CRRA2020

Senior Research Specialist, Plastics

How the Plastic Industry Exploited Coronavirus Fears to Influence Legislation

Early in the pandemic, the plastics industry exploited the COVID-10 emergency to create fear about reusable bags and  assert that single-use plastic is necessary to keep us safe.  Many of the actors in the plastic industry have waged a public relations battle to fight legislation banning single use plastic for years, and they saw a pandemic as an opportunity to seize the narrative.   Industry surrogates activated a multi-million dollar public relations echo chamber that was straight out of the fossil fuel industry’s playbook, and deployed many of the same surrogates, professors and front groups. These narratives featured older research funded by the American Chemistry Council and other affiliates to claim that reusables are dangerous, though none of the cited studies included COVID-19 or coronaviruses. In fact, early relevant scientific studies from the National Institutes of Health, CDC, UCLA, and Princeton University showed that the virus can live on plastic surfaces longer than others. 

Some states or municipalities with legislation banning plastic bags or instituting bag fees then began pausing or delaying legislation or enforcement, citing concerns about COVID-19 specifically linked to this media misinformation. The echo chamber creating fear about reusable bags was a profit-driven distraction from vital safety information that consumers need in order to navigate the COVID-19 crisis.

The Local Health Director Perspective on Food Safety and COVID

In this session, Justin Malan, Executive Director of the California Conference of Directors of Environmental Health will:

• Provide an overview of the role of local environmental health departments in retail food safety and “solid waste” management;
• Explain local EH interest in sponsoring AB 619 (Chiu) 2019;
• Explain guidance issued by local EH on AB 619; and
• Discuss local EH perspective on renewables and single use utensils and items during COVID.

COVID-19 Reopening Guidelines for Food Service

Executive Director

Legislative News on Packaging Reform

Since the CRRA 2019 conference, several legislative fixes have been proposed to help resolve the growing packaging crisis.  Whether the fix comes from the statewide initiative that Mr. Potashner will describe, or though several legislative bills currently working their way through the California state legislature, the recycling industry is looking for answers.  Mr. Kobold's presentation will provide an update on several current legislative bills, SB 54 / AB 1080 & SB 372 for example, and any current bills not yet named at the time of this submission.  He will provide details about each bill, along with the pros and cons of each.

Vice President & Senior Director of Strategic Affairs

The California Recycling and Plastic Pollution Reduction Act of 2020

Mr. Potashner will provide an update on the statewide initiative, the “California Recycling and Plastic Pollution Reduction Act of 2020”.  He will also provide an update on how recycling companies like Recology are adapting to the new recycling markets since the implementation of China’s National Sword policy.

Master's Student

Banning plastic straw by straw won't work. Or will it?

The trend of banning single-use plastic products item by item is the most common way to reduce plastic pollution in California, the European Union and world-wide. In June of 2019, the EU passed one of the first comprehensive plastic reduction legislations in the world. Four months later, California failed to pass a similar bill. As the State works towards a comprehensive legislation, local agencies who have more regulatory agility will need to ensure that each additional product ban is as effective as intended. This session will evaluate current plastic pollution policies so that attendees can make informed decisions regarding comprehensive and coordinated plastic packaging legislation in an effort to reduce contamination of recycling, support recycling markets and decrease land and marine plastic pollution. Attendees of this presentation will hear the results of the research as it relates to legislative goal attainment and unintended side effects of single-product bans as a means for supporting argumentation for sound policy development. 

Director

Director of Sustainability

Case Study - ZWEDC Dry Anaerobic Digestion facility in San Jose

The ZWEDC AD Facility is the largest dry fermentation anaerobic digestion project in the world processing organic waste and generating renewable power. Up to 90,000 tons per year of organic waste (250 tons-per-day) is produced.  The facility consists of 16 AD tunnels, 4 In-vessel Composting Tunnels, and 2 x 800 kW combined heat & power supply units that provide the electricity production.

Managing Director Western US

Wet AD projects development in California

Sorting organics from MSW for anaerobic digestion offers a cost-effective solution that avoids the additional collection, outreach, or new bins. By utilizing traditional solid waste processing equipment that fits within existing transfer stations and by partnering with existing AD infrastructure the deployment of food waste to green energy production can be quickly ramped-up. Two California case studies (North & South) will be presented of centralized solid waste processing with organics extraction at MRFs coupled with the use of new and existing anaerobic digestion infrastructure.

Owner

Dry AD to vehicle fuel project case study

The Blue Line Biogenic CNG Facility has given the ability to reduce the organics going into the landfill by converting that same waste into CNG fuel that powers our collection routes…a true closed loop system. It’s good for us, the cities we serve, and California.  This unique closed-loop system transforms 11,200 tons of food and green waste per year into biogenic compressed natural gas (CNG), produces heat to run the operations and provides high-quality compost. The facility can produce up to 120,000 diesel gallon equivalent (DGE) per year of carbon negative biogenic CNG—enough to fuel up to 18 of Blue Line sister company, South San Francisco Scavenger’s collection vehicles.

Sr Operations and Contracts Manager

Senior Director Social Change, Behavior and Impact

An Introduction to Behavior Change

Elizabeth's presentation will do the following: 

• Prime the audience to think about their residents differently and how to talk to them in a way that makes sense to them
• discuss the importance of segmenting audiences
• bring an academic perspective to this municipal issue, and cite case studies from her own research in the field as well as other experts
• introduce the topic of trust into the conversation: why is it important, how do you build it, and how it shapes your brand

Co-Director

How Does Your Program Measure Up?

Julie Bryant, Co-Director of Cascadia Consulting Group’s California office, will present the findings of a literature review commissioned by The Recycling Partnership which studied over 100 articles to better understand the universe of research available around behavior change strategies for multicultural community participation. The research identified several themes across articles including key barriers and motivators to behavior change. Julie will present the research findings including how thoughtful identification of one’s audience and developing an understanding of beliefs, values, and practices of the audience of focus will support effective outreach and education to improve recycling participation.

Multicultural Account Supervisor

Why Context Matters and How to Account for It

Andrés' presentation will do the following:

• explain translation vs. trans-creation
• showcase examples of how a brand or organization has implemented this ideology
• demonstrate firsthand the importance of context (through games, activities, etc.)
• explain how to implement the power of intepretation 
• cite C+C's work with the City of Seattle and provide updates on their outreach progress

West Coast Liaison

Waste Reduction Program Manager

Master Recycler Program - Small investment - Big return!

Now is the time to increase efforts to engage and educate community members about the importance of reducing waste and recycling properly.

Daily, people witness a barrage of news stories about the current state of recycling and the need to rethink purchases and avoid creating waste in the first place. Receptivity is high, don't squander this opportunity!

Providing community members with the history, current practices and future goals of sustainable materials management will amplify and expand the efforts of a small staff tasked with reducing solid waste disposal and contamination in recycling streams. A Master Recycler Volunteer Training Program is an efficient and effective way to accomplish this.

No need to reinvent the wheel. This "How To" session will leave attendees inspired and armed with the information and framework they need to design and implement a program of their own. Why, What, Who, How and Where will be our guide. Topics covered will include; Identifying your end goal or outcome, creating a curriculum, finding guest speakers, advertising and recruitment, communication tools and retention strategies.

Investing in this program now will yield results immediately and into the future. Within weeks you will have community champions with specialized knowledge to educate and empower friends, neighbors, schools, businesses, local groups, and special events to waste less and “recycle right.”

Recycling Specialist

Waste Warriors Program: Waste Reduction Fans Find Their Tribe

The Waste Warrior program is a volunteer training for people who want to learn more about Zero Waste, engage their community, and shape the future. Burbank Recycle Center has hosted this program for 6 years, graduating over 120 of the most engaged residents, armed with real world knowledge and created a vast alumni network of Change Agents.

The programs includes eight classes highlighting the 6 Rs of waste reduction:
• Rethink (redesign systems, habits, & mindsets)
• Refuse (say no to unnecessary waste )
• Reduce (share it, rent it, borrow it)
• Reuse (repair & repurpose)
• Recycle (sort it & send it on)
• Return (give nutrients back to nature)

The Waste Warrior program is free. Classes include lively discussions, hands on learning,
tours, guest speakers, and instruction from the professionals at the Burbank Recycle Center.

Waste Warriors who complete all eight classes and thirty hours of volunteer time
receive a graduation certificate and recognition by the Burbank City Council. Volunteer committments can include their own personal interets and community projects that focus on waste reduction, thoughtful consumption, composting, recycling, policy,  product stewardship, and manufacturing responsibility. 

Sustainability Specialist: Climate Action Planning

Building Cultural Relevance in Environmental Education

After seeing the same demographic coming to events, Sustainability Academy staff began wondering how to be more responsive to diverse interests. This endeavor has unearthed a range of questions: what would environmentalism and environmental education look like if we expanded the kinds of topics we covered? What do we hope to get out of “educating” people about the environment? What are these kinds of programs really for? The Sustainability Academy is in the process of exploring these questions, expanding its reach and altering its curriculum to reflect deeper cultural relevance for more members of San Mateo County.

The Sustainability Academy started over 10 years ago and focused primarily on training and building up a composting community network. It is funded through the County’s solid waste tax (AB939) and is oriented around solid waste reduction through public education and making resources available to community members to make changes in their daily lives. The program currently includes the following:

• Master Composter Course – 6 weeks
• Fundamentals in Climate Change and Natural Resources– 9 weeks
• Resource conservation workshops and edible forest at the Maple Street Jail
• 2-3 hour workshops throughout the year
• Socials, field trips, volunteer workdays

The key changes made to date in the program are:

• Transitioning into more dedicated partnership with community leaders and organizations
• Moving away from a “general public” marketing and curricular model
• Locating workshops in neighborhoods and centers where people already gather/where important community events already take place

Principal at Envirolutions Consulting

Sustainability Manager

A Regional Approach to Maximizing Food Recovery

Edible Food Recovery is a focal point of the upcoming SB 1383 Regulations, where jurisdictions, food recovery agencies, waste haulers and businesses are trying to figure out what it means for them as they start working towards compliance. We have found a regional, collaborative coalition provides the most cost-effective and efficient approach to recovering the maximum amount of edible food. By bringing partners together, we can leverage assets, create innovative solutions to systemic challenges and support non-profit agencies that will become the workhorses of food recovery. Edgar & Associates, in partnership with Waste Not Our Communities, has assisted to create the model for collaboration. Through State and regional grants, pilot programs and full implementation we understand the opportunity for California, and the Nation, to significantly improve our approach to edible food recovery. The approach has received attention across the Nation and is now being sought to guide the use of funds, and understand the social and medical cost benefits associated with the recovery of excess edible food. This presentation will discuss an overview of the Coalition approach, the roles and responsibilities of each partner, the most integral aspects of the Coalition, common challenges that hinder effective collaboration and food recovery, cost estimates of a regional approach, the role of the solid waste industry and franchise agreements and examples of implementation throughout California. Focus on how the Coalition meets the needs of SB1383, and the multitude of co-benefits of food recovery, including potential funding will be discussed in detail.

