Solid Waste Program Collection Service Methods: Manual v Curbcart

1. Solid Waste Program Collection Service Methods: Manual v Curbcart Presentation to: City of Saginaw City Council July 15, 2013 6:30 pm Monica Duebbert MMWA General Manager 989-781-9555

2. What is MMWA? • Mid Michigan Waste Authority is a government service • Formed in 1991 by 12 municipalities (including the City of Saginaw) • Solid waste services began in 1995 • Achieve better pricing/more services by creating cooperative group of communities • Now serve 35 municipalities • equates to app. 99% of county population plus three townships in Gratiot County (204,000 pop}

3. MMWA Mission Provide a quality, cost-effective, environmentally sound, integrated solid waste system for our members

4. MMWA Members - 35 Albee Township JonesfieldTownship Bethany Township Kochville Township Birch Run - Village Lakefield Township Birch Run Township Maple Grove Township Blumfield Township Marion Township Brady Township Merrill - Village Brant Township Richland Township Breckenridge – Village Saginaw - City Bridgeport Township Saginaw Township Buena Vista Township St. Charles - Village Carrollton Township St. Charles Township Chapin Township Spaulding Township Chesaning - Village Swan Creek Township Chesaning Township Thomas Township Frankenmuth - City Tittabawassee Twp Frankenmuth Township Wheeler Township Fremont Township Zilwaukee - City James Township

5. Diverse Membership = Variety • The mixture of population density and economic characteristics impact a variety of solid waste system issues: • type of services needed/wanted • collection efficiencies • public education tools available • resident interest in sw alternatives • available funding for sw management

6. Why Create A Solid Waste System?

7. Benefits of MMWA Membership • Long term contracts keep costs lower as vendors have longer assured time of service and/or material stream • Long term membership allows members multi-year budget planning for sw services • Access to problem material programs that would not be available individually • Demonstrated expertise in developing and advancing the solid waste services system for members

8. MMWA Solid Waste System • Municipal Member Services • Offer a menu of residential curbside solid waste services for municipal members • Cover residential households • single family housing up to quadplexes • Recycling offered by all 35 MMWA members • Also offer separate programming for other problem wastes • Household Special Wastes disposal events • Electronic waste recycling events • Prescription disposal at HSW events

9. MMWA Solid Waste Services • Trash collection and disposal (2 levels) • Standard manual 33 gallon bags/can service • 96 wheeled curbcart service • Recycling collection and disposal (2 levels) • weekly • bi-weekly • Yard Waste collection and composting

10. SW Collection Services – 2015 and Beyond

11. Current Solid Waste System • MMWA’s current solid waste services contracts sunset at the end of 2014 • Working to develop service agreements for 2015 and beyond • Researched current, available methods, trends and technologies for the waste services offered membership: • residential solid waste collection • waste disposal • recyclables processing • yard waste composting

12. Current Material Collection Services • Two methods of trash collection service exist under the current agreement: • standard unlimited manual collection • 95-gal curbcart • All 35 MMWA members selected standard, manual curbside collection of all solid waste material streams • Recyclables and yard waste are also collected manually

13. Manual Service - Program Standard • The service standard for manual collection programs is the same across the nation: • 33 gallon/50 lb weight maximum for trash containers • 18 gallon recycling bins for manual recycling collection service • MMWA program is more expansive, allowing 2 bulkies and a bundle of brush with weekly trash

14. Manual Service Limitations • Manual service has limitations on the size and weight of the cans, bags and bins used for materials • In place to minimize the potential for injury to collection workers • Top resident complaints on curbside program all revolve around unintended side consequences of manual service: • small, light cans and lids (max 33 gal) blow and break easily (from wind, passing cars, etc) • Residents often seek larger cans to avoid these issues • Those cans are tagged as oversized and not serviced

15. Scope of Solid Waste Program • Requires between 28 and 47 trucks a day to service MMWA member residents • Provide collection services 5 days a week in between 5 and 11 communities a day • Waste collection services proved to more than 750,000 service points/month

16. Curbcart Collection Service Trash Wastestream

17. Curbcart Collection Service – Trash Stream • Curbcart collection is used for a variety of solid waste materials collection across communities of all sizes • Using curbcarts for several MMWA member residential solid waste material streams offers a number of advantages over manual collection

18. Advantage A: Safety / Ease of Use • Removes workers’ back, shoulders and most hand use from service provision • Adds to ease of use for collection workers getting materials on the truck • Wheeled, lidded cart easy for resident and workers to use/maneuver

19. Advantage B: SW Services Cost Containment • MMWA already has pricing for curbcart trash collection service selection • Pricing is cheaper than manual service or no increase in 3 of 6 MMWA service zones • Carts leased through vendor with repair/replace warranty • Reduces truck traffic; collection efficiencies mean fewer trucks/routes needed in larger communities • Eliminates residents need to buy and replace garbage cans

20. Advantage C: Curbcart Trash Pricing Precedent • MMWA current collection agreement offers pricing for optional curbcart trash collection service • Pricing cheaper than manual service or no increase in 3 of 6 zones: • Zone 1 & City Zone = decrease $0.10/hshld/month • Zone 2 = same price / no increase • Zone 3 & Zone 4 = increase $0.42/hshld/month • Zone 5 = increase $0.62/hshld/month

