 1383 requirements for residential organics. The agreement also includes a provision that if GWR is required to make significant changes to its processing facilities in order to comply with SB 1383, then GWR and the City will negotiate in good faith on compensation changes for additional expenses attributable to San José’s proportional use of their facilities.
In addition to garbage processing, container contamination monitoring will be satisfied through the service providers’ use of Courtesy and Non-Collection Notices, container labels affixed to brand new garbage, recycling, and yard trimmings containers, and updating the MFD recycling bin lid color from black to blue for compliance (all other residential container colors already comply). Lastly, staff will ensure public education and outreach requirements are met and inform property owners and managers of MFDs with five or more units of new outreach requirements for instructing tenants on what goes where.
Commercial Compliance with SB 1383
Republic and ZWED are reporting on organic content at their processing facilities beginning in 2022, which will better inform the City if these facilities will be able to achieve the required 75 percent organic content recovery rate by 2025 to be considered as a High Diversion Organics Waste Processing Facility. However, both facilities have informed the City that the recovery requirements may not be feasible. ZWED is exploring the possibility of developing a new material recovery facility, possibly through a lease amendment of land owned by the Regional Wastewater Facility, that could process commercial non-organic garbage material that would have otherwise been landfilled. Republic is exploring improvements to their MRF that would lead to increased diversion of material and is comparing that to the costs associated with transitioning all customers to a three-container collection system.
In response to these requirements, commercial minimum service levels were established along with an applicable administrative citation in cases of non-compliance. Per the new ordinance, for
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each one cubic yard/week of solid waste businesses generate, they must at a minimum also subscribe to 32 gallons of Recycling collection service and 32 gallons of Organics collection service. SB 1383 permits the City to issue businesses a waiver for special circumstances (physical space constraints, de minimus generation).
In light of ongoing overloading and contamination of commercial bins, IWM staff continue to foster collaboration between our two commercial waste franchises to pinpoint problem routes and accounts. Minimum service level requirements and corresponding citation amounts were added to the Municipal Code in December 2021 and created a much-needed tool to address rightsizing of service levels.
Edible Food Recovery Program
One of the state-wide targets set by SB1383 requires that not less than 20 percent of currently disposed edible food is recovered for human consumption by 2025. Local jurisdictions are required to implement specific actions to help the State meet this target. SB 1383 requires that businesses donate surplus food instead of throwing it out. It also places additional recordkeeping and reporting requirements on certain businesses. These requirements continue the City's efforts to work with our community and provide needed meals to our residents while being environmentally beneficial.
A regional (county-wide) collaborative approach for compliance with SB 1383 food recovery requirements would make the planning, reporting, and data collection process more streamlined for businesses and food recovery organizations operating across Santa Clara County. Staff will continue to ensure that the City only contributes its fair share of resources towards this effort, and that the City continues to receive an equitable share of the benefits (such as edible food distribution) based on community need.
• IWM staff continue to engage with Joint Venture Silicon Valley and County Recycling and Waste Reduction Commission's Technical Advisory Committee members (comprised of solid waste representatives from cities, academics, non-profits, and waste haulers) on the development of a regional edible food recovery program and capacity planning. • IWM staff worked with California Climate Action Corp fellows from January-August 2021 on initial outreach regarding the regional food recovery program to commercial edible food generators in San José.
Policy and Regulation
IWM staff closely monitors bills in session to track potential impacts on solid waste programs.
Staff worked with the City’s IGR team on several support letters for bills introduced in the State Legislature during the 2021 legislative session. Two of the bills, SB 619 and SB 343, were signed by the Governor, while SB 289 was held under submission by the Senate Appropriations Committee.
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The table below provides a summary of recent state and federal legislation pertaining to solid waste.
