2009 Accomplishments 2009 Accomplishments

Solid Waste Management Solid Waste Management Coordinating BoardCoordinating Board

January 27, 2010

SWMCB OperationsSWMCB Operations

• Focused on policy development and intergovernmental coordination.

• Strengthened partnership with MPCA through several policy initiatives.

• Expanded contacts with industry, AMC, MRRA, environmental organizations, and municipalities through the waste forums.

Regional Policy: Overview

• Successfully promoted Compostable Bag Legislation.

• Retained LRDG and MLAA funding for counties when it was in jeopardy.

• Advanced the Paint Product Stewardship bill through the House and Senate; ultimately vetoed by the Governor.

Regional Policy: Legislative

Regional Policy: Forums

Product Stewardship and Local Government ForumNational and State Product Stewardship leaders working to advance product stewardship.

Exploring Waste Processing TechnologiesPartnered with MRRA to learn about emerging technologies in the U.S. and approaches to WTE in Europe.

E-Waste•The SWMCB, MPCA and its partners continued to work on the successful implementation of the e-waste product stewardship law.•Communications campaign promoted electronics recycling as part of the DTV transition.

Regional Policy: Product Stewardship

Paint•Advanced plans for the Minnesota Paint Product Stewardship Demonstration project, prior to the Governor's veto.

Regional Policy: Source Separated

Organics Management

• Developed a Compostable Bag Toolkit to inform residents and haulers on new law.

• Worked with MPCA to identify the financial, regulatory and policy barriers impeding the expansion of Source Separated Organics Management.

• Began identifying the regional role in organics management.

Tear-Off Shingles

In collaboration with the MPCA, SWMCB succeeded in advocating for the addition of a Mn/DOT permissive specification that would allow for 5% tear-off shingles in hot-mix asphalt for 2010.

Regional Policy: Waste Streams

Regional PolicyPartnershipsRegional Policy:

Policy Development

• Entered into a MOU with MPCA to jointly develop the Policy Plan.

• Participated in the MPCA Integrated Solid Waste Stakeholder Process and the Metro Centroid subgroup.

• Developed options for Regional Processing of MSW.

Created 2008 Annual Results Report on findings related to the management of 3.2 million tons

of MSW in the SWMCB region in 2008.

Regional Policy: Data Management

( 43%) ( 33%) ( 23%)

Collaborative ActivitiesHousehold Hazardous Waste

Reciprocal Use Agreement

Staff conducted an evaluation of the Reciprocal Use Agreement.

Updates to the Reciprocal Use Agreement: • Term extended five years.• Use of a regional per vehicle fee versus county-specific fees.

Worked with the MPCA on regulatory and management issues associated with healthcare hazardous waste.

Collaborative Activities: Household and Hazardous Waste

Collaborative ActivitiesSolid Waste

2009 Hauler Licensing• Under the SWMCB JPA, the region collaboratively

issued 234 base and 546 operating licenses to MSW haulers for the 2009-10 license year.

• Licensed 1,669 trucks.

Collaborative Activities: Hauler Licensing

• 19* SWMCB and County funded grants to non-profit organizations to work on waste and toxicity reduction.

*includes four grants funded through Hennepin County’s coordinated, but separately managed program.

Communications and Outreach: Community POWER

Communications and Outreach: RethinkRecycling.com

Rebranded the Green Guardian campaign as Rethink Recycling

•In 2009 the campaign had over 27 million impressions.•Partners including counties, cities and Community POWER grantees generated an additional 3.5 million impressions. •RethinkRecycling.com had over 168,000 visits.•Launched social marketing campaign (Facebook, Twitter and Blog).

Communications and Outreach: Media Outreach

• Three Advertising Campaigns:– Rebranding Rethink

Recycling and General Recycling Messages (Residents)

– Ewaste Recycling (Residents and Businesses)

– Resourceful Waste Management Guide Update (Businesses)

• Using TV and Web• 13 Million Consumer

Impressions in 2009!