Environmental Scientist

SB 1383 Regulatory Requirements for Edible Food Recovery

California’s short-lived climate pollutant law, SB 1383, establishes a statewide target that 20 percent of currently disposed edible food must be recovered for human consumption by 2025. The law also requires CalRecycle to adopt regulations that include requirements intended to meet the 20% edible food recovery goal. In this presentation, Martine Boswell will provide an overview of SB 1383’s edible food recovery regulations, and discuss CalRecycle’s efforts to measure the amount of edible food in California’s disposed waste stream.

Executive Director

Regional/National Evolution of Food Recovery

We are now in the 'next generation' of food recovery as a means of reducing food waste yet most efforts are still feeling their way through the initial process.  In most cases, jurisdictions are repeating the same hard lessons learned by Waste Not OC three, four and five years ago.  With SB1383 compliance around the corner, it is critical that we elevate the effectiveness of food recovery with large scale regional and national solutions using a collaborative public, private and non-profit coalition approach that allows each city or county to have their own signature programs but provides large scale benfits associated with working nationally.

Waste Not OC (Our Communities) along with Edgar and Associates have created a state model that maximizes those regional and national resources and assets to improve capacity and efficiencies.  We would like to discuss an overview of how a regional/national coalition can exponentially improve performance levels and cost benefits.  We would like to dive into the details of how this approach benefits the public, private and non-profit sectors by fundamentally changing and improving how we reduce food waste and hunger.

Executive Director

Waste Prevention Specialist

Reduce Recycling Contamination through Flipping the Lid on Carts

The City of Napa is presenting case studies on educational outreach impact through flipping the lid on recycling carts and measuring contamination levels pre and post outreach. There has been different types of outreach conducted - post card and sticker on cart - with another underway prior to the conference. 

Sustainable Materials Management Specialist

Preventing Household Food Waste at the Source: Pilot Program

Community-based social marketing (CBSM) is an ideal framework for developing a residential food waste prevention campaign that applies to a majority of residents in Santa Clara County, but can be customized to individual lifestyles. The behaviors related to the prevention and recycling of food waste may be more personal than other types of recycling, because the actions that lead to food waste are much more complex and not always visible, (including cost of food, pace of work, commute and family schedules, convenience, health goals, social pressure, family history, etc.). It is important to understand all potential barriers and benefits to a behavior to design an effective behavior change program.

A combination of in-person intercept surveys and literature review were used to identify the most effective and efficient strategies to overcome barriers and increase participation in residential waste prevention behaviors. The intercept interviews focused on four genres of strategies: (1) fruit, (2) vegetables, and (3) leftovers, and (4) organizing the refrigerator. Each of these strategies also aligns with data collected by the National Resource Defense Council. From this foundational research, SCS Engineers, Gigantic Idea Studio, Action Research and Santa Clara County’s staff developed a pilot outreach campaign to implement and evaluate food waste reduction strategies for a scalable countywide campaign.

Attendees will learn about the consumer research informing selected behavioral strategies, recommended communication approaches and customization of collateral, practices for measuring behavior change, and other insights from our residential pilot campaign that support the reduction of household food waste.

PhD Fellow of the Convergent Behavioral Science Initiative at the University of Virginia

Human Behavioral Aspects of Waste Systems

Human behavior is perhaps the most difficult component of any waste system to manage. It is complex, variable, hard to predict, and often stems from how people perceive waste systems. What are the perceptions people have about the waste and recycling system? In this talk, I will unpack some of the insights from my research examining the misperceptions consumers have about the recycling system, what they think are effective strategies to reduce waste, and the disconnect between how people think about waste generation and disposal. I’ll also dive into my work studying whether or not recycling staff at higher education institutions (and likely staff at cities and counties) feel that they matter to their organizations – and the impact this has on waste diversion and recycling.

Participants will leave this talk with a better understanding of the role of human perceptions in the waste system, including how lay people perceive the recycling system and how institutions can empower and resource waste diversion staff. 

Public Education and Outreach Specialist

Combat Contamination and Re-engage Residents through Digital Communications

Educating people to reduce waste may mean improving your communications. New digital communication tools provide avenues to engage residents and collect data, with the aim of reducing contamination. Monterey County’s recycling app and website What Goes Where is the newest digital outlet to reach residents. Data from the app has been used to develop targeted outreach campaigns and measure success. However, the picture is most complete with multiple sources of information: a statistical public opinion survey in coastal Monterey County shows people believe they are better recyclers than the annual local recycling composition studies find. Angela Goebel brings strategic insight and experience on how to leverage digital communications to re-engage residents and empower them so that they can be the champion recyclers they believe they are.

General Manager

Commission Chair & Zero Waste Specialist

The Power of Citizen's Advisory Action in Creating Effective Policy

In 2018, the City of Berkeley began a process that resulted in a 2019 landmark piece of legislation, the Single-Use Foodware and Litter Reduction ordinance. For a municipality to successfully develop, adopt and implement zero waste ordinances, it is essential to solicit and build community buy-in and support. The City Council understood the power of its citizen advisory bodies and referred the proposed ordinance to its Zero Waste Commission for handle public outreach and input gathering, and then provide recommendations to Council before voting on the final language. Identifying key stakeholder groups and who will be most affected by proposed laws was a key strategy in designing a public information program. A three-pronged outreach/education approach - explanation of the ordinance, background on the necessity for it, and zero waste-approach conversion success stories - achieved the goal of gathering articulate and extensive public input, while aiding in an ever-evolving authoring process. Face-to-face interaction and surveys with the business community were effective in fine-tuning elements of the proposed ordinance. The role of an active citizen's advisory body can be instrumental in garnering valuable information from the community to create an implementable and effective law. It can also serve to assure elected officials that because a comprehensive outreach and education process was conducted, a more confident vote could be cast. Attendees will get a deeper understanding of how to design a community input program and present it to elected officials that have shared vision and goals.

Executive Director

Leadership for Lasting Change

In today's context, where the executive branch is dismantling 50 years of regulatory infrastructure, denying climate change, and exacerbating environmental injustice, local jurisdictions must lead. When Washington goes low, we have to go local. Even where environmentally minded legislative bodies exist, passing innovative policy solutions us hard. It takes strong vision, leadership, and persistence to make change regardless of context.

Founded in 1969, the Berkeley Ecology Center is a nonprofit organization that focuses on improving health and reducing the environmental impacts of urban residents. The Ecology Center's mission is to inspire and build a sustainable, healthy, and just future for the East Bay, California, and beyond. We address critical issues through a model of education, demonstration, replication, and advocacy. We deliver information you can act on, infrastructure you can count on, and leadership for lasting change.

This session will outline the approach and processes undertaken by Berkeley's Ecology Center to pass the nation's first disposable foodware reduction ordinance. The best of community-based policy processes involve an active role of the residents and impacted parties in defining the problem and proposing solutions. Still, even with consistent community involvement, dynamic leadership and support from experienced and trusted anchor organizations make a huge difference.

From conception to coalition building, to City Council engagement and support, this session will explore the strategies, tools, tactics, communications, community engagement, and consensus-building that helped the ordinance pass, and that made it a true model.

Vice Mayor

Collaborative Legislation Efforts to move from Throw-Away to Reusable Foodware

Berkeley has a long history of leadership in sustainability, environmental protections, and Zero Waste. The City pioneered curbside recycling in the 1970s and banned polystyrene in 1988. In 2009, Berkeley adopted an ambitious Climate Action Plan, and goal of achieving Zero Waste by 2020. Elected officials share a vision for Berkeley to be a global environmental leader.

In 2018, responding to the precipitous rise in throw-away foodware, the collapse of global recycling markets, and heightened awareness of plastic’s impact on oceans and wildlife, Councilmember Sophie Hahn introduced the nation’s first ordinance designed to facilitate a transition from throw-away to reusable foodware, addressing both dining-in and taking-out. Based on a concept led by Berkeley’s Ecology Center and aided by zero waste and anti-plastics advocates, the Single-Use Disposables and Litter Reduction Ordinance takes significant steps toward ending Berkeley’s reliance on SUD foodware and reducing street litter, ocean pollution, marine/wildlife harm, and greenhouse gas emissions.

How does a community make a breakthrough to fundamentally change its habits around the use of throwaway foodware? The answer: by coming together in a spirit of partnership with advocates, experts, legislators, citizen advisors and city staff, food vendors and the consuming public. Only through collaboration with a range of stakeholders is it possible for an elected official to create legislation and programs that really work, and to lay the groundwork for a dramatic shift from throw-away foodware and plastics toward both a reuse mindset, and creation of a system supporting reuse across the entire community.

Resource Conservation Specialist II, Waste Reduction

Establishing a Methodology for Berkeley's Foodware Ordinance and How Other Municipalities Can Benefit From This Approach

City of Berkeley’s food ware ordinance has served as a model for other Bay Area municipalities because it bans single-use plastic food ware items and accessories, requires alternate materials to be compostable and free of fluorinated chemicals, requires the use of reusable food ware items for on-site dining, and charges customers a fee for taking single-use disposable cups to go. Chris will be discussing the survey methodology that Berkeley used to incorporate business feedback into the ordinance writing process. Chris has managed survey projects to support single-use food ware ordinances in Berkeley, San Francisco, and San Mateo County.

Moreover, replacing single-use food ware items with compostable alternatives or reusable food ware items can be challenging and Chris will be discussing his experience providing technical assistance to restaurants through Clean Water Action’s ReThink Disposable program. ReThink Disposable provides micro-grants to cover the cost of reusable food ware items and expertise to help businesses integrate reusable items into their existing operations. Clean Water Action’s data collection demonstrates that, typically, businesses which replace single-use items with reusable items save money, reduce waste, and provide an alternative to the petrochemical industry driven market for a single-use consumer lifestyle.

