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Draft <br /> Discussion of capitalizing the necessary improvements at convenience centers and developing <br /> predictable, sustainable and reliable sources of funds to operate the convenience centers began to <br /> take a more prominent role as the County's general fund financial picture worsened in 2008-09. <br /> Once the MSW landfill closes in early 2013,hauling efficie�cy will become a very important <br /> element in all decision-making for the County controlled wastes. Increasing that efficiency is a <br /> paramount effort in the next two years so it is ready when the landfill closes.Hauling as we do <br /> now, loads of 1 to 2 tons of bulky wastes in rolloff containers or even six to seven ton loads in <br /> underused front end loaders that have ten tons of capacity will have to be supplanted by more <br /> efficient means of hauling. <br /> Much of the past two years' Work Group planning effort has focused on the unincorporated area <br /> including detailed discussions of franchising waste collection, expansion of recycling and <br /> renovation of the convenience centers.No recommendation has been made on any of these <br /> matters. The issues around siting, design, operation and financing convenience centers should <br /> have a planning priority. The BOCC has recently requested staffto analyze the future role for the <br /> SWCCs including design concepts and cost information. <br /> Moving Ahead <br /> The overall joint solid waste planning process is very deliberate and has worked in a manner <br /> designed to gather ongoing input not only from the local governments but from citizens and <br /> citizen groups. The amount of attention that solid waste issues generate has resulted in ongoing <br /> debate over almost every aspect of solid waste planning and consequently few recommendations <br /> in the past five years since inception of the Work Group. This process while cumbersome has <br /> resulted in development of some highly refined technical analyses that will be helpful in future <br /> decision making. <br /> While the County continues to make steady numerical progress towards its 61%waste reduction <br /> goal and new programs such as the rigid plastics at drop off sites are actively publicly embraced, <br /> a number of significant issues remain that could impact solid waste services and programs. <br /> Noting that there has previously been considerable technical detailed analysis and reporting on <br /> waste management in the unincorporated areas and commercial recycling and that a <br /> comprehensive solid waste financial model is still in the works and that many other decisions are <br /> pending,the overarching suggested direction for this plan update is to acknowledge the need for <br /> future consideration of these program elements <br /> Annotated List of Solid Waste Issues <br /> • Commercial recvcling: This element of the waste stream retains the largest potential for <br /> waste reduction,without a more systematic approach to reducing commercial waste we <br /> will be challenged in meeting our waste reduction goal.By increasing collection <br /> efficiency in the past two years, the County has managed to provide over 250 businesses <br /> with recycling services but has reached its limit under currently configured staffing and <br /> financing. A set of options for expansion of commercial recycling have been analyzed <br /> and the various businesses surveyed have generally favored development of a model <br /> similar to the public model for residential and drop off recycling services. The opinion <br /> surveys, focus groups and related analytical work were undertaken prior to the recession <br /> 43 <br />