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Home My WebLink About2011-07-13 PACKET 05.2.CITY OF COTTAGE GROVE ® MINNESOTA To: Environmental Commission Jennifer Levitt, City Engineer From: Brian Voelker, Management Analyst Date: Thursday, July 7, 2011 Subject: Response to Recycling Grant Inquiry At the June Environmental Commission meeting, City staff was directed to provide information about the City's Recycling Budget and the Washington County Recycling Grant. Staff has put together information about current and past recycling programs that the City provides to residents. TITMOTUSM The City of Cottage Grove has been promoting recycling programs since 1987. The City re- ceives an annual grant from Washington County for its recycling program; in 2011, the amount received was $53,150. The County established the program for communities to use toward paying for administering re- cycling programs, conducting waste education programs in schools, developing and promoting additional recycling opportunities for residents, and establishing a recycling rewards program for residents. The money for the grants comes from the local recycling development grant, a metropolitan landfill surcharge, a solid waste tax, and the County Environmental Charge. Discussion Curbside Solid Waste & Recycling The City of Cottage Grove has three residential solid waste and recycling haulers. Tennis Sani- tation and Tennis Brothers Sanitation provide weekly solid waste and recycling collection, while Waste Management Inc. provides weekly solid waste collection and bi- weekly recycling collec- tion. All three companies take residential solid waste to the RRT Newport Resource Recovery Facility in Newport. Each of the haulers operates their own state -of- the -art single sort recycling facilities that sort all recyclables from the recycling stream. In 2010, approximately 5,513 tons were collected at residential curbsides by the licensed solid waste haulers. The table below is the recyclables per capita diverted in 2009 and 2010 for communities in Washington County. Although the rate decreased for Cottage Grove in 2010, the rate per capita is high. Response to Recycling Grant Inquiry July 7, 2011 Page 2 Community ton 302 337 iytown Twp 145.1 1c rchwood 227.4 165 rttage Grove 326.1 319 I l wood 278.8; 237 a n m a rk Two 208.4, 400 Forest Lake , . _..�.. _.. ,. 177.8 189. orant, 220.3 213 Grey Cloud Island Twp 536.5 590. Hugo 153.5 152.. Lake Elmo 180.1 176.. Lake St. Croix Beach 241.2 231.' Lakeland 180.8 190. Lakeland Shores 158.6 170. Landfall 338.81 377. Ma htom e d i w _ „ ...,,_.___ 233.5 _ _, ,.____._ 239. .,,,,,_.,,_. .. .v.. .- Marine on St. Croix ........ . .... . .. 298.4 May Township 20 New Scandia Twp 115.4 125. Newport 134.3 149. Oakdale 181.6 155. Pine Springs 244.3 229. St. Mary's Point 233.1 221. St. Paul Park 213.8 222. Stillwater Twp 140.2 183. West Lakeland Twp 212.3 195. White Bear Lake 276.9 Willernie 166.6' 163. Woodbury 206.2! 167. City Recycling Programs Each City employee has the opportunity to recycle at his or her desk and at various locations throughout the city buildings. In 2008, the City increased its recycling collection by recycling in the parks buildings during the summer and the City's Ice Arena. The Cottage Grove Recreation Department has several summer programs in the parks buildings during the summer months and they divert a great deal of solid waste out of the waste stream by recycling. The recycling containers in the parks are also used on weekends by residents who rent the buildings for vari- ous events such as family reunions, etc. The Cottage Grove Ice Arena has also diverted a great deal of waste from the solid waste stream, saving the city solid waste disposal costs. Recycling Grant There are two parts of the recycling grant. The first is the base funding that is available for activ- ities that sustain the city's existing recycling program, such as: Response to Recycling Grant Inquiry July 7, 2011 Page 3 • Administering a recycling ordinance or contract, responding to recycling information requests, or procuring curbside recycling bins. • Compiling reports and information associated with a recycling program; or • Providing waste reduction and recycling information through newsletter articles, brochures, and websites. The second part of the recycling grant is the funding of four projects that increase the aware- ness and participation in waste reduction, recycling, or backyard composting activities. The following are the four projects that the City of Cottage Grove is undertaking in 2011: • In 