Communications and Outreach: Events and Outreach

• Living Green Expo– Updated the promotional and

display pieces.– The expo outreached to over 25,000

visitors.• Minnesota State Fair

In partnership with the MPCA, updated the Trash Mountain exhibit to include interactive composting exhibit, new recycling game, and rebrand the exhibit.

Outreached to both less aware citizens and zealots.

The Eco-Experience Building outreached to over 350,000 visitors.

Communications and Outreach: Public Relations

• Using the “Trigger” strategy, the SWMCB focused on timely topics and news items to increase media coverage of RethinkRecycling.com and SWMCB spokes people.

• 11 triggers in 2009:TV/Electronics - DTV Switch - Waste Reduction -

Earth Day Composting - Away from Home Recycling - Back-to-School Minnesota State Fair -

RWMG - America Recycles Day - Waste Free Holidays

• Reaching 11 million people in 2009!

Special Projects

• HAZWOPER (hazardous waste operator training) Held annual recertification training for more than

92 hazardous waste staff.• Very Small Quantity Generator Data Base

Electronically tracked hazardous waste manifest data for counties.

• Community POWER Eight county-funded grants in 2009.

Special Projects

Administration

• Entered into 32 contracts and Community POWER Grant Agreements.

• Dakota County continued to manage the SWMCB’s finances.

• Ramsey County provide legal services.• Updated SWMCB.org with technical reports and

toolkit pieces.• Prepared 2010 Work Plan and Budget.

Administration

2008 SWMCB Board Members

Chair: Commissioner Jim Kordiak, Anoka County

Vice Chair: Commissioner Victoria Reinhardt, Ramsey County

Secretary/Treasurer: Commissioner Joseph Harris, Dakota County

Commissioner Dick Lang, Anoka County

Commissioner Jim Ische, Carver County

Commissioner Tom Workman, Carver County

Commissioner Kathleen Gaylord, Dakota County

Commissioner Jan Callison, Hennepin County

Commissioner Peter McLaughlin, Hennepin County

Commissioner Janice Rettman, Ramsey County

Commissioner Gary Kriesel, Washington County

Commissioner Lisa Weik, Washington County

Tim Scherkenbach, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency

2009 SWMCB Members

2009 County 2009 County AccomplishmentsAccomplishments

Anoka County

• Implemented new contract with RRT Elk River Resource Recovery Facility (ERRRF) to maintain garbage processing through 2012.

• Improved process for sale and distribution of backyard compost bins through garden centers. Partnership with garden centers offers exposure to centers’ customers and year-round availability of compost bins.

• Developed a recycling assistance program for schools and municipalities. Kicked off the program in 2009 with workshop and recycling bin grants to participating entities. Awarded 1,800 recycling bins to all public school districts in the county, four private schools and 19 municipalities. Site visits to be conducted in 2010.

Anoka County (cont.)• Implemented 5 year contract with Veolia ES Technical

Solutions, L.L.C., to operate county household hazardous waste (HHW) facility, thereby providing continuity of service for residents for HHW collection and product reuse at established location. Participation increased 8 percent in 2009 compared to previous year.

• Prepared publication for county businesses that identifies available recycling opportunities and consultation services. Publication to be distributed by direct mail, at events, and during hazardous waste inspections.

• Distributed Anoka County Event Recycling Guide to all municipalities and loaned recycling containers to facilitate recycling at community events. County also provided recycling logo labels to municipalities and National Sports Center to make their recycling containers readily identifiable.

Carver County

• Set record for annual attendance at the County’s permanent HHW/recycling facility, the Environmental Center (EC) with 23,451 visitors in 2009 (18,932 visitors in 2008).

• Achieved dramatic increases in volumes collected for several material streams collected at the EC resulting in record annual collection totals:

– 3,448 appliances collected & recycled (26% increase from 2008).