21. Advantage D: Standardization of Service • Same cart(s) for all community residents and all members • Eliminates most current program complaint issues: 33 Gal Can IssueW/ Curbcart Can blew/thrown Curbcart sturdy, very wind resistant Lid blew/gone Lid securely attached to cart Can broken Vendor cart repair/replace program Stickered as oversized Curbcart size(s) same for all residents • Curbcart damage covered under lease with repair/replace provision • More uniform look at the curb in community, improving community aesthetics

22. Advantage E: Incentivizes Recycling • The more bin capacity provided residents for recyclables, the more likely they will participate in recycling • By having a limit on how much trash will go in a curbcart, recycling becomes a more attractive option • If using a curbcart for recycling also, increases capacity and municipal support of recycling as a mainstream waste mgmt option 

23. Curbcart Collection Service Recyclables Wastestream

24. Curbcart Collection Service – Recyclables Stream • Moving to curbcart for recyclables can significantly increase recycling diversion rates • Recycling is further incentivized when communities offer curbcart service for the recyclables stream, in combo with single-stream collection/processing • High diversion + low contamination = single stream recycling collection + larger recycling containers

25. Curbcart Recycling Benefits • Many of the benefits of using curbcarts for trash collection are also pluses for using curbcarts for the recyclables stream: • Ease of use for resident and worker; no bending • Carts leased through vendor with 10 year repair/replace warranty • Reduces truck traffic; faster collection efficiencies mean fewer trucks/routes needed • Eliminates most current program complaint issues: • Bin too small • Paper blows out of recycling bin

26. Increased Ease of Recycling • Single stream recycling collection allows residents to put all recyclables in one container; no sorting • Expanded recyclables collection would allow residents to curbside recycle plastics #3 - #7 • Larger size container allows more/easier recycling without more bins needed • Eliminates residents need to buy and replace standard 18 gallon recycling

27. Curbcart Trash & Recycling Works Well • Curbcart programs work well in towns of all sizes • Large increases in recycling rate have been seen with the combo of large cart/single stream recycling • MMWA nearby neighbors, Bangor Twp and Monitor Twp, both have had curbcart trash collection for years; no resident issues reported • Several downstate authority members moved to curbcart for trash and recycling • high residential satisfaction and huge increase in diversion from landfill (40%+)

28. Diversion Increase Examples • Several RRRASOC communities moved to single-stream recycling with 65 gallon carts in mid 2012 • 61% increase in recyclables diversion over first six months • Alton, IL, similar in size and characteristics to Saginaw went to single stream recycling with curbcart • 100% increase in recycling diversion (6% to 12%) in first year/2012

29. Next Steps Timeline for Developing a New Collection Services Agreement

30. Over Next Several Months • MMWA Board of Trustees will be provided additional information on curbcart collection services and narrow down possible collection service option scenarios • Member community informational presentations on curbcart collection will continue

31. Collection Services Items to Determine • Type of collection method on which to get pricing : • Manual only • Curbcart only • Mix of curbcart and manual • Wastestream(s) to curbcart: • Trash • Recyclables • Both trash and recyclables 

32. Collection Services Items to Determine • If curbcart service(s) will be offered members: • Size of cart / carts • Developing a multiple cart size plan for selected wastestreams would allow members to have additional flexibility in the service levels they have to choose • Allow/offer multiple cart sizes across members and within a community • Number of carts allowed per household • Available styles/colors of carts

33. Collection Services Items to Determine • Select colors for curbcarts • one color for all trash carts across members (tan or grey) • one color for all recycling carts across members (green) • Recyclables processing method • Continue dual stream collection and sorting • Requires residents to sort fiber & hard containers separately • Switch to singe stream collection and sorting and expand allowed recyclables • No resident sorting needed • Add in plastics # 3 through #7 

34. October 2013 MMWA Board meeting • MMWA trustees determine what collection services options they want to include in request for proposals • Staff will develop RFP and release by end of 2013 • RFP will likely request pricing on several options: • Standard trash collection service • Standard trash and recyclables collection services • Curbcart service for multiple cart sizes and multiple wastestreams (trash and recycling) • Pricing tiered within each zone for percentage of participating members

35. MMW Board/Members-Early 2014 Looking to award contract in early 2014: • Allows members to select which services and cart sizes they want to offer their community based on vendor pricing received • Allows collection vendor to establish truck depot, if needed • Collection vendor has time to develop capital needed to make truck equipment modifications for curbcart service

36. MMW Board/Members-Early 2014 • Collection vendor must purchase anywhere from 50k to 150k curbcarts • Need multiple months to deliver selected curbcarts to applicable members housecount • MMWA will develop a public education campaign detailing the 2015 sw curbside program • Need to develop methods for distributing information to all 72,000+ MMWA member households

37. Contact info: Mid Michigan Waste Authority 989-781-9555 mmwa1991@yahoo.comwww.recyclemotion.org