Lastly, Chris will discuss the leadership role that County of San Mateo has taken by adopting a county-wide ordinance, providing incentives to the County’s many municipalities to encourage them to either adopt the County ordinance or to pass an ordinance that goes further, and to mandate their own department facilities to comply with the ordinance.

Zero Waste and Environmental Professional

Policy Director

Reusable Foodware Policy Models that Work During COVID

UPSTREAM is leadiing the development of reusable foodware ordinances across the country. Since Berkeley enacted its forward-thinking Disposable-Free Dining ordinance in January 2019, five cities in California and the City of Vancoucer have enacted similar measures. UPSTREAM is catalyzing similar initiatives in the SF Bay Area, Los Angeles, New York City, Seattle, Boston, and Honolulu. With each new policy, we are learning how to navigate hard questions, like how to ensure that businesses aren't financially whipped, addressing the growing online and app based delivery systems, addressing the needs of disadvantaged and disabled customers, and determining what types of disposable foodware will be acceptable.

In this session, participants will learn about:

1. the reasons why reusable foodware ordinances are a win for local communities,
2. how to ensure businesses benefit financially from these policies, and
3. how to create the opportunities for reusable services, like Vessel, to thrive and provide a convenient alternative to BYO.

Business & Innovation Director

Reusable Business Innovation and How Reuse Saves Business Money

Launched in 2012, ReThink Disposable has been developed a winning model of technical assistance for cities that produces measurable waste reduction results and saves food businesses money. Local jurisdictions that have implemented or are considering reusable foodware policies are uniformly turning to ReThink Disposable to provide the technical assistance needed to help businesses comply. 

In this session, ReThink Disposable will present the variety of compliance assistance services it now offers to local government facing the need to comply with waste diversion, organics, and trash / stormwater regulations. ReThink Disposable will present recent successes in transitioning the Palo Alto school district to reusable dining, unpackaging 80 businesses in the City of Alameda, and recent progress unpackaging food businesses in Los Angeles. We will demonstrate how reducing single-use foodware in local businesses can  reduce litter, packaging, and trash and save businesses money.

CEO and Founder, Vessel

Vessel's Reuse System and why Policies and RFP's Make Cents

Vessel is the most successful reusable cup system in the landscape of take-out beverages to date. In this session, participants will hear about the successful pilots launched in  Boulder and Berkeley and new pilot programs on the way. Founder and CEO, Dagny Tucker, will showcase Vessel's  tech-enabled reusable cups for customers that provides customers with a convenient reuse system and businesses with instant feedback on positive impacts. Vessel is the only service with 24/7 street side return kiosks.  As of January 1st, Vessel offers customers in Berkeley a free reusable alternative to paying 25 cents for a disposable cup. This is the kind of complementary approach (policy initiatives plus innovative alternatives) that is likely to have the biggest impact on consumer behavior change. 

Manager

Launching a Reusable Foodware Policy in Palm Springs

The City of Palm Springs has been developing a new ordinance to promote reusable food ware and reduce single-use plastic waste. We were poised to present the ordinance to Council in March, but the COVID response derailed those plans. The ordinance features were finally presented to Council in July and, based on their overwhelming support, the City is going to be pursuing a comprehensive ordinance to address this important issue. Join us to hear about what we learned during the development process, the features of our ordinance, feedback to date from stakeholders and residents, and planned next steps.

Policy Director

West Coast Program Manager

Paint Stewardship - Successes and Challenges

Jeremy Jones will present highlights about PaintCare’s California program to date. He will cover successes, significant challenges, and lessons learned in developing a statewide paint stewardship program that now offers over 750 year-round drop-off sites, has processed over 19 million gallons of architectural coatings, has performed more than 550 large volume pick-ups (200 gallons or more), and exceeds convenience goals with 98.5% of residents living within 15 miles of a drop-off site.

Executive Director

Carpet Stewardship - Successes and Challenges

Bob Peoples will talk about the progress and challenges associated with implementing recycling initiative for hard to recycle materials, with a focus on carpet. Bob will specifically discuss what it takes to build a collection infrastructure to support processing and conversion into new products. He will also discuss residual materials with little or no value in the recycle stream and touch on the development of sophisticated models to aid establishing appropriate subsidies

Managing Director

Mattress Stewardship - Successes and Challenges

Mike O’Donnell will provide a 4-year historical overview of the Mattress Recycling Council’s California program focused on key metrics including convenience, recycling rate, education and outreach and the programs landfill diversion rate. He will also discuss challenges with secondary markets for mattress commodities and MRC’s Research Program which is key to sustaining growth.

Executive Director

Thermostat Stewardship - Successes and Challenges

Ralph Vasami will present a brief history and current state of Thermostat Recycling Corporation’s program in California. He will discuss successes, as well as challenges, in operating a robust mercury thermostat takeback program that utilizes a collection network of wholesale, retail, HHW and contractor drop-off locations.

Managing Director Services & Solutions

Batteries Stewardship - Successes and Challenges

Shane Thompson will talk about the advantages and disadvantages of “voluntary product stewardship” for batteries, highlighting Call2Recycle’s experience in operating in over 60 jurisdictions throughout North America. Specifically, he will discuss how its approach varies and how certain attributes of program design can yield a more favorable outcome for policymakers and consumers.

President

Director of Waste to Wealth Initiative

The five-letter word for recycling is LOCAL

When recycling pundits were predicting, “The future of US recycling is a five letter word – CHINA”, ILSR said, “No. The five letter word is LOCAL”

Local and regional recycling is accelerating as a result of the collapse of international recycling markets in 2018 by single stream recycling and processing by Big Waste. This debacle made it clear that cities that control their materials can thrive without Big Waste and without China as they focus on clean stream recycling and local and regional market development. The private sector is responding by increased investment in domestic markets for paper, plastic, electronic scrap and organic materials.  

The presentation will describe the process of monopolization of US waste and recycling and the current process of re localization in processing, composting and reuse. ILSR has recently published Monopoly Impacts on Solid Waste and Recycling Management and is preparing case studies of model enterprises in collection and processing of organic, glass, metal, paper, plastic and C&D materials. Participating companies are spread geographically across the US:  Southern California, Steam Boat Springs, CO, Tulsa, OK, Twin Cities, Baltimore, MD, MN, Philadelphia, PA and Pittsburgh, PA.

Researcher, Waste to Wealth Initiative

(co-presenting with Neil Seldman)

Chief Ecological Officer

Are You a Pro-Manufacturing Environmentalist?

The realities of China’s National Sword, California’s unfulfilled recycling mandates, and the larger imperative to address climate change combine to present waste reduction enthusiasts with a sobering sense of starting over.  How can we connect the vision of Zero Waste to parallel efforts to create a Circular Economy?  How can we balance the push for increased diversion from landfills with the demand for consistent, high quality feedstocks for manufacturing?  What lessons can materials managers learn from the successful growth of renewable energy technologies and companies?  As the push to drive organic materials out of the waste stream, what is required to finance, site, permit, and build the necessary infrastructure to make quality compost and other products that truly closes the loop for this material?  While these are certainly some of the right questions to frame where materials management stands today, the answers are harder to grasp.  Surely however, much more attention needs to be paid to the “demand side” of the Zero Waste equation (vs. the supply side).  This shift will require a fundamentally different approach.  With government resources stretched thin for the foreseeable future, we need to use a skillful blend of carrots and sticks to leverage private investment to drive toward a Circular Economy, much faster than we will get there by simply mandating achievement of landfill diversion targets.  While the export market will always play a role in our marketplace, the next phase of materials management requires that we focus on building a strong, sustainable manufacturing economy in California, and with partners throughout the western United States. 

Zero Waste Coordinator

Shifting the Paradigm: Transforming Waste Disposal Systems

Right-sizing and streamlining recycling program infrastructure, while rolling out operational programs is essential in reducing contamination and increasing community engagement.

The University of California set a goal to go Zero Waste. However, very few buildings at UCLA had proper accessibility to compost and recycling receptacles, and it was clear that there was very little source separation.  In order to achieve the goal, the campus needed to find a way to capture the organic material generated from the buildings and improve the current infrastructure.  

Kikei will speak about Facilities Management outreach and training efforts to custodians and building occupants, bridging the communications gap and providing resources and additional support.  By working with student organizations and ambassadors, she is able to engage with the larger campus community.  In addition, she will go over case studies on UCLA’s centralized waste collection program which details how departments introduced the compost stream and transitioned from full size trash containers to small side-saddle 5 gallon containers. The session will highlight the issues that arose from balancing shifting streams while maintaining best practices for successful execution. This will provide key learnings for the audience to use in their own campus facilities.

The session will also focus on culture and communication, which are driving factors in the success of campus recycling and zero waste programs. The presentation will include case studies and best practices on how to create a paradigm shift and affect culture change to ensure increased community engagement to achieve zero waste goals.

Deputy Chief Sustainability Officer

Shifting the Paradigm: Transforming Waste Disposal Systems

Right-sizing and streamlining recycling program infrastructure, while rolling out operational programs is essential in reducing contamination and increasing community engagement.

The University of California set a goal to go Zero Waste. However, very few buildings at UCLA had proper accessibility to compost and recycling receptacles, and it was clear that there was very little source separation.  In order to achieve the goal, the campus needed to find a way to capture the organic material generated from the buildings and improve the current infrastructure.  

Bonny will speak about culture and communication on the campus as well as major overlaps across the UC sustainability goals.  She will provide a larger context of operational challenges in implementing zero waste initiatives and navigating the waters across a large, decentralized institution.  In addition, she will touch on the various policies and stakeholders that have influenced the success of zero waste initiative.  This session will highlight the complexities and challenges of making institutional changes where many stakeholders are involved.

The session will also focus on outreach efforts and case studies, which are driving factors in the success of campus recycling and zero waste programs. The presentation will include best practices for engagement and operations to create a paradigm shift and to affect culture change to ensure increased community engagement and achieve zero waste goals.