– Nearly 25,000 lamps collected (more than 50% increase from 2008).

– 508,125 lbs of Residential Consumer Electronics collected & recycled (56% increase from 2008).

Carver County (cont.)

• Reduced spending on non-county labor sources to operate the Environmental Center by 12% from 2008. Improved labor efficiency is attributed to sustained County oversight of the EC using full-time staff , as well as increased utilization of Sentenced to Serve and Community Work Service crews.

• Provided collection opportunities to residents for items that are difficult to dispose of. In 2009, Carver County collected more than 90,000 lbs. of carpet for recycling.

Carver County (cont.)• Worked with the Adult Training and Habilitation Center

(ATHC) to expand recycling and special waste services for western Carver County by adding a new full service recycling facility in the City of Watertown.

– New facility scheduled to open in June 2010, providing employment for 25 individuals, including disabled adults, and alleviating pressure from the Chaska Environmental Center.

– Facility estimated to process 1 million pounds of recyclables and provide education to 15,000 individuals in the first year.

• Worked with haulers to offer both residential and commercial organics collection throughout the county.  

– County applied for a MPCA grant to reopen the Arboretum Organics Compost site at a new location on Arboretum property to provide a convenient location to deliver organics for Carver County haulers.

Dakota County

• Worked with the Dakota County Transportation Department to facilitate the inclusion of specifications for the use of tear-off shingles in road construction project bids.

• Collected and properly disposed of over 3.1 million pounds of household hazardous waste, an increase of approximately 10% over 2008.

• Collected approximately 900,000 pounds of electronics from households during 2009, making up 30% of the total household hazardous waste managed in Dakota County.

• Diverted approximately 65,000 pounds of reusable household goods from disposal, through the County-supported Twin Cities Free Market program.

Dakota County (cont.)

• Enhanced recycling in schools in Districts 192 and 197 through infrastructure support and technical assistance, including program development, implementation, education, and evaluation, resulting in a 47% increase in recycling in these two Districts.

• Diverted approximately 40 tons of food waste from the solid waste disposal system through a partnership with communities and schools.

• Launched the Rethink Recycling campaign to Dakota County residents and employees.

• Supported four Community POWER projects.

• Received a NACO achievement award for the Dental Hazardous Waste Generator self audit pilot project in which 450 dentists completed audits over the course of a year. The majority were found to be in basic compliance.

– Process would have taken 3-5 years if county had used inspection process.

– County continues to use the self audit process to review other healthcare businesses, including medical clinics and pharmacies, and is currently developing a generic self audit which will be used to provide compliance information and license potential generators in a wide variety of industries.

Hennepin County

Hennepin County (cont.)• Expanded recycling of organic waste materials to over 80

schools in nine school districts and collected 7,000 tons of organic waste at the county’s transfer station for composting.

– Participating schools have reported reducing their trash service by 50%, as well as dramatic increases in their recycling diversion numbers.

• Supported PPL, a jobs training organization under contract with Hennepin County, to implement a mattress recycling program.

– In 2009 PPL recycled 3,966 mattresses. PPL received $59,500 in fees and $7,500 from commodity sales for metal and foam. PPL uses 1.5 FTE’s for the mattress program.

Hennepin County (cont.)• Partnered with RAM and the bottling industry to place

recycling bins for beverage containers at 10 Holiday Stores across the county.

– The “Message in a Bottle” program uses PPL to collect the containers for recycling.

– PPL collected 17 tons of plastic bottles using 1.5 FTE’s. PPL also collected 49 tons of plastic bags.

• Completed significant landscape improvements on HERC grounds to make the plant more neighborhood-friendly.

• Completed an upgrade to the steam turbine at HERC to produce more electricity and extract steam for District Energy.

– Modifications will result in additional electrical output to Xcel Energy and steam distribution to NRG Energy Center Minneapolis, which provides heating and chilling services to downtown Minneapolis customers.

