SR 03-22-2016 3B
City Council
Report
City Council Meeting: March 22, 2016
Agenda Item: 3.B
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Martin Pastucha, Director, Public Works, Resource Recovery & Recycling
Subject: Refuse Disposal & Recycling Facilities and Processors
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council authorize purchase orders to be issued to the
following California-based companies: Commerce Refuse-To-Energy Facility, Southeast
Resource Recovery Facility; USA Waste of California Facilities: Agromin Organics
Recycling and Downtown Diversion; Texas-based company: Chiquita Canyon Landfill;
and Arizona-based company: Sunshine Canyon Landfill, to provide ongoing landfill and
recycling services. The annual amount over the next five years will not exceed
$6,352,500 per year.
Executive Summary
The use of the proposed landfill, transformation, and recycling facilities are major
components of a complex system of facilities that handle and dispose of waste
generated from residences, businesses and other sources in Santa Monica. Since
disposal sites are regulated to accept up to a maximum amount of tonnage daily, the
City must have several sites available to accept its solid waste materials on any given
day. In addition, as the City continues to encourage waste diversion and recycling
activities, provisions need to be made for continued organic and construction and
demolition processing options, and for future alternative technologies. Staff
recommends that purchase orders be issued to the facilities listed above to provide an
ongoing mix of landfill, transformation, composting, and recycling services to the City
over a five-year period at a total cost not to exceed $6,352,500 annually. The amount
of each purchase order would be determined by materials generated and facility
availability to process those materials.
Background
Prior to June 2011, Resource Recovery and Recycling (RRR) would issue annual
purchase orders to landfills, waste-to-energy facilities and recycling processors as
required for the disposal and processing of the solid waste stream collected and
ansfer Station.
On June 28, 2011, Council approved the issuance of purchase orders to Commerce
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Refuse-To-Energy Facility, Southeast Resource Recovery Facility, Community
Recycling, Puente Hills Landfill, Chiquita Canyon Landfill; and Sunshine Canyon Landfill
for a five year period (Attachment A).
In November 2012, Resource Recovery & Recycling was advised by Community
permitting restrictions. After a competitive process, Agromin Organics Recycling Facility
and USA Waste of California were selected and added to the authorized list of approved
processing facilities on June 25, 2013 (Attachment B).
The following is the amount of tons delivered to each facility in calendar year 2015:
Chiquita Canyon Landfill 53,234.71
Sunshine Canyon Landfill 6,109.66
Commerce Refuse-To-Energy 6,926.28
Southeast Resource Recovery Facility 6,091.41
USA Waste of California d/b/a Agromin Organics 12,934.99
Recology Los Angeles 1,618.90
USA Waste of California d/b/a Downtown Diversion 1,354.27
Total * 88,270.22
*The total does not include recycling tonnage processed by the City contractor Allan
Company.
Discussion
These landfill and recycling facilities are a major component to a complex system of
facilities that handle and dispose of waste and commodities generated from residences,
businesses and other sources in Santa Monica. As the City moves towards zero waste,
continued efforts need to be made to protect the health, welfare and safety of its citizens
by addressing disposal needs.
Since 2011, some of the changes in solid waste processing and handling include:
December 2011 -
July 2012 - All businesses generating 4 cubic yards of waste per week, and
multi-family complexes of 5 units or more must have a recycling program in
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place. Cities are also required to implement a plan that includes education,
outreach, and monitoring of its recycling programs per AB 341, which was
enacted in October 2011.
November 2012 - Community Recycling advises the City that due to permitting
June 2013 -
organic waste, which includes residential green/food waste, commercial food
waste and street sweeping debris
October 2013 - Closure of the Puente Hills Landfill
May 2014 - Council adopted the Zero Waste Strategic Operations Plan
March 2015 - Community Recycling merged with Recology. Recology assumes
raised the construction and demolition debris tipping fees in August becoming too
cost prohibitive to continue to use this facility.
September 2015 -
construction & demolition debris.
April 2016 - All jurisdictions are required to implement an organic waste recycling
program for businesses that generate 8 cubic yards of organic waste per week
per AB1826, enacted in September 2014. Included in the legislation is outreach,
education and monitoring of the organics waste program.
More changes are expected over the next five years as the City moves towards
diverting material from the waste stream, increasing recycling and composting activities,
and planning for a wet/dry collection system. The City will need to remain flexible and
open to new ideas and technologies in order to meet these new challenges.
Vendor Selection
There are seven active landfill facilities in Los Angeles County. Of the seven facilities,
three can only be used for trash collected in the City of Los Angeles, and two are
located in the Palmdale/Lancaster area, which makes use of these locations
problematic due to hauling distance and cost. The City currently uses the remaining
two landfill facilities: Chiquita Canyon and Sunshine Canyon.
