Agenda - 05-20-2008-6e - Laserfiche WebLink

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5 Staff projects that Drop-off and Commercial programs will experience similar increases in tonnage and collection efficiency up to 1,100 new tons (see Table 2). The increased collection efficiency will enable the commercial recycling program to add collection service to new locations without increasing the number of employees or adding collection equipment. This more efficient collection approach will also enable the Recycling Program to offer collection of newspapers, magazines, phone books and mixed paper at all commercial recycling stops, thus greatly increasing paper tonnage from this program. Additionally, staff projects that the Commercial recycling program may be able to add 40 to 50 business sites as a result of the 20 to 30% increase in collection efficiency expected as a result of the transition. Bringing corrugated cardboard recycling to the curbside programs has been a popular public request that the program is able to now fulfill. In the urban areas, a charge of $2.76 per household per year will cover costs of adding this material. In the rural areas with curbside, no additional direct costs are anticipated in the first year. A major publicity campaign will be conducted with 'the advent of this addition, focusing on the need to cut cardboard down to a size that will fit into recycling bins and current trucks. We expect 500 new tons of recyclable cardboard from this program. Impact on the use of drop-off sites is unknown at this time. Program efficiencies gained and changing market conditions should enable the County to add collection of a new grade of source-separated plastics to the drop-off sites. We intend to deploy a mix of roll-off containers and dumpsters to collect those plastics the market will accept at that time. We anticipate the accepted material could be some combination of small rigid plastics like buckets plus those injection molded tubs and cups with a proven market. Based on the amounts of these materials estimated to be in Orange County's waste stream, with an implementation early in 2009 and broad public participation based on long-time demand for this service, we project collection of 100 tons of material in the first year. Labor Savings and Hauling Improvements Associated with Commin lg ing In addition to the increase in collection efficiency, there will be a net labor savings associated with the reduced level of materials handling resulting from the management of commingled containers when compared to the management of the source-separated materials. This labor savings will be experienced on the collection side and the processing side, but will be slightly offset by the increase time expended to haul materials to market. In addition to the labor savings experienced by Commercial and Drop-off recycling programs, the Rural and Multifamily Programs will also benefit from this transition because the commingled containers collected by these programs will be transported to market using the road tractor and higher-volume 115 cubic yard walking floor trailer instead of the current method of hauling the cans and bottles from these programs in 40 yard roll-offs. Detailed analysis shows nearly 3,500 hours of labor savings annually with afull-cost value of approximately $80,000. These labor savings will be used to enhance and expand current recycling programs and to pursue additional diversion opportunities including the addition of new materials to the Drop-off program. Specifically, the staff time will be used to: • manage cardboard collected by the Rural Curbside program (urban cardboard will be added to the contractor's tasks for an additional $0.23 per household per month); • add a new type of source-separated plastic (in addition to the currently collected bottles) at drop-off sites and Solid Waste Convenience Centers; 3