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Memorandum To: Solid Waste Advisory Group From: JD Freeman, Carrboro Public Director Lance Norris, Chapel Hill Public Works Director, Wendy Simmons, Chapel Hill Solid Waste Services Manager Ken Hines, Hillsborough Public Works Director Gayle Wilson, County Solid Waste Director, Allison Lohrenz, County Recycling Programs Manager, Blair Pollock, County Solid Waste Planner, Cheryl Young, County Research & Data Manager BJ Tipton, UNC -CH Solid Waste Program Manager Date: November 3, 2016 Subject: SWAG Follow -up: County -wide Waste Reduction Goal At the September 16, 2016 SWAG meeting the Group requested that staff discuss what waste reduction goals are possible /reasonable for the SWAG to consider, should the goal be incremental and should the goal be open -ended or defined by deadlines? Town and county staffs met and engaged in a wide - ranging discussion of the various issues related to setting a new goal. A general consensus was reached among staff and an overview of our discussions and conclusions is provided below. 1. Waste Reduction Definition and Calculation Staff first confirmed what the waste reduction goal actually represents. It is the amount of waste per capita from a county that is currently calculated and reported by the State Division of Solid Waste Management as disposed in a landfill as compared to the amount of waste disposed per capita from a base year of 1991/92. For Orange County, 131,067 tons were reported as disposed in FY 1991/92 (1.36 tons per capita) versus 69,281 tons disposed for FY 14/15 (0.495 tons per capita) for a waste reduction rate of 64 %. 2. Illustration of Additional Tonnaee Reduction Necessary to Achieve Higher Goals The amount disposed by Orange County residents, businesses, and construction projects throughout the county and UNC last year was 69,281 tons of waste in landfills. This averages out to 990 pounds per County resident, or a waste reduction rate per person of 64 %. The waste reduction rate is compiled from data of the base of 1991 -1992 when the average pounds disposed by resident was 2,720 pounds. The table below shows the additional amount of waste that would have to be diverted from landfilling to achieve a 70 %, 80% and 90% waste reduction rate.