SR-510-003 (12)
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Santa Monica, California October 3, 1977
s/ t!)- 003
I ( e
To:
Mayor and City Council
From:
City Staff
OCT 1 1 1971
Subj ect:
Proposed White Paper Recycling Project for City Hall
BACKGROUND
Staff members of General Services and the Energy Conservation Project
(a CETA funded project to encourage conservation within the City) have
been developing a program to recycle white office paper within CIty Hall.
The contractor to whom the paper will be sold will supply desk-side
containers for each employee, plus large containers to be placed in
strategic areas; provide a staff education program, and pick up the
recycled paper bl-IfJeekly. It IS estimated that the average office
employee generates approximately .51 lbs. of \vhlte paper per day. If
200 employees recycle all of their white paper, thiS averages out to
about 2,040 lbs. per month or one short ton.
Depending on the current price of recycled white paper, the City could
make between $50 and $80 per month for this ton of paper. There are
additional benefits to be realized: Costs to the City of haul ing away City
Hallls refuse may be reduced by as much as 30 to 40%. (White paper makes
up approximately 1/3 of the average office's refuse. Our Department of
Sanitation estimates that 500 lbs. of trash are hauled away daily). Less
refuse Will be transported by municipal services to landfill and the
conservation ethic is a good one to promote.
lie"
OCT 1 1 \977
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To: Mayor and Council
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October 3, 1977
There are many recycl ing programs throughout Santa Monica and Los Angeles.
Most noteworthy are those of the Santa Monica Unified School District
Administrative offices across the street from City Hall, and at Los
Angeles City Hall. Both are similar to the program proposed and both
are quite successful. Santa Monica School District's program is one-year
old and Los Angeles City Hall IS is six-months old. The only problem that
has come up IS the lack of participation by some employees in the school
district program. It is bel ieved that an education program would alleviate
this problem.
There will be no direct charge to the City by the contractor for this
program. An indirect charge will be the time spent by one staff member
of the Energy Conservation Project in helping the contractor set up the
program and acting as coordinator within Cith Hall. It is expected that
this time will not be more than five hours per week on the average.
ANALYStS
A request for proposal was prepared and submitted to nineteen companies in
the greater Los Angeles Area. The purchasing agent received responses from
Ecolo-Haul, Cal-West By-Products, and Sunset Fibre Industries. The proposals
were reviewed by General Services and Energy Conservation Project Staff.
The following crIteria were used to judge the proposals: I) prices to be paid
for the Cityls white paper, 2) equipment and educational materials provided
to the City for carrying out the recycl ing program, 3) experience of the
company, particularly with recycling programs; 4) performance In other
recycling programs.
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To. Mayor and Council
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October 3, 1977
The results of the staff rev i e~" are as fo I lows:
Ecolo-Haul Cal-West Sunset
I. P r ices to be
paid for S50 $80 543-60
Wh I te Paper per ton
2. Equipment &
materials to Yes Yes Yes with
be provided reservation""
3. Expe r i ence 8 years as 25 years as 25 years as
in field recye I in 9 co. paper stock paper stock
dealer dealer
4. Performance
in other
reeye II n9 Good Good Good
programs
* Does not think desk-side containers are successful and will provide
the~ With 15% reduction in bId price which IS Indicated in column above.
(Stated bid price was S50-70.)
ALTERNATIVES
1. Award contract to Ecolo-Haul as best bidder. ThiS firm is the most
experienced and has set up a successful program at Santa MonIca School District.
Ecolo-Haul has appropriate publ icity materials and has had substantial experl-
ence in cart1ing out educational progra~s. Ecolo-Haul is a local firm with
establ ished recycling centers in Santa Monica and West Los Angeles.
2. Award contract to Cal-West as hlgest bidder. Hmo/ever, Cal-West has not
had experience establishing this type of white-paper recycling program.
According to the staff member responsible for L.A. City Hall IS White Paper
Recycling program an education component is essential for adequate parti-
cipatlon. If the city were to utilIze an inexperienced contractor, the
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To. Mayor and Council
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October 3, 1977
success of the program would require large amounts of staff time spent
on providing education and monitorIng to ensure participation. Therefore,
the potentially high revenues to be obtained from a contract with this bidder
would be offset by reduced participation, increased staff time and additional
expenditures for publIcity materials.
RECOMMENDATION
City Staff recommends the City Counc,l select AlternatIve I and authorize
the City Manager to contract with Ecolo~Haul for the purpose of establishing
a white-paper recycl ing program within City Hall for a period of three years.
Prepared by: Lyn Corum
Stan Scholl