Energy & Sustainability Coordinator

Bin There, Done That: Improving CSUN's Indoor Waste Infrastructure

This presentation will describe the process undertaken by California State University Northridge (CSUN) to update its waste hauling contract, indoor waste infrastructure and educational efforts to divert more material from the landfill. Prior to these changes, CSUN had separate bins for CRV material (bottles and cans), mixed paper, and landfill material. Each of these streams were handled by different vendors, and this system forced users to put other recyclables, such as mixed plastics or non-CRV aluminum, into the landfill stream.

Shortly after adopting a Zero Waste Plan early in 2019, CSUN’s waste hauling contract expired, and the university took that opportunity to comingle its recyclables and add a new stream for compostable material. To accompany this change, new trios of bins were installed in centralized areas throughout all campus buildings, with separate streams for landfill, recyclable and compostable material. This was a drastic change for university employees, students and custodial staff, and CSUN has undertaken significant efforts since then to educate the campus community on what goes into each bin, keep up with shifting guidelines from its hauler, and keep the new system functioning smoothly.

Attendees will learn about CSUN’s approach to its new hauling contract, user education, and bin deployment, as well as the multitude of challenges that accompanied each of these steps. Audience members will be able to hear CSUN’s key takeaways, ask their own questions, and bring insights back to their own organizations to improve their own waste handing processes.

Zero Waste Manager

Implementing a Zero Waste Building Plan

Stanford University announced its Zero Waste Goal by 2030 in May of 2018 and developed a plan and budget in the fall of 2019.  The Zero Waste Plan calls for a transformation of the waste system in 300 buildings on campus, including redesign bin placement, custodial and waste service procedural changes, and changes in procurement, and outreach and education methodology to communicate and incentivize reducing waste, using reusables in the building, and sorting waste properly.  This presentation will review two pilots that changed the waste syste, encouraged reusables, and incentivized occupants to make the change possible within two seperate populations in two geographical areas at Stanford Unversity. The speaker will discussed what was learned about moving a population in a building to zero waste and how those lessons will be incorporated in the rollout to the other 298 buildings.  

Sustainabilty Program Manager

Redefining the Path to Zero Waste: Driving Strategy with Data

Berkeley Lab, a research campus with a daily population of five thousand, has used data gained from more than 120 waste audits to inform their strategy to meet ambitious zero waste goals. Faced with a diverse set of waste streams and a decentralized network where employees best respond to what is relevant to them, the Sustainable Berkeley Lab (SBL) group needed to take a personalized approach. So, in 2017, SBL developed a program to conduct mini waste audits on a building-by-building basis and communicate the results. The data has informed targeted strategies to tackle the many types of waste streams found across the Lab’s campus. Data from audits is processed, analyzed and distributed publicly using Google Data Studio (see reporting at www.bit.ly/sblwaste). 

The data from the audit program has helped the Lab to:

• Focus on reducing contamination rather than simply trying to meet a 90% diversion target 
• Motivate building occupants by showing them how their building ranks against others 
• Identify single under-desk waste bins as the most contaminated source of waste (4.5 times more contaminated than central 4-bin waste stations). 
• Highlight food and organics as the primary contaminate of the landfill waste stream (about 50%).
• Better identify buildings that needed specific infrastructure, bins, and signage.
• Monitor and track trends of increased diversion and decreased contamination. 

This program was set up with limited resources and is replicable on many levels. Attendees can learn how data can be collected and shared to engage and motivate people.

Environmental Specialist

Breakfast in the Classroom

Studies have shown that one in six children in public schools on average may not get enough to eat. Studies have also shown that with good nutrition students are better learners. To combat child hunger and food insecurity schools across the country offer Breakfast in the Classroom (BIC). How breakfast gets to the classroom varies, sometimes students grab it on their way into school, sometimes it is delivered. However the one constant is the amount of food and packaging waste generated in the classroom.

At San Diego USD a really awesome custodian considered this problem and established a system to collect the waste and recyclables from the BIC program. Working with the District’s Recycling Specialist to fine tune his idea, the District purchased equipment that is inexpensive and readily available. In short after breakfast designated students from each classroom wheel the trash and recyclables generated at breakfast to a central location where the custodian can consolidate and move the material to either the recycling bin or trash. This innovative recycling program includes student participation and is not dependent on teachers or custodial staff. This program can easily be adapted for all classroom dining once in-person instruction is allowed. With appropriate social distancing when returning the bins to the central location students can still participate in recycling activities and the school does not have to abandon their commitment to sustainable practices.

Though schools in San Diego USD will open August 31 because San Diego County remains on the Governor’s monitoring list instruction will be distance learning only. However when students do return to campus for in-person instruction

Lead Custodian

Meals in the Classroom at Harmony Elementary

Harmony Elementary School is one of 37 schools in the Evergreen School District located in Vancouver, Washington with an enrollment of approximately 700 students in grades K-5. As like most schools in the U.S they are opening school this year with distance learning only. However when they can return to in-person instruction they will be uniquely prepared to continue their terrific recycling program.

Prior to COVID many of their students ate lunch in their classrooms due to having a very small cafeteria. Despite eating in the classrooms these students recycled their lunch waste just like their classmates who ate in the cafeteria by using sort stations located outside the classrooms.

One of the many models discussed for how to ensure social distancing between students when in-person instruction begins is requiring classroom dining. Both breakfast and lunch will be served in the classroom. How will meals get to those classrooms and how will the recyclable materials that are generated be collected? The lessons learned from the program at Harmony Elementary will help answer those questions.

Food & Nutrition Services Director

Will COVID Derail School & Cafeteria Program Processes?

Last March school nutrition directors throughout the US did a very quick pivot and within days went from serving breakfast and lunch onsite to their students and instead served meals through mobile curbside pick-up. The importance of this action cannot be understated. According to a 2019 report from California Food Policy Advocates two million California children live in low-income households affected by food insecurity. For many students school breakfast and lunch may be their only consistent food source. School nutrition directors knew the importance of keeping their students fed.

Prior to COVID the school nutrition industry, particularly in California, was making progress on moving away from pre-packaged processed food and incorporating high-quality, healthy, freshly prepared school food into student meals. Many school nutrition directors were partnering with local fruit and vegetable growers to supply their kitchens and many were also implementing programs to reduce food waste, packaging waste and recycle cafeteria waste. Unfortunately COVID threatens to derail this progress by requiring packaged meals in order to maintain safety. School nutrition directors are rising to this new challenge and finding ways to still serve healthy, sustainable meals while minimizing packaging and meeting the grueling standards of federal and state regulations no matter if they are sending meals home to students or planning for the day when in-person instruction resumes and students may be eating in classrooms.

Executive Director of Nutrition Services & Warehousing

Will COVID Derail School & Cafeteria Program Processes?

Last March school nutrition directors throughout the US did a very quick pivot and within days went from serving breakfast and lunch onsite to their students and instead served meals through mobile curbside pick-up. The importance of this action cannot be understated. According to a 2019 report from California Food Policy Advocates two million California children live in low-income households affected by food insecurity. For many students school breakfast and lunch may be their only consistent food source. School nutrition directors knew the importance of keeping their students fed.

Prior to COVID the school nutrition industry, particularly in California, was making progress on moving away from pre-packaged processed food and incorporating high-quality, healthy, freshly prepared school food into student meals. Many school nutrition directors were partnering with local fruit and vegetable growers to supply their kitchens and many were also implementing programs to reduce food waste, packaging waste and recycle cafeteria waste. Unfortunately COVID threatens to derail this progress by requiring packaged meals in order to maintain safety. School nutrition directors are rising to this new challenge and finding ways to still serve healthy, sustainable meals while minimizing packaging and meeting the grueling standards of federal and state regulations no matter if they are sending meals home to students or planning for the day when in-person instruction resumes and students may be eating in classrooms.

Recycling Coordinator

Executive Director

Legislative

Mark is going to speak on the legislative side of the recycling crisis and will explain the process of what it takes to pass bills. He will also provide his insight on how we can work with the governor's office, the state assembly and the senate.

President

CRV Redemption Centers

Susan will speak to the redemption center crisis a year after the RePlanet closure.  She will review legislation that has passed and legislation that has failed to pass within that year and what needs to be done to ensure that the Bottle Bill does not fail in California.

Director of Government Affairs for the State of California

Industry

Alex Oseguera has strong insights into what is affecting  the recycling and solid waste industry from a hands-on and in the field viewpoint. He will share his perspective of what Waste Management has faced during the crisis in recycling markets.

General Manager

Markets / CRV

Jeff will be speaking on the issues he is facing as a collector and broker and will provide his insight on what he thinks are the solutions.

President/CEO

Executive Director

Grassroots efforts to implement urban carbon gardening affecting climate change

Daily Acts works as an effective grassroots organization to transform our communities through inspired action and education, which builds leadership and local self-reliance. Many individual programs have been implemented over the years, such as lawn conversions and regenerative garden designs, that contribute to carbon gardening.  Currently they are working to bring all those pieces together to launch a comprehensive carbon gardening program that can be adopted by any community. From the ground up we can turn dispair and hopelessness about climate change, which leads to apathy, into hope and action.

President and Lead Carbon Analyst for urban, suburban, and municipal landscape systems

Landscape Carbon Calculator: tools for granular landscape carbon sequestration assessment

The Carbon Calculator can be used to predict carbon impacts at the landscape design phase and to stimulate rethinking of urban garden design and management or during post-construction to monitor the carbon footprint. Rick will walk you through some of the parameters included in the Calculator both on carbon costs (concrete, irrigation supplies, patios, etc.) as well as the carbon gardening benefits from trees, shrubs and the inter-related benefit of creating healthy soils through the use of compost and mulches. The future of the gardeners, landscape industry, parks and recreation and schools is beyond aesthetics. We are keepers of many solutions that the world needs to address climate change.  Rick will explore with attendees, options to utilize the Carbon Calculator to provide financial incentives to urban carbon sequestration by tying compost and mulch use to rebates or discounts and or other benefits. As such it can be a tool in procurement of organics.

