SR 04-24-2018 3K
City Council
Report
City Council Meeting: April 24, 2018
Agenda Item: 3.K
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To: Mayor and City Council
From: Susan Cline, Director, Public Works, Resource Recovery & Recycling
Subject: Execute Agreement for Food Waste Prevention and Rescue Grant Program
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. Authorize the City Manager to accept a grant awarded in the amount of $100,000
from the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery
(CalRecycle) Food Waste Prevention and Rescue Grant Program for a Santa
Monica food recovery and donation program, and to accept all grant renewals;
2. Authorize the City Manager to execute all necessary documents to accept the
grant and all grant renewals; and
3. Authorize budget changes as outlined in the Financial Impacts & Budget Actions
section of this report.
Executive Summary
In pursuing a sustainable city of wellbeing, the Council in 2014 adopted a policy of “Zero
Waste” with the goal of achieving 95% diversion by 2030. Every year, Santa Monica
residents and businesses throw away close to 6,000 tons of food that could potentially
be redistributed and consumed. The City has been awarded a $100,000 grant from the
California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) Food Waste
Prevention and Rescue Grant Program to address this issue. With the grant funding, the
City would develop a food recovery and donation pilot program to organize food forums,
raise awareness on food waste prevention and reduction, identify interested partners
and stakeholders, provide program participants with access to equipment, supplies, and
technology to facilitate donation storage and delivery, and collect data to measure
results. If successful, this program could be a resource for vulnerable local populations
and help the City achieve its sustainability goals. Staff recommends that Council
authorize the City Manager to accept the $100,000 CalRecycle Grant and execute all
necessary documents to accept the grant and all grant renewals.
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Background
On August 8, 2017, the City Council adopted resolution number 11073 (CCS)
authorizing staff to apply for all CalRecycle grants and the City Manager to execute all
related grant documents over five years through August 2022 (Attachment A).
Subsequently, staff applied for the CalRecycle Food Waste Prevention and Rescue
Grant Program. The first of its kind in CalRecycle history, the program aims to lower
statewide greenhouse gas emissions by supporting food waste prevention projects to
reduce the amount of food discarded in landfills.
On March 8, 2018, the State notified the City that it has been award ed $100,000 in
grant funding to develop a food recovery and donation program. The grant requires that
the funded program results in reductions in greenhouse gas emissions related to food
materials and increases in food materials diverted from landfill. There is no City match,
but costs must be incurred prior to April 2020 to be eligible for reimbursement.
Discussion
The latest data from CalRecycle estimated that approximately 32,513 tons of food
waste is generated in Santa Monica annually. Up to 18%, or 5,852 tons, is potentially
edible and could be recovered and redistributed. Restaurants are the largest producers
of food waste. One estimate indicated food service operations throw away up to 10% of
the food ingredients purchased before they reach consumers.
Accordingly, Santa Monica’s food recovery and donation pilot program funded by this
grant would focus on reducing food waste from the commercial sector. First, staff from
the Resource Recovery and Recycling Division and the Human Services Division would
connect to identify food donation and collection organizations that may be interested in
participating in the program. Concurrently, the City would also hire a non-profit
organization via a competitive bidding process to help coordinate and facilitate the
program. The non-profit would assist the City with hosting food forums by bringing
together stakeholders from local restaurants, grocery stores, businesses, and human
services organizations to begin a dialog on food waste prevention and donation. The
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goal of these conversations is to raise awareness, educate local constituents, gauge
interest and share ideas, identify potential partners, and develop a network of
businesses that generate food waste and organizations that could beneficially reuse
that food.
Once participating businesses who are interested in donating food as well as human
services organizations who are interested in receiving food have been identified, the
City may elect to enter into agreements with these stakeholders to ensure that they
meet the City’s and CalRecycle’s terms and conditions associated with program. Staff
from the Resource Recovery and Recycling Division and the non-profit would conduct
pre-waste audits at the participating business locations to benchmark the percentage of
edible versus non-edible food waste generated by these establishments. After the
preliminary audit, the City would provide program partners with necessary supplies and
equipment, such as containers and potentially refrigerators, for the safe storage and
delivery of the surplus food.
The partnered food donation and collection organizations would assist with identifying
local disadvantaged demographics that may benefit from receiving food donations.
Utilizing an existing mobile application, food donation an d collection would be made as
convenient and on-demand as possible for participants. The edible food collected would
be donated to the populations in need throughout the City; the remaining non -edible
food waste, including food-soiled paper, would be diverted from the landfill through
composting programs.
The pilot program would include periodic waste audits at each participating food
establishment to measure effectiveness, evaluate benchmarks, and set new goals. The
City would continue to track food donation and food waste reduction data to analyze
program success. The pilot program is anticipated to last up to two years, during which
time the City will be required to report periodic program updates to CalRecycle.
This pilot program intends to achieve m ultiple goals:
raise awareness about food waste prevention and reduction;
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provides an outlet, managed by the City, to redirect surplus food to the local
vulnerable populations;
aligns with the State’s Senate Bill 1383 requirements of recovering 20% of f ood
waste for human consumption by 2025; and
helps the City achieve its Council-adopted Zero Waste Goal by 2030.
Financial Impacts and Budget Actions
Award of a $100,000 grant from the CalRecycle Food Waste Prevention and Rescue
Grant Program requires the following FY 2017-18 budget changes:
1. Establish a revenue budget at account 20441.410420 in the amount of $100,000.
2. Appropriate $100,000 to expenditure account 20441.579999 to reflect receipt of
the CalRecycle Food Waste Prevention and Rescue Grant.
If renewals are awarded, budget changes will be included in subsequent year budgets,
contingent on Council budget approval.
Prepared By: Yvonne Yeung, Principal Administrative Analyst
Approved
Forwarded to Council
Attachments:
A. August 8, 2017 Staff Report (Web Link)