Legislation Description
Federal
Infrastructure
Investment and Jobs
Act
The $1.2 trillion infrastructure package includes several recycling provisions such as: $15 million per year in grants administered by the EPA over 5 years (2022-2026) to fund programs focused on improving the effectiveness of residential and community recycling programs through public education and outreach; $50 million for state and local entities to establish battery recycling programs and $15 million for retailers that collect batteries for recycling SB 619 (Organic
waste reduction
regulations: local
jurisdiction
compliance)
This bill originally aimed to delay the effective date of SB 1383 regulations from January 1, 2022, but it was later amended to allow jurisdictions to submit a ‘notification of intent to comply’ to CalRecycle by March 1, 2022, for a potential waiver of
administrative civil penalties related to SB 1383 violations in 2022.
Upon approval, CalRecycle may relieve a jurisdiction of administrative civil penalties for the 2022 calendar year and/or allow for a Corrective Action Plan process.
SB 343 (Truth in
Recycling Labeling)
This bill aims to provide additional clarity and regulatory standards on which products can use the recycling “chasing arrows” symbol on their packaging. It will prevent the resin identification code, required under existing law for all rigid plastic bottles and rigid plastic containers sold in the state, from being placed inside a chasing arrows symbol unless CalRecycle has determined the rigid plastic bottle or rigid plastic container is recyclable in the state.
SB 170 (Budget Act of
2021)
This bill provides $130 million from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund for waste reduction and management; including $60 million for local jurisdictions to implement the CalRecycle SB 1383 (Lara, 2016) organic waste diversion regulations, and $70 million for organic waste infrastructure.
Assembly Bill (AB)
332 (Treated wood
waste management
standards)
This bill reinstates the alternate management standards for treated wood waste until January 1, 2030. If the provisions of this bill were to be repealed, treated wood waste would have to be managed as hazardous waste. The Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) is required to notify the California Legislature by July 1, 2028, if it is prepared to ensure the safe management of treated wood waste, in accordance with hazardous waste control laws.
AB 1276 (Single-use
food accessories &
serviceware)
This bill expands on the straws-on-request law to include more single-use food accessories (utensils, condiment cups/packets, straws, stirrers, splash sticks, etc.) and prohibits a food facility or a third-
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party food delivery platform from providing these accessories to consumers unless requested by the consumer.
AB 1201 (Labeling of
plastic products:
compostability and
biodegradability)
The bill requires CalRecycle, by January 1, 2026, to adopt regulations, determining whether products are labeled in a manner that distinguishes the products from non-compostable products upon reasonable inspection by consumers and to help enable efficient processing by solid waste processing facilities.
Assembly Joint
Resolution No. 4
This resolution urges the United States federal government to ratify the Basel Convention, which is an international treaty that regulates the movement of hazardous waste across international borders, including mixed plastic waste.
AB 881 (Mixed plastic
waste exports)
Under this bill, the export out of the country of a mixture of plastic wastes shall be considered disposal, not diversion, for the purposes of AB 939. These provisions do not apply to exports to Canada or Mexico until January 1, 2024, or the expiration of the current trade agreement.
SB 289 (Batteries and
battery-embedded
products)
This bill aimed to create a convenient, statewide, producer-run collection and recycling program for loose and product-embedded batteries. However, it was placed on the Senate Appropriations Committee’s suspense file and may be brought back for consideration in the next legislative session. Staff will continue to monitor it.
EVALUATION AND FOLLOW-UP
Staff will return to Council for consideration of any items in this report requiring Council approval.
PUBLIC OUTREACH
This memorandum will be posted on the City’s website for the February 7, 2022 Transportation and Environment Committee Agenda.
COORDINATION
This memorandum has been coordinated with the City Attorney’s Office and City Manager’s Budget Office.
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CEQA
Not a Project, File No. PP17-009, Staff Reports, Assessments, Annual Reports, and Informational Memos that involve no approvals of any City action. /s/
KERRIE ROMANOW
Director, Environmental Services
For questions, please contact Valerie Osmond, Deputy Director, Environmental Services Department, at (408) 535-8557.