Ramsey County• Continued to provide convenient household hazardous waste

services to residents, with either a year-round site or satellite collection site within a 15 minute drive of almost every household in Ramsey County. – In 2009 participation increased 12% over 2008, with over

27,000 site visits delivering almost 1.5 million pounds of material.

• Continued to provide yard waste collection services to residents, serving over 429,000 visitors in 2009. – Over 132,000 cubic yards of grass and leaves were

collected for composting, and 113,000 cubic yards of tree and shrub waste were collected for use as biomass fuel at District Energy.

– Worked closely with the Departments of Agriculture and Natural Resources, and the City of Saint Paul, to assure proper management of ash trees from the Emerald Ash Borer quarantine area.

Ramsey County (cont.)

• Expanded services related to GreenGatherings by serving a wide variety of events and festivals, including the Governor’s Fishing Opener in White Bear Lake, Grand Old Days, Rondo Days, Cinco de Mayo and others.

• Regulated solid and hazardous waste activities to assure compliance with state and local regulations

– Licensed 1,929 hazardous waste generators, conducting 1,785 inspections and self-audit reviews of those generators.

– Licensed 14 hazardous waste facilities and conducted 50 inspections of them, and licensed 9 solid waste facilities conducting 75 inspections.

– Provided 2,912 phone consultations to businesses, 196 educational site visits to businesses, and 29 formal training sessions attended by 667 employees of hazardous waste generators.

Ramsey County (cont.)

• Implemented new provisions in the County’s Solid and Hazardous Waste ordinances related to demolition and deconstruction. – Conducted 223 pre-demolition inspections during which

various materials were identified and removed prior to disposal.

– An estimated 529,000 pounds of hazardous waste and problem materials were removed and properly managed from 156 residential properties and 41 commercial/industrial properties prior to demolition.

• Collaborated with Washington County and the Saint Paul Port Authority to complete a feasibility study for a source separated organic anaerobic digestion project, and conducted follow up work to identify sources and availability of organic waste from commercial/industrial sources.

• Expanded outreach and education efforts in a variety of social media, including development of a new “A-to-Z” disposal guide; work with Spanish, Hmong and Somali speaking communities; special projects in schools throughout the County; and an extensive number of partnerships with municipalities, planning districts, non-profit organizations, and more.

Ramsey County (cont.)

Washington County

• Disseminated toxicity reduction information and strategies through Community POWER to 100% of class participants for a total of 52 parents through Mahtomedi Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE). Also trained 38 junior high youth from Guardian Angels Church in Oakdale at waste reduction workshops in order to present the information they learned to 276 youth attending the church’s summer day camps.

• Loaned ClearStream recycling bins from 4 locations throughout the county to 78 groups ranging from households holding graduation parties or family reunions to larger events like the Relay For Life and community festivals.

Washington County (cont.)• Conducted Post-Occupancy Evaluations (POE) on the Service

Center and Library in Forest Lake and Service Center in Cottage Grove, including an analysis of county progress in using Minnesota Sustainable Building Guidelines (MSBG), occupant satisfaction assessments, and analysis of energy and water use in the buildings compared to design.

• Continued third year of the agreement between Ramsey/Washington County Resource Recovery Project and Resource Recovery Technologies (RRT) for processing services at the Newport RDF facility.

• Obtained a GreenCorps Member funded through the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency to assist with establishing a system for tracking energy use and greenhouse gas emissions from county operations and help with establishing an energy reduction campaign for county employees.

Washington County (cont.)

• Opened the new Environmental Center in Woodbury to provide household hazardous waste collection, and continue the product reuse program and small business hazardous waste collection program. Also expanded the materials accepted (e.g. electronics) and the added drop-off service for residents and small businesses for common recyclables including paper, cardboard, bottles, and cans.

• Implemented a marketing-based approach to HHW communications based on results from focus groups and a telephone survey, which led to a new communications plan for the Environmental Center and remote events, as well as a new identity for the county’s HHW program.