Chiquita Canyon Landfill in Castaic, owned and operated by Waste Connections, Inc.
(corporate headquarters is located in Texas),
However, its operating permit is due to expire in 2019. In 2011, Waste Connections
resubmitted an application to request an expansion of the waste footprint and an
increase in the permitted daily disposal. The application is currently in environmental
review.
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Sunshine Canyon Landfill in Sylmar, owned by Republic Services Inc. (corporate
Sunshine Canyon is recommended for its proximity to Santa Monica and freeway
accessibility. This facility is actually closer to Santa Monica than Chiquita Canyon;
-based companies would only authorize
utilization if Chiquita Canyon is not available. If these landfills were no longer available
for use, the City may need to consider using the Palmdale/Lancaster Landfills or
exporting waste to privately-owned facilities in other counties such as Orange, San
Bernardino, Riverside and Ventura County.
Presently there are two transformation facilities (Commerce and SERRF) that use waste
to produce energy operated by Los Angeles County Sanitation. CalRecycle authorizes
the City to receive up to 10% diversion credit for use of the waste-to-energy facilities.
A main component of the Zero Waste Strategic Operations Plan is to increase organics
waste participation and processing at sites other than landfills. With the enactment of
AB 1826, which requires all jurisdictions to implement an organic waste recycling
program for businesses generating 8 cubic yards of organic waste per week, finding the
right partner is crucial. There are limited composting facilities in Los Angeles County
and none that could accept food soiled paper that is acce
recycling containers. USA Waste of California and the Agromin Organics Recycling
Compost Facility located in Ventura County would be
requirements.
Additionally, the Zero Waste Strategic Operations Plan recommends use of alternative
disposal technologies. The Agromin Organics Recycling Compost Facility is expected
to open an anaerobic digestion facility. An anaerobic digestion facility refers to a facility
that biologically decomposes organic matter with little or no oxygen in a fully enclosed
structure to produce biogas, liquid fertilizer and compost. As an alternative CR&R
Waste and Recycling Services continues construction of an anaerobic digestion facility
at their Material Recovery Facility and transfer station in Perris, CA. The facility is
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expected to be partially operational in 2016. Anaerobic digestion is a recommended
alternative technology identified in
Efforts to use this type of organics processing will be on-going in the next five years,
depending upon availability.
, which
reverses the hierarchy, by regarding landfills and transformation facilities to be final
disposal sites, only after all other efforts have been exhausted. Therefore, staff
continues to research and investigate the feasibility of working with Los Angeles
County, other jurisdictions and private partners on identifying alternative disposal
options.
Staff recommends that the City Council authorize the purchase orders with the identified
vendors including Sunshine Canyon Landfill, operated by the Arizona-based company
Republic Services Inc., as the disposal option if Chiquita Canyon Landfill is not
available. These facilities are recommended because they are the most cost effective
and efficient means for the City to provide resource recovery and waste disposal
services.
Currently, the gate rate at the landfills is increasing annually between 5 to 10 percent
and the use of the refuse-to-energy facilities will add a 25-percent premium to the cost
of disposal. The cost to redirect construction & demolition waste from the landfills
comes at a higher premium with annual increases between 15 to 20 percent. The cost
for combining the organics waste, green waste, food waste and street sweeping debris,
increased the facility rate by 55 percent. Based upon the identified trending facility rate
increases staff is requesting a not to exceed amount of $6,352,500 per year in
anticipation of the cost increase and use of more progressive processing technologies.
As the City begins to approach the annual not to exceed amount a rate study will need
to be performed to analysis the financial impacts.
Financial Impacts and Budget Actions
The combined total amount of the purchase orders to be issued in FY2016-17 is
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$4,235,000 as follows:
Chiquita Canyon Landfill $1,500,000
USA Waste of California d/b/a Agromin Organics $1,250,000
Commerce Refuse-To-Energy $600,000
Sunshine Canyon Landfill $350,000
Southeast Resource Recovery Facility $285,000
USA Waste of California d/b/a Downtown Diversion $250,000
Funds are included in the FY 2016-17 Budget Plan in the Public Works Department.
The purchase orders will be charged to account 27441.555070 Recycling/Disposal
Fees. Budget authority for subsequent years will be requested at each biennial budget
cycle for Council approval.
Prepared By:
Annette Morales, Principal Public Works Analyst
Approved Forwarded to Council
Attachments:
A. June 28, 2011 Staff Report (Weblink)
B. June 25, 2013 Staff Report (Weblink)
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