2011, the City of Cottage Grove is going to promote recycling by giving two $50 gift certificates weekly in a random drawing of Cottage Grove residents who ( "Get Caught Recycling ") place their recycling bins at the curb for pickup. • The City of Cottage Grove is going to promote recycling at elementary schools, daycares, recreation programs, and other various events throughout the year. Recycling will also be promoted at the Arbor Day Event, Spring Cleanup, and the Public Works Open House. • At the Night to Unite, the Public Works Department is going to promote composting by using compostable plates, silverware, and napkins. • In 2011, the City of Cottage Grove is going to promote recycling by publishing various news articles in the monthly Cottage Grove Reports, on the City's website, and on the City's facebook. The articles and campaign will be based on the Rethink Recycling marketing campaigns. 2011 Recycling Budget The Recycling Budget consists of personal services, commodities, and contractual services. Personal services are for the administrative expense to implement, maintain, or improve the performance of the curbside recycling program. Commodities expenditures include the purchase of promotional displays for the promotion of recycling at city events. The contractual services expenditures include the following: • Gift Cards for "Get Caught Recycling" • Promotion recycling giveaways • Curbside recycling containers • Recycling memberships • Printing and postage for mailings Personal Services (Salaries and Benefits) $44,500.00 Commodities $3,000.00 Contractual Services Promotional & Events $11,900.00 Total $59,400.00 Event Recycling In 2009, the City of Cottage Grove Public Works Department started to provide event recycling containers for residents who would like to recycle at graduation, retirement, family reunion, and wedding events in Cottage Grove. Residents can reserve these event recycling containers for free by calling Cottage Grove Public Works. The City also recycles at many events that they Response to Recycling Grant Inquiry July 7, 2011 Page 4 sponsor, such as the Strawberry Festival, where approximately 500 pounds were diverted from the solid waste stream in 2010 and 1,200 pounds were collected in 2011. Since 2004, the City has purchased the following items with the grant to promote recycling, reduce, and reuse: • Curbside recycling containers for residents. • Event recycling containers for residents to use for private events. • Various promotional items to give to children and residents such as: o Pencils made from recycled paper o Coloring books promoting recycling o Reusable fabric bags to use for grocery shopping o Subsidizing the purchase of rain barrels for residents o Recycling displays to set up at city events c And various other promotional items for children 2011 Recycling Proiects and Public Education • Public Education at various city events such as: Arbor Day event, Night to Unite, and the Public Works Open House. • CG Report Articles • Various recycling articles promoting curbside recycling • Promote the Washington Co. Environmental Center • Promote the Spring Clean up and Household Hazardous Waste Event • Promote the City's Compost Site • Promote the City's used oil and oil filter recycling program • Promote various Rethink Recycling marketing campaigns • Elementary School presentations in conjunction with Earth Day • Recreation Program presentations at four city parks in conjunction with summer recreation programs. • Get Caught Recycling 2011 or 2012 Recycling Project • City staff is currently looking into recycling in city parks. At this time we are planning on setting up a recycling program for Highlands, Hamlet, Woodridge, Oakwood, Kingston, and Lamar Parks. The recycling program would concentrate around the park buildings, ball fields, playgrounds, and soccer fields. • Food recycling at Oltman Jr. High School. 2012 Recycling Projects and Public Education • Compost Container Sales at the 2012 Arbor Day Event. Response to Recycling Grant Inquiry July 7, 2011 Page 5 Implement a recycling program at the new Public Safety /City Hall and the outdoor area around it. Conclusion In 2004, the City allowed the recycling haulers to implement a single -sort recycling collection system. This has allowed all residents to place recyclables in a single container rather than placing them in separate containers. This has increased recycling participation in Cottage Grove. The goal by the City is to increase recycling by continuing to educate the public about the importance of recycling.