Program Services Specialist

How local government can support carbon gardening: education and partnerships

StopWaste is a public agency in Alameda County that provides outreach to residents on the benefits of compost and mulch. Trevor will share the agency’s experience educating the public on carbon farming through an array of partnerships with community groups, urban farms, cities, and other public agencies. Efforts range from working with urban farms to provide soil testing and on-site composting technical assistance, hosting public workshops at urban farm sites to educate home gardeners on soil health, encouraging new working relationships with non-profits through grants and events, and engaging citizen groups already invested in sustainable gardening and composting with city efforts codified in Climate Action Plans. StopWaste’s partnership with the Alameda County Resource Conservation District (RCD) provides an additional layer of support for urban farms as well as the creation of the agency’s own Carbon Farming Plan, and the StopWaste Environmental Educator Training (SWEET) expands the agency’s capacity for outreach by creating an active group of volunteers to educate residents.

Composter/Soil Scientist

Environmental Education Manager

Let’s Roll Out - Waste Infrastructure

Emi Hashizume will touch on best practices surrounding the lunch waste system. We will discuss how to create an infrastructure set-up that visually reinforces the new sorting system and makes it easy to participate in, and how to pair it with student education. Presentations, assemblies, and interactive games engage students and Green Team members during the initial launch of the program and can be used as ongoing “refresher” education tools. Working with Green Teams in particular can empower students to share their knowledge and motivate their peers throughout the year and ultimately create a campus culture that is focused on reducing waste. Additional supplemental activities, such as field trips to local recycling facilities, will also be discussed.

Resource Conservation Specialist

4R's Programming for Systemic and Community Change

Nicole Larson will highlight the similarities and differences between the San Mateo and Marin programs, including how both programs are founded on strong partnerships and collaboration between agencies. These partnerships allow for the sharing of resources, referrals to other programs and resources, and coordination on education and training at various school sites. Nicole will highlight how this best practice of strong partnerships facilitates county-wide diversion efforts.

Schools & Community Recycling Coordinator

It’s a Team Effort - Kicking Off Campus Zero Waste Plans

Casey Fritz will review one of the first phases of successful zero waste school programs, which includes an initial meeting with stakeholders. Normally, this meeting includes the principal, or Green Team teacher or other leader, the head custodian and possibly an interested member of the PTA. We consider this first step a best practice because it brings together all of the groups that will be working on zero waste, and allows for county and hauler staff to assess what the school site is already doing to gauge what recommendations would be most relevant. Once this assessment of readiness and waste audit of campus is complete, we can begin training all stakeholders to ensure everyone starts off on the same foot and is working towards the same goals.

Waste Management Specialist

Celebrations and Beyond!

Casey Poldino will present how to bring the first year of a zero waste program to a close. Best practices in this phase include a follow-up waste audit to collect data about improvement in diversion, which can be presented to stakeholders along with recommendations for further improvement. We will also discuss recognition of the hard work of students, teachers, and custodians, and recommend ways to continue zero waste work over the summer or through distance learning to extend the culture of zero waste into the home and the community.

Resource Conservation Specialist III

Special Project Manager

Textile Waste Policies to Drive a Circular Economy

The clothing we choose to wear everyday has an enormous impact on the planet, while being manufactured, worn, or when discarded. American consumers need education on what to do with textiles other than putting in landfill and they need a convenient collection system, but the issue remains that collection and processing of textile waste is extremely costly. The California Product Stewardship Council (CPSC) is a nonprofit with the mission to shift California’s product waste management system from one focused on government funded and ratepayer financed waste diversion to one that relies on producer responsibility in order to reduce public costs and drive improvements in product design that promote environmental sustainability.

CPSC will share information on how communities are addressing textile waste through local policies, campaigns, and voluntary product stewardship. Local jurisdictions in California are challenged to reduce their waste generation and many are looking at textiles, the sixth most prevalent material type in the overall waste stream according to a 2014 Characterization of Solid Waste Report by CalRecycle, as a priority to drive a circular economy.

Director of Communications & Affiliate Programming

Developing Regional and Regenerative Fiber Systems

Our clothing can either continue to be a major part of the problem, or it can be part of the solution. A key to a circular textile economy is developing regional and regenerative fiber systems to create permanent and lasting systems of production with regionally grown fibers, natural dyes, and local talent. Fibershed works with communities and corporate partners at different scales to design systems that mitigate waste and will include case studies such as the first "community supported cloth" that's 100% compostable and Climate Beneficial™ and The North Face Cali Wool collection.  

Textiles Expert and Tribal Liaison

The Magnitude of Textile Waste

The clothing we choose to wear everyday has an enormous impact on the planet, while being manufactured, worn, or when discarded. According to a 2014 Characterization of Solid Waste Report by CalRecycle, more than 1.24 million tons of textiles were disposed in California landfills as the sixth most prevalent material type in the overall waste stream, comprising 4 percent of landfilled waste. Every year, Californians spend more than $70 million to dispose of used textiles in landfills. Ninety-five percent of this material is reusable or recyclable. California has set an ambitious goal of 75 percent recycling, composting, or source reduction of solid waste by 2020 by taking a statewide approach to decreasing California’s reliance on landfills. Managing our textile waste responsibly is essential to this effort. Ms. Harper will be providing updating statistics on the amount of textile waste and efforts CalRecycle is taking to address this issue.

Chair, Waste Prevention, Reuse & Repair Technical Council, CRRA

Environmental Specialist

The City of Ventura's Green Schools Program

The City of Ventura has partnered with Ventura Unified School District to provide environmentally-focused presentations in all K-5 classrooms through the Green Schools Program. The topics range from ocean pollution prevention to composting and recycling. As students move through elementary school, they are exposed to a variety of STEAM-based lessons and activities that help foster their love for Ventura and inspire the next generation of environmental stewards. 

Through our partnership with Ventura Unified School District and our local hauler, EJ Harrison, we have implemented a large-scale composting and recycling program in K-5 schools throughout the City of Ventura. The Green Schools Program incorporates both education and action components, which have led us to further successes, including eliminating plastic spork packets from the cafeteria, incorporating food sharetables, and expanding composting programs to local middle schools.

StopWaste Schools Program Manager

StopWaste

Angelina Vergara will be sharing StopWaste's best practices, and lessons learned on onboarding K-12 students and school champions to amplify thier public agency's sustainability initiatives, such as food waste reduction educational outreach, in thier action-based and citizen science approach.

S.C.R.A.P. Gallery Executive Director

Integrating Art & The Environment

The Student Creative Recycle Art Program (S.C.R.A.P. Gallery) takes a unique approach to help solve environmental problems by teaching children to be creative in their personal recycling habits while taking care of the planet. The S.C.R.A.P. Gallery works with youth from all over Southern California to promote conservation and reuse by teaching them to creatively practice the Four R's - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Responsibility.

The S.C.R.A.P. Gallery emphasizes that through creative reuse and recycling, students can have a profound and positive effect on the environment. By integrating art and the environment, students of all ages can share these real life experiences with their friends and families and make a difference in their local and global communities. Students 

Teacher

Reducing Waste through the CRRA Mini-Grant

Our school has a very dedicated student Green Team and Food Share program. In addition, we try to introduce a new strategy for campus waste reduction every year. For example, we have had 3 hydration stations installed and have given out and/or sold reusable water bottles in order to eliminate single-use plastic bottles. This year's goal is to encourage families to include reusables in lunch boxes as well as during classroom parties.

We have put together reusable party kits for each of our classrooms in order to eliminate using paper and plastic for our school. In addition we are asking parents to donate cloth napkins that also can be reused. Fifth grade students are creating a video and writing a letter to parents explaining our school's latest attempt to eliminate waste with re-usable party kits.

The CRRA mini-grant covered the cost of plastic bins for storing the plates, cups and utensils that will be taken home to be washed after each use. Helene will discuss the outcome of the reusable party kits during the 2019-20 school year.

Environmental Specialist

Senior Environmental Scientist

SB 1383 Procurement Requirements: An Overview

Scott will discuss the basics of SB 1383 procurement requirements.  He will describe the requirements and discuss eligible recycled organics products.  Also presented will be the tools that CalRecycle has developed to help cities implement the requirements.  Most importantly, he will be available to answer questions.

Program Manager

Compost and Mulch Procurement Strategies

Kelly will discuss strategies to improve the use of compost and mulch across jurisdictions, and how to overcome some of the challenges that cities face. She will discuss the many applications of compost and mulch, and how cities can meet procurement requirements through direct procurement and use, as well as indirectly through partners and policy. She will also discuss how to ensure that your city is getting quality compost and mulch through development and enforcement of specifications.

President

Municipal Usage of Compost & Mulch, Helping to Meet SB 1383 Requirements

Compost and mulch usage are commonplace in landscape construction and maintenance practices, on both public and private projects, but also have great applications in soil and water protection and conservation. As SB 1383 requires the usage of organic recycled products, municipal entities must consider how they will meet this important requirement. Understanding what applications are appropriate, how internal land management BMP’s and specifications can impact product usage, and product quality requirements, are essential to expanding product usage. Also, understanding which regulations and trends already exist which can impact compost and mulch usage can also assist a municipal entity in developing a path forward. 

Senior Management Analyst

Composter/Soil Scientist

The Pitfalls of Compostable Plastics and PFAS products in Organics

In 2008, at the US Compost Council Conference, I circulated a document highlighting the problems with compostable plastics.  Twelve years later we have made remarkable little progress in addressing the issues.  Wheras in 2008 the compostable plastics industry told the organics recyclers that the train had left the station and that we better adjust to these products, today we see strong signals that the train may have failed to get to its destination, with good reason.

The products are still not identifiable, may not decompose in an appropriate time frame, are not allowed under the National Organics Program and do not add value to the compost. 

Will we get additional diversion if we allow food scraps to be collected in bags?  Can we maximize diversion and keep our feedstocks clean?  The challenge lays at our feet right now and we have fertile ground to explore the most suitable approaches. Let’s get to the root of it all. 

We'll explore future steps needed for a regenerative packaging future.

Director

Compostable Products: The Benefits and Challenges to Organics Processing Systems

Before signing an organics processing contract, and before design and construction of the facility itself, Zero Waste Sonoma (ZWS) staff evaluated the advantages and disadvantages of accepting compostable products as feedstock. The process took over a year as we met and spoke with various stakeholders locally in California and elsewhere around the country, including business end users, composters, solid waste consultants, local government agencies, haulers, as well as a compostable products manufacturer and compostable resin manufacturer. All the information collected eventually helped to inform ZWS's board decision to hold off on accepting products containing any compostable plastics. Instead, the board directed us to continue negotiations with our organics processor, asking them to design flexibility into the facility so that compostable plastic products can be accepted in the future if need be. In the meantime, ZWS is pushing for better labeling legislation for compostable and petroleum-based plastics.  This presentation will share research on the topic and review the benefits and challenges of compostable products in organics processing systems.

