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CC - Approval of the Submission of an Application to the Recycling Partnership Grant Program in the Amount of $263,370 for Recycling Cart Repair/Maintenance/Replacement and Resident Education.
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Contact Person/Dept: Catherine Vargas
Phone Number: 310 253 6411
Fiscal Impact: Yes [] No [X] General Fund: Yes [] No [X]
Public Hearing: [] Action Item: [] Attachments: Yes [] No [X]
Commission Action Required: Yes [] No [] Date:
Commission Name:
Public Notification: (E-Mail) Meetings and Agendas - City Council (03/24/16)
Department Approval: Charles D. Herbertson, Public Works Director/City Engineer (03/23/16)
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RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends the City Council authorize the submittal of a Recycling Partnership grant application in the amount of $263,370 for recycling cart repair/maintenance/replacement and resident education.
BACKGROUND
The Recycling Partnership is a 501(c) (3) non-profit, industry funded organization designed to transform curbside recycling programs nationwide through public-private partnerships. Funding partners include: Alcoa Foundation, Amcor, American Chemistry Council, American Forest & Paper Association, Association of Plastic Recyclers, Ball, Can Manufacturers Institute, Carton Council, Coca-Cola, Consumer Technology Association, Food Service Packaging Institute, Heineken, Keurig Green Mountain, Kimberly-Clark, Novelis, Procter & Gamble, Recycling Works in Publishing, SPI: The Plastic Industry Trade Association, Tri-Arrows Aluminum Inc., Waste Management and WestRock.
The Recycling Partnership recently released a request for proposals (RFP) for their Recycling Partnership Grant Program. Counties, municipalities, and solid waste authorities/districts are eligible for funding. Applications are due April 15, 2016. A local funding match is not required from applicants.
DISCUSSION
To accelerate the local level adoption of recycling best management practices, the Recycling Partnership uses highly leveraged grants coupled with technical assistance for improvement of curbside recycling programs.
The Recycling Partnership provides grant dollars for cart procurement, education and outreach materials. The Recycling Partnership also provides technical assistance support to communities for recycling operations. Grant funds cannot be used for purposes other than cart procurement, education, and outreach, except in the case of communities interested in pursuing secondary funding to complete a Waste Characterization Study.
The Refuse and Recycling Division of the Public Works Department typically must budget approximately $38-$50 per cart for a 64 or 96 gallon cart. This grant would cover $7 towards the cost of new blue recycling carts that the City purchases as part of the grant project.
The City’s grant proposal is for the purchase of new recycling carts that will have embedded Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Tags. These tags will allow the City to better assess participation in the recycling program.
Currently, the City provides once a week recycling on the residential routes, and residents are encouraged to recycle. Some multi-family housing locations would benefit from having the carts due to space constraints at their site, while other locations may be better suited for the larger 3 cubic yard containers and ineligible for the smaller 64 or 96 gallon carts.
The City currently has the need to replace carts as they are broken or missing. Typically, some carts of all three colors are replaced routinely on a weekly basis with the amount dependent on several factors such as: age or condition, customers calling in for replacement, or drivers identifying damaged or worn out carts in the field. Also, there are two multi-family locations that are still on the bag system and need to be converted requiring approximately 1,500 cans. Other carts will be used for single family home sites that require a replacement cart.
Securing the grant funding would assist the City by supplementing money used to purchase carts and allowing for an opportunity for the implementation of an RFID system.
Approximately 200-300 automated carts are picked up each quarter for replacement. The City contracts with a recycling vendor to recycle the old carts. Broken carts average about $1,000-$2,000 per load for the recycled value of the carts.
The project period must not exceed 15 months from award date. The Recycling Partnership expects that each grantee will begin to deploy carts no later than May 1, 2017.
The Recycling Partnership grant provides for the following:
• Cart procurement: $7.00 per cart delivered up to $500,000.
• Education and outreach implementation: $1.00 per household up to $50,000.
• Access to technical assistance and the CARTs campaign materials valued at $139,000.
If approved by City Council, staff will submit a grant application to the Recycling Partnership in the amount of $263,370 by the April 15, 2016 deadline.
FISCAL ANALYSIS
If the City is awarded the grant, no fiscal impacts are anticipated because the grant does not require a local matching contribution and funds are already budgeted for cart replacement. However, an unknown soft cost will be incurred in that staff will supervise the program and absorb the costs of deliveries and placements of carts as part of normal operations.
The City Council Adopted Budget for Fiscal Year 2015/2016 includes an amount for all carts and bin replacement parts and accessories in account 20260400.732100. This is an operational expense already established in the budget as a line item and includes the refurbishing or replacement of 2 cubic yard, 3 cubic yard, 4 cubic yard carts and replacement of automated carts.
ATTACHMENTS
None.
RECOMMENDED MOTION(S)
That the City Council:
Authorize the submittal of a Recycling Partnership grant application.