Item 10 - Solid Waste Organics Recycling WorkshopCity of Poway
COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT
DATE: January 21, 2020
TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
FROM: Eric Heidemann, Director of Public Works G
CONTACT: Pat Ryan, Interim Assistant Director of Public Works for Maintenance .
Operations �
(858) 668-4705 or pryan@poway.org
SUBJECT: Solid Waste Organics Recycling Workshop
Summary:
This report will provide an overview of several key solid waste recycling state laws, present current
infrastructure efforts underway to develop an organics recycling program in the City of Poway,
and summarize next steps to be taken to implement an organics recycling program to comply with
state laws.
Recommended Action:
It is recommended that the City Council receive and file this report.
Discussion:
According to the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle),
California disposes of approximately 30 million tons of waste in landfills each year, of which
30 percent is organic waste. Organic waste means food scraps, food -soiled paper waste, yard
trimmings and nonhazardous wood waste. The state has determined that these organics should
be composted or used to produce renewable energy rather than going into landfills, because
landfills emit the majority of man-made methane emissions in California, and are one of the top
emitters in the U.S. This report will provide an overview of several key solid waste recycling state
mandates, present current infrastructure efforts underway to develop an organics recycling
program in the City of Poway, and summarize next steps to be taken to implement an organics
recycling program to meet these state laws and increase diversion.
California Waste and Recycling Requirements:
California law requires reducing, recycling, or composting 75 percent of solid waste generated by
2020. Below are the key pieces of legislation enacted over the years and the City's compliance
efforts in meeting the Statewide strategy:
• Assembly Bill 939, (1989): requires 50 percent diversion of solid waste from landfills by
2000. Jurisdictions must maintain or exceed this diversion rate and report disposal rates
to the state on an annual basis. The City consistently meets the diversion requirement
annually.
• Assembly Bill 32 (AB 32), (2006): requires California to reduce its greenhouse gas
emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. In response to AB 32, the California Air Resources
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Control Board developed a Scoping Plan that identifies strategies to be used to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions in six major sectors including transportation and fuels, energy
generation, water, natural lands, agriculture and waste.
• Assembly Bill 341 (AB 341), (2011): requires recycling services for businesses that
generate more than four cubic yards of waste per week and for multi -family residential
dwellings of five units or more. AB 341 also set a goal to recycle 75 percent of solid waste
generated in the state by 2020. This new statewide goal is different from AB 939 in that it
is a recycling goal, not a diversion goal, and focuses on source reduction, recycling, and
composting.
• Assembly Bill 1594, (2014): eliminates the diversion credit for green waste used as
alternative daily cover (ADC) at landfills by 2020. ADC will instead be considered disposal
in terms of measuring a jurisdiction's annual 50 percent diversion requirement. The City's
greenwaste is diverted to a compost facility, which poses no issues in meeting the
regulation in 2020.
• Assembly Bill 1826 (AB 1826), (2014): requires business and multi -family residential
dwellings to participate in an organic recycling program. This impacts entities producing
8 cubic yards of organic waste per week on April 1, 2016; 4 cubic yards of organic waste
per week on January 1, 2017; and 4 cubic yards per week of solid waste on January 1,
2019. This law also requires jurisdictions to submit a plan to the state describing how it
will implement an organics recycling collection program and conduct related education
and outreach. Annually, the City provides direct, written, and electronic education
communication to businesses about the requirements of AB 1826 to annually comply with
the regulations.
• Senate Bill 1383 (SB 1383), (2016): establishes state targets to reduce the disposal of
organic waste 50 percent below 2014 levels by 2020, and 75 percent by 2025.
Additionally, the law has a requirement to recover 20 percent of edible food for human
consumption that is currently landfilled by 2025. While the rulemaking for SB 1383 is
being finalized, the following requirements for jurisdictions and waste haulers are
anticipated to be in place and operational by January 1, 2022:
o Organic Waste Collection Services — Jurisdictions and waste haulers must provide
residential and commercial organic waste collection services.
o Edible Food Recovery Programs and Services — Jurisdictions must implement and
oversee food recovery programs.
o Procurement of Recovered Organic Waste Products — Jurisdictions must procure
minimum levels of compost, renewable natural gas, or both.
o Reporting by Regulated Entities — Jurisdictions, haulers, and facilities must report
annually or quarterly on compliance with regulations.
o Organic Waste Recovery and Processing Standards for Facilities — Facilities must
achieve recovery rates for organic waste that is collected with non-organic waste.
The City of Poway has thus far been able to comply with these state mandates through programs
such as green waste recycling and other educational and outreach programs. However, the City's
current programs will no longer satisfy the requirements of AB 1826 and SB 1383. To meet the
state mandates described above, the City must implement a program to recycle organic waste.
One approach is to process organic waste at a Targe -scale composting facility. The other
approach involves Anaerobic Digestion (AD), which digests organic waste in an oxygen -free
environment and captures energy and greenhouse gases. Unfortunately, no organics processing
facility currently exists in the San Diego region to ensure compliance with the organic diversion
requirements of SB 1383.
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January 21, 2020, Item #10
Anaerobic Digester:
EDCO, the City's franchise waste hauler is constructing an AD facility in Escondido. EDCO is
offering reserved capacity for the franchise cities first before opening organics disposal
opportunities to other cities in the region. EDCO's AD facility will convert organic waste into
renewable resources including biogas, which will be converted to natural gas used to power
EDCO's collection vehicles. In order to utilize the AD facility and participate in this organic waste
collection service, all waste generators will incur a new charge in their trash service rates. While
the rate increase is unknown at this time, any rate increase would first come before the City
Council for consideration and would not go into effect until the AD facility is operational and service
is being provided, expected to be in early 2021. ADs reduce greenhouse gas emissions by
capturing and combusting methane, generate renewable energy, and divert organics from
landfills, which make AD projects a more sustainable option. EDCO staff will be available at the
January 21, 2020 City Council meeting to provide a brief overview of the AD facility and operation
of an organics program in the City of Poway.
Next Steps:
Moving forward, staff will conduct a series of educational workshops for residential and
commercial customers on organics recycling and food recovery options. The workshops will be
completed during the first quarter of 2020. Simultaneously, staff will examine curbside cart
configurations to optimize residential green and food waste organics collection. Staff will discuss
with EDCO collection options and associated costs, and conduct a rate review before returning
to the Council with a recommendation for residential and commercial organic waste collection
programs. The establishment of updated solid waste collection rates is subject to the noticing
requirements of Proposition 218, which requires a notice and public hearing. Staff estimates that
the noticing requirements can begin in the second quarter of 2020, along with the annual solid
waste consumer price index rate adjustment, with potential adoption of rates for all residential and
commercial customers completed by July 1, 2020.
Environmental Review:
This action is not subject to review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
Fiscal Impact:
None with this action.
Public Notification:
None.
Attachments:
None.
Reviewed/Approved By: Reviewed By:
Wendy Kaserman Alan Fenstermacher
Assistant City Manager City Attorney
Approved By:
ChriHaze ine
City Manager
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