Government Relations Manager

Market Pressures of Packaging Materials in Organics Collection Programs

I will focus presentation on  current market pressures the industry faces with regards to the acceptance of "compostable" plastic materials into local collection programs.  I can identify operational challenges with the processing of these materials, the risks both potential and real associated with the issue; and finally legislative/regulatory efforts that can mitigate some of the identified risks.

Consultant

Senior Recycling Specialist

Source Reduction in Grocery Chains - The Pacific Coast Collaborative

The goal is to reduce surplus food at grocery stores 50% by the year 2030 beginning with large retail brands.  Attendees will learn about an exciting collaboration of government and non-governmental organizations working together to reduce surplus food that is wasted at the grocery store level with impacts up the food supply chain. Attendees will learn about the goals of the work, participating agencies, participating store chains including brands such as Kroger, Albertsons and more.  Voluntary agreements to participate ensure the commitment of both governing bodies and store chains. Reducing surplus food coupled with food rescue reduces GHG emissions, prevents organics from being landfilled and reduces the load on composting facilities in a SB 1383 world.  Successful source reduction may have positive impacts in large store chains throughout California, the Pacific Coast and beyond.  I’ll share our measuring strategy and challenges of large collaborative efforts. I’ll also share the challenges of recruiting big chain retailers and developing outreach tools for a culturally and linguistically diverse population like Oakland. As we near the end of our first year of feet-on-the-ground, I’ll share our hopes and expectations for 2021 and beyond. The Pacific Coast Collaborative is a group of states and provinces including California, Oregon, Washington and British Columbia; large cities including Oakland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Portland, Seattle and Vancouver. Partner NGOs include World Wildlife Fund, ReFED, WRAP UK and Cascadia Law Group.

Project Manager

Vallarta Supermarkets Recycling, Organics, and Food Donation Program

California’s new recycling, organics, and food donation policies have posed a considerable dilemma for high-volume waste generators like Vallarta Supermarkets, who needed to come into compliance or face fines and other penalties. The implementation of waste diversion programs was a daunting task for Vallarta due to a variety of foreseen issues. These included liability and sanitation concerns, employee training, adapting to differing city hauling programs, and significant increases in service costs. Go2Zero Strategies addressed these issues, implementing a program that smoothly and effectively brought all 34 Vallarta locations into compliance by diverting approximately 1,000 tons of material per month while reducing monthly hauling expenses by more than $25,000. Attendees of this session will learn how the team successfully implemented these programs, tracked program progress, and achieved substantial cost savings.

Senior Associate

Food Waste & Climate Change: Are These Connected for Californians?

What do Californians really know about the connection between climate change and food waste? Public understanding of, and interest in, climate change have increased dramatically in just the past few years. How can waste agencies responsibly help the public make the connection between the global climate emergency and the food in their kitchens and restaurants? This session will present the results of a survey of Californians, tailored specifically for the CRRA Conference, to examine understanding and attitudes around the connection of climate change and food waste. This presentation of California-focused data along with current campaign examples both local and global will show attendees how changes in public attitudes might fine-tune messaging in their next food waste campaign.

Recycling Consultant

Making the Case for School Lunch Recycling Programs

The County of San Diego recently set a goal of 75% diversion by 2025. Over the past few years, Richard Anthony Associates and Zero Waste San Diego have created and implemented school recycling throughout the unincorporated San Diego County and are not putting School Lunch Recycling Programs into practice. Laura will go into detail on how they approached the district, the schools, and staff to incorporate a sorting system at each lunch period in order to cut the volume of waste in half. Equipment, signage and incentive programs were created with the help of hauler permit fees and grants from the Carton Council.

Transition Program Teacher

High School Recycling? It is All About Partnerships

Dedicated to the promotion of understanding, acceptance, and appreciation of individual learning and physical ability directly from the perspective of individuals living with these challenges, Rolling With Me (RWM) programs empower participants to appreciate diversity and inclusion in our community while they also engage, educate, and empower participants of diverse ages and backgrounds. Kiana partnered RWM with Mount Miguel High School's Special Education Transition students.  One of their projects was to implement the school recycling program.  Establishing recycling programs in high schools is notoriously difficult but this partnership is a success.  The partnership provides participants with leadership and social skills, networking opportunities and job training, while also making sure the recycling program is a success.

Project Engineer/Composting Consultant

Organics and Food Recovery at Schools

The County of San Diego recently set a goal of 75% diversion by 2025. Organic materials can reach up to 50% of a school’s waste stream, when little or no action to divert the material is put into action. Tyla will discuss the County of San Diego’s initiative, "Food, Too Good to Waste!" in instilling the highest and best use of recovered food as well as creating onsite composting at school campuses. She will also mention the importance of creating relationships with food recovery partners such as animal sanctuaries’ and community food banks. These provide schools various avenues in which help divert organics to feed the people first, animals and then the soil.

n/a

Director of Zero Waste

San Jose Conservation Corps' Unique Local Partnerships

Louise will present on the following portion of the discussion: 

Partnering to rescue edible food and divert organics: While SB 1383 establishes aggressive organic waste reduction and edible food recovery targets, LCCs are stepping up to meet the demand for new and expanded services. The San Jose Conservation Corps has partnered with the East Side Union High School District to source-separate food scraps in one of California’s largest high school districts. Additionally, the Corps is working with Second Harvest of Silicon Valley to rescue edible groceries that would otherwise be disposed of and operate a food distribution program.

CFO & COO

Partnering to train a new generation of recycling truck drivers

Brian will present on this portion of the session: 

Partnering to train a new generation of recycling truck drivers: Civicorps provides free Class C and B driver training in the East Bay Area in partnership with the Teamsters Local 70 Union, Waste Management, and the City of Oakland. Known as the Teamster Truck Driver Career Pathway, this innovative partnership provided training for 24 pre-apprentices in 2018-2019.

Recycling Manager

Partnering with Your Local Conservation Corps: Public-Private Partnerships to Support Beverage Container Recycling

Director of Operations

Partnering with Your Local Conservation Corps: Public-Private Partnerships to Support Beverage Container Recycling

Staff Services Manager I remove this moderator

Executive Director

Solar Panel Recycling. Where are we? Where are we heading?

Solar energy continues to be a primary means for green energy production in California and across the nation.  Like any product, solar panels have an expected lifespan.  When the end of that lifespan has been met, or electrical production has fallen below minimum economic efficiency, what are the options for reuse or recycling of those panels?  What should be the minimum lifespan of these panels being sold into California?  How will the California PUC requirement for solar on all new rooftops affect the product waste stream in the near future?  Are we heading for a crisis? 

This presentation will address these questions and explore existing and potential solutions to the looming influx of solar panels that will be coming off the rooftops and out of the solar farms over the next 5-10 years.

Senior Environmental Scientist

Addressing End-of-Life Management for Solar Panels and Electric Vehicle Batteries

The exponential increases in the adoption of solar power and electric vehicles in California have led to concerns regarding eventual end-of-life management. In May 2018, CalRecycle’s Director approved and adopted The Future of Electronic Waste Management in California report and the recommendations contained within, including the recommendation to prepare for the end-of-life management of solar panels and lithium ion batteries. This report led CalRecycle to sign a memorandum of understanding with the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and co-lead an interagency workgroup, composed of five state agencies in California, to partner on developing consistent approaches to managing waste solar panels, electric vehicle batteries, and energy storage batteries. Through these efforts CalRecycle co-hosted a workshop with the CPUC to gather information on current policies and programs and identify challenges to proper disposal and recycling. In addition, CalRecycle is a member of the Lithium-ion Car Battery Recycling Advisory Group, established by Assembly Bill 2832 (Dahle, Statutes of 2018), and convened by the California Environmental Protection Agency. Currently, CalRecycle is in the process of publishing a joint white paper on the findings of these efforts, which will include policy recommendations for end-of-life management.

Environmental Specialist

1 lb. Propane Cylinders: Creating a Successful Exchange Program

The City of Oceanside is home to boating enthusiasts, active hikers, and beach goers and receives hundreds of thousands of visitors year-round. Whether it be for barbequing, heating, or boating appliances, many of these residents and visitors utilize 1 lb. propane cylinders for their daily needs.

Single-use 1 lb. propane cylinders have been a serious problem across California, with many being improperly disposed of and creating a hazard for communities. After receiving a grant from CalRecycle and partnering with the California Product Stewardship Council (CPSC), the City of Oceanside’s Green Oceanside team was able to target this growing issue and educate the Oceanside community on the impact single-use propane cylinders have on the environment, inform the community on how to properly dispose of single-use propane cylinders, and provide a refillable alternative with information on how to refill locally.

The Green Oceanside team created an innovative pledge card, which was used during exchange events at U-Haul, the City’s household hazardous waste facility, Oceanside City Hall, the Oceanside Harbor, and other locations. Along with the pledge card, the City of Oceanside was able to work alongside the City’s Harbor Office to host a collection receptacle for the proper disposal of single-use cylinders.

This presentation will provide a model for a successful exchange program through lessons learned and highlight how the City of Oceanside thought outside of the box to get refillable propane cylinders into the hands of the community.

President

SB 1383 Regulatory Highlights and Intro to CalRecycle Tools

While SB 1383 regulatory requirements are extensive, this presentation will briefly identify key SB 1383 milestones and requirements. In addition, it will include an introduction to four CalRecycle SB 1383 Implementation Tools and case study resources.

Senior Manager - P.E.

SB 1383 Model Tools – What are They and How they Can Help You

To comply with SB 1383 regulations, jurisdictions and other entities will be drafting new agreements, ordinances, and policies or amending existing ones.  This presentation will introduce you to four SB 1383 Implementation Tools that were produced for CalRecycle by HF&H Consultants, in conjunction with Diversion Strategies and Debra Kaufman Consulting.  The SB 1383 tools, which will be available for use by jurisdictions and other entities, include: a model franchise agreement; a model mandatory organics disposal reduction ordinance; a model organic waste product procurement policy; and, a model edible food recovery agreement. Each tool provides example provisions for use to develop new agreements, ordinances, and/or policies, or to amend existing ones. The presentation will highlight key provisions of each tool and describe how users can navigate each model tool. The audience will gain an understanding of how the models can help entities achieve compliance and the various customizable provisions within the models that users can use to fit their needs.

Associate Analyst

SB 1383 Compliance Approaches – Eight Real World Case Studies

Jurisdictions and other regulated entities have many pathways for compliance with the SB 1383 regulations and are encouraged to look to others for real world examples of compliance approaches.  CalRecycle released eight case studies, prepared by HF&H Consultants, as resources for jurisdictions and entities to learn about various compliance approaches related to franchising, mandatory organics disposal reduction ordinances; organic waste product procurement; and, edible food recovery.  The presentation will provide an overview of each case study including key implementation steps and milestones and lessons learned. The audience will hear about strategies taken in Alameda County, Manteca, San Francisco, San Ramon, Stockton, San Luis Obispo County, Fresno, and the country of France.

SB 1383 Manager

Environmental Compliance & Zero Waste Specialist

Sustainability at SFO and COVID-19 Impacts

The SFO Airport has huge climate and sustainability goals, including their goal to attain zero: zero carbon, zero waste and zero net energy. SFO’s objective, as outlined in its 5-Year Strategic Plan, is to be the first Airport in the world to achieve triple zero. Despite being one of the fastest-growing airports in the United States, SFO successfully curtailed its emissions by 39% from a 1990 baseline, in addition to reducing per-passenger water use by 22.5% below 2013 levels and campus wide natural gas use by 10%. In Calendar Year 2019, SFO served a record 57.6 million passengers, which has reduced significantly due to COVID-19. This session will review some of the programs that make SFO a sustainable airport and the recent impacts of COVID-19. 

Director of Sustainability

Making change in sustainability as an airline

To the people of Alaska Airlines, the Pacific Northwest is so much more than a destination--it’s where we live, where we grew up, and where we play. Because of this, we are motivated to keep it pristine, and have chosen to take on sustainability enhancements that are important to the environment, our communities, and the advancement of the airline industry. Some of the items that will be discussed during this session include:

• Alaska Airlines serves up 37,000 cups of coffee a day on its more than 900 daily flights, brewed using more than 250,000 pounds of Starbucks coffee each year. They focus on composting or recycling as much as they can.
• Encourages guests and employees to bring their own water bottles and become active partners in the airline’s goal to reduce single-use plastics.
• Powering all flights by all airlines at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport with sustainable aviation biofuel.
• Emissions from planes and equipment
• Waste from flights and other facilities
• Consumption of non-sustainable resources
• Energy use in our buildings

Environmentalist Specialist

COVID-19 Impacts on Operations and Waste Management at San Diego International Airport

An effective waste management program for a large venue has its challenges. The COVID-19 pandemic has had unprecedented effects on the transportation/aviation industry and the operations of airports. This presentation will highlight how San Diego International Airport (SAN) has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, how the organization has adapted, and how the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority’s robust waste management program has changed in response. Additionally, the presentation will dive into the Airport Authority Zero Waste Plan, our goals, and the initiatives in place to achieve them. The presentation will discuss the Airport’s diversion rate, employee engagement efforts like education and collection events, special employee/passenger programs, material streams, waste-related logistics, and related challenges.

Northern California Director Sustainable Materials Management

Senior Scientist

Zero Waste and Stormwater - How do they connect?

There are several areas where the worlds of stormwater and zero waste intersect, but many people do not see or know about the connections. Green Stormwater Infrastructure deals with landscaping, soil, mulch, compost and durable pavement materials that are also pervious - all of these topics have zero waste connections. Litter/trash in stormwater has an immediate link to zero waste policies and programs. The recent focus on foodware source reduction ordinances - moving away from recycling and composting for these materials and other food packaging is another area of connection. Municipalities in California are required to reduce litter/trash flowing into bays, rivers and the Ocean. The design of buildings to reduce waste and litter is an emerging area that I have focused on in the writing of a toolkit for multi-family building design and operation. Seeing the connections between these disciplines will help professionals integrate policies and practices for a more sustainable environment in California. This presentation will use these examples of how zero waste and stormwater connect and the linkages to important zero waste drivers such as AB 341, AB 1826 and SB1383 as well as regional and state-wide stormwater regulations.

Environmental Programs & Operations Manager

How to Reduce Stormwater Exceedance Levels at Transfer Stations

The State of California requires industrial facilities to obtain an Industrial Generator Permit and complete a Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan annually.  Transfer stations, MRF's, landfills are all required to  obtain these permits and complete reports.  The State requires that these facilities do not pollute the water ways and oceans with  waste materials, oils, lead, phosphates, e-coli and bacteria as well as a list of many other contaminants.  Culver City's Transfer Station is adjacent to Ballona Creek which flows directly to Santa Monica Bay.  Through required sampling, it was determined that our Transfer Station was at a Level 2 Exceedance for polluting the creek and risked the possiblity of huge fines or even a shut down.  Culver City constructed a large stormwater  Project and reduced the Level 2 Exceedance to Compliance.  This workshop is a case study to show participants what it takes to obtain stormwater compliance when waste is our major business.  

Local Governments Take Lead on Source Reduction

The City of Berkeley passed its Single Use Disposable Foodware and Litter Reduction Ordinance in 2019. The legislation requires a $0.25 charge on single use cups in addition to requiring reusable food service ware. Annette, in her role as Zero Waste Commissioner, will speak about the importance of source reduction and how the City is implementing the new ordinance. Annette will also speak about her role in advocacy for National Cleanup day to help eliminate litter that ends up in the waterways. While picking up litter is not the solution, it brings awareness to participants about issues related to waste, consumption, and litter.

Principal

Designing a Zero Waste Playbook for Large-scale Tech

Envirolutions was engaged in the fall of 2019 by one of the largest tech companies in San Francisco to design and implement Zero Waste at 3 of their largest buildings. The program included innovative approaches to disseminate information via internal screens and social media posts as well as conducting surveys, floor-level and loading dock waste audits, and evaluating waste signage among other deliverables. Many aspects of the project were put on hold due to the shelter-in-place orders but the team reconvened and the project moved forward in new and innovative ways. Hear about how the client will be using a 'playbook,' to ensure that recycling and Zero Waste stay front of mind for all their employees, both in San Francisco and beyond.

Manager, Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility

Best Management Practices for Zero Waste from Property Management's Perspective

Kilroy Realty values sustainability as a foundational principal for their operations across their portfolio. Hear from their Manager of Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility about how Kilroy has incorporated Zero Waste guidelines into their operations throughout California and especially in larger commercial complexes. Learn about successes and challenges, best management practices, key components for effective waste diversion programs, as well as hear from their perspective what leads to the best possible collaboration between government, private industry and waste haulers. 

Recycling and Waste Reduction Manager

Mastering Zero Waste at UCSF

UCSF has been steadily marching towards zero waste and is currently only 12% points away from achieving their zero waste goal. To accomplish this, they have implemented numerous programs from digitizing data collection to hyper-target communication, to instituting sorting operations to eliminate contamination in their waste streams.

The creation of the UCSF Sorting Program helped increase diversion rates and gain further insights on contamination issues by conducting waste characteristics campus-wide. Furthermore campus operations have been utilizing the Zabble platform to streamline operations, reducing staff costs and utilizing the data to investigate the root causes of the waste issues. Attendees will learn about how UCSF has utilized this technology and data to actualize significant reductions in contamination, increases in diversion, lower hauling fees and fines.

Founder and CEO

Commercial Zero Waste Senior Coordinator

Lesson learned San Francisco's New Generation of Foodware Ordinances

Hear the latest on San Francisco's lessons from passing and implementing their Single-Use Plastics, Toxics and Litter Reduction Ordinance that banned flourinated chemicals in foodware through BPI certification, restricted single use plastics and allowed foodware accessories only on request to their recent stakeholder and legislative efforts to mandate onsite reusables and charges for nonreusable cups and containers and help business join the growing reuse revolution.  

Program Specialist

Alameda's Foodware Ordinance: Compliance and Next Steps

Alameda's Disposable Food Service Ware Reduction Law has been in enforceable for two years, now.  What does foodware compliance look like for the Island City? Alameda has learned a few things about the difficulties in conveying understandable foodware rules to both the food vendors and and public, and has a few stories of foodware enforcement to tell.

ReThink Disposable Interim Director

So you passed an ordinance. Now what?

The circular reuse and packaging-free narrative is a journey with multiple milestones and hurdles. Passing a foodware reduction ordinance is the mid-point. Widespread knowledge of the ordinance, understanding how business owners process the news, and changing food operations come next. Using case studies from Alameda, Berkeley, San Anselmo, and learnings from San Francisco, hear what happens after an ordinance is passed and how to move zero-packaging from ordinance to reality. 

Project Analyst

Sustainability Planner

Low Embodied Carbon Concrete Building Codes

Concrete production is responsible for an estimated 6-10% of global climate emissions. Local governments have the authority to pass codes to reduce these emissions. In November 2019, the County of Marin passed a first-of-its-kind building code amendment that requires new construction in the unincorporated county to reduce the amount of embodied carbon in concrete used by the project. The code was developed through a Bay Area Air Quality Management District funded Climate Protection Grant and involved a year-long stakeholder process with representatives from across affected industries: concrete suppliers, developers, architects, local governments, academics, and nonprofits. The result was a code with compliance pathways that are simple and flexible, and targets a 10-30% reduction in emissions per cubic yard of concrete compared to national averages. County of Marin staff will describe the code and the process to develop and adopt it.

Sustainability Analyst

Lifecycle Emissions in Oakland’s 2030 Equitable Climate Action Plan

City of Oakland has for several years tracked lifecycle emissions of materials and resources consumed in Oakland. Global or lifecycle emissions include both those that occur locally (for example, tailpipe exhaust from auto trips), and the material extraction, manufacturing, shipping, and other activities that occur outside Oakland – often overseas – to satisfy local demand for materials and activities. From cars and clothes to condiments and concerts, everything consumed has a lifecycle carbon impact. In Oakland, as in most cities, lifecycle emissions are about three times the amount of local emissions, which means that about two-thirds of the emissions for which Oakland is responsible occur outside the city. This deeper look at global emissions associated with Oakland’s actions indicates that, while buildings and transportation have the highest emissions locally, the largest share of global emissions come from the climate impacts of every-day purchasing decisions. In light of this, Oakland's 2030 Equitable Climate Action Plan contains not only actions to divert waste from landfills but also strategies to transform key aspects of the economy. The ECAP's Materials Consumption and Waste section aims to eliminate disposal of compostable organic materials to landfill, reduce waste generation upstream of disposal, and support a circular economy. Specific strategies address edible food diversion from the waste or compost streams, single use plastics, embodied carbon in buildings, repair and reuse economies, and City procurement policies. City staff will describe the reasons for including lifecycle emissions and how this influences the mix of strategies included in the ECAP.

Sustainability Coordinator

Carbon-Free Economy in Albany’s Climate Action and Adaptation Plan

The City of Albany’s new Climate Action and Adaptation Plan was adopted in December 2019. The CAAP looks at emissions directly tied to actions taken within the city limits as well upstream emissions and embodied emissions tied to the products consumed by the Albany community. Emissions from direct burning of fossil fuels make up a relatively minor fraction of a household’s overall impact, when compared to the emissions tied to consumption of goods and services, as well as embodied carbon. Albany’s traditional inventory of geographically-bound emissions is 1/6 of their consumption-based emissions in total tons of CO2e. While embodied emissions are not reflected in the City’s reduction targets or carbon neutrality goal, the CAAP includes strategies to address emissions from consumption with the understanding that their impact goes beyond Albany’s borders, and that meaningful climate action requires taking responsibility for these emissions. The City plans to lead by example by updating the municipal Sustainable Purchasing Policy to focus on purchasing items with a smaller carbon footprint, such as low-carbon concrete and post-consumer recycled materials. Ultimately, emissions from consumption must be reduced through consumer behavior change strategies that reduce waste and spur systemic changes toward a local, circular, low-carbon, re-use economy. The City can advance these outcomes through public education, economic development, and building codes. City staff will describe Albany’s perspective on its role within the integrated global economy, and its goal to facilitate a carbon-free economy.

Program Manager

Senior Program Manager

StopWaste: Reducing Contamination in Commercial Organics Collections

Meghan will present the strategic reasons that StopWaste applied for the grant from the BAAQMD, and the nature of the partnership between the parties on the grant. She will also describe the sampling study used to monitor progress throughout the grant and present the results, and share key lessons for other agencies seeking to facilitate public/hauler partnerships.

President

Livermore Sanitation: Reducing Contamination in Commercial Organics Collections

Livermore Sanitation, Inc. (LSI) is the hauler associated with the pilot project. Franchised solid waste haulers are increasingly relied upon to design, implement, and monitor diversion programs, which include the capture and reporting of valuable data to guarantee program quality and effectiveness. Customer outreach, education, technical assistance, and training are required to initiate programs and motivate customers to maintain/increase program participation over the program or contract term. Consistent outreach is also necessary to address employee turnover in food-generating business types. 

LSI reviews images generated through Compology’s cameras for potential contamination daily.  When contaminants are identified, the customer is contacted since feedback helps increase awareness of contaminants and improves the quality of the collected material.

LSI performs site visits so that feedback and technical assistance can be provided directly to the customer. LSI also warns customers that fines can be levied for repeat or unacceptably high levels of contamination. A work order is sometimes generated to instruct the organics driver not empty the bin when contaminants are still visible at the time of service. In less challenging instances of contamination, LSI contacts customers by phone or email to remind customers of program parameters and inquire as to what additional support they may need for compliance.

Compology technology combined with follow-up contact and training with customers has resulted in a decrease in overall tons but cleaner tons in the organics system so far.

Senior Customer Success Manager

Compology: Reducing Contamination in Commercial Organics Collections

Compology technology was implemented to deliver its remote monitoring capabilities for use in driving down contamination in organics bins via timely customer feedback and contamination fees.   Compology's field durability was demonstrated, and it was shown that remote monitoring is a viable solution to help make sure that generators follow program rules and provide an affordable means to track compliance with SB 1383 requirements.

Public Works Manager

Environmental Scientist

California Markets: Early Impacts of COVID-19 and International Policies

COVID-19 and international policies are significantly affecting California’s recycling markets. While international markets have always shifted, China’s National Sword and subsequent and pending policy changes are having a significant impact on markets for scrap plastic and paper. COVID-19 has also had a major effect on recyclable markets due to, among other factors, the reduction in commercial material generation, temporary regulatory measures and the drop in global oil prices. It is too early for comprehensive data about the effects of COVID-19 on recycling, but export data and industry reporting can shed light on trends we expect to see in the next year.

Environmental Scientist

CalRecycle’s 2018 Statewide Disposal-Based Waste Characterization Data and What to Expect in 2020

CalRecycle released its 2018 Statewide Disposal-Based Waste Characterization Study in May 2020. This report represents 94 material types found in the 40 million tons of waste California disposed in 2018.  Additionally, the study sheds light on the  progress in reaching California’s diversion goals. How does the data compare to 2014? What are we changing for the 2020 study and what impact has COVID-19 had on the study plans?

Senior Environmental Scientist

CalRecycle’s 2018 & 2020 Commercial Generator-Based Edible Food Waste Characterization Studies and the Future of Edible Food Recovery

SB 1383’s edible food diversion targets require data to help establish baselines and develop a capacity planning tool for jurisdictions. This tool will also be useful for food generators in certain business groups. What sort of data will the 2018 and 2020 food generator study provide and how will it help certain business groups? How will COVID-19 impact the 2020 study plan and generated data?

Environmental Scientist

CalRecycle’s 2018 & 2020 Commercial Generator-Based Edible Food Waste Characterization Studies and the Future of Edible Food Recovery

SB 1383’s edible food diversion targets require data to help establish baselines and develop a capacity planning tool for jurisdictions. This tool will also be useful for food generators in certain business groups. What sort of data will the 2018 and 2020 food generator study provide and how will it help certain business groups? How will COVID-19 impact the 2020 study plan and generated data?

Environmental Scientist

Founder

How Real-Time Data Tracking and Reporting Supports Successful Rollouts

A successful rollout of a new program — most often organics in today’s California — requires input and collaboration from many players, including managers and staff at cities, haulers and frequently outside consultants. With hundreds or even thousands of customers requiring new services and accompanying education within a short period of time, it’s easy for rollouts to become a complicated mess. In this session, you’ll learn how Recyclist customized their Program Tracker software to facilitate and streamline the process of coordinating the recent food scraps rollout in the City of Oceanside. Leveraging the power of cloud-based software, Recyclist synced cross-team efforts, minimized the back-and-forth confusion of email, and provided everyone involved with direct transparency into the collaborative process. You’ll also see how through the Program Tracker’s real-time reporting capabilities, the City was able to track day-to-day progress toward its ultimate goal, and was additionally able to get a head start on data tracking and reporting for new regulations such as SB 1383 and AB 827.

Environmental Officer

Oceanside's Organic Goals

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic recession, the completion of this mandatory commercial food scraps recycling rollout was postponed and redesigned in a different context than originally described below.

With a 5-0 vote, the City of Oceanside amended their franchise waste hauler agreement in 2019 to include a full commercial food scrap recycling program. The amendment included collection, transportation and processing for organics waste generated by the City’s approximately 2,000 commercial customers. To support participation in the program, commercial customers received technical assistance, training and “right-sizing” of service levels.  In addition, the City updated the municipal code to ensure compliance with AB1826 and SB1383. The mandatory roll-out of commercial organics service, including at least two site visits per generator, was set to occur over 6 months of implementation. Oceanside will be speaking to the goals, outreach efforts, stakeholder support, community involvement, and challenges that allowed a roll-out of this size to begin and partially occur with full City Council and public support.

Northern California Director

Outreach Efforts That Provide For a Successful City-Wide Project Rollout

SCS was hired to assist with the rollout of the City of Oceanside’s commercial food scraps program. As part of this project, SCS worked closely with Waste Management and the City to develop an outreach program to meet the needs of the rollout and capture data that could be used to understand the success of the outreach efforts. Within four months, the team (City, WM and SCS) designed an outreach program that incorporated five outreach staff, four city personnel and three team managers. Important components of this rollout included the design of outreach materials, protocols for activities and elevated customer concerns, training, and an effective database. This presentation will discuss how the project all came together, including best practices and lessons learned.

Outreach Program Manager

Making Behavior Change Meaningful, Accessible, and Appealing

Stanford University's My Cardinal Green platform has offered a single point of access for which a diverse campus community can engage with sustainability.  The speaker will discuss the implementation and impact of this on-line incentive program, discuss the strengths and opportunities with Traditional Engagement Programs versus User-Designed Programs and share how Stanford University's has increased participation in its overall sustainability programs and notably, their Zero Waste programs, through this platform.

Civil Engineer

Integrated Solutions for Organic Waste Recycling

To achieve the requirements of the Senate Bill 1383 (2016) regulations, Los Angeles County is hard at work developing solutions for organic waste recycling. This includes planning for mandatory organic waste collection services for over 1 million residents and 20,000 businesses and multi-family buildings. It also includes developing an infrastructure plan for the entire County and its 88 cities, which house over a quarter of the state’s population and are estimated to have a combined organic waste recycling capacity shortfall of over 3.5 million tons per year.

An SB 1383 compliance strategy for a large and complex jurisdiction such as Los Angeles County requires an integrated solution to maximize the recovery of organic waste. This strategy incorporates anaerobic digestion to create energy and fuels in addition to composting to process digestate. The County is also working to address issues surrounding compostable food-service ware, including working with researchers at UCLA to complete a study on alternatives to single-use plastics. In addition, the County is conducting an analysis to determine the best pathways to achieve the SB 1383 local jurisdiction procurement target for recovered organic waste products, including the use of renewable natural gas transportation fuel for waste hauling vehicles to create a sustainable closed-loop organic waste recycling system in the County.

Sr. Environmental Engineer

Curb Your Food Waste LA: Single-Family Residential Food Scraps Recyling

A new single-family residential food waste prevention and food scraps recycling pilot was implemented to approximately 18,000 single-family households, located across all 15 City Council Districts, and within 25 collection routes. The intent of the pilot is to:
1. Promote food waste prevention
2. Encourage residents to recycle remaining food scraps in their existing Green Bin
3. Encourage continued use of home composting and promote access to the City’s free composting workshops and related resources
Currently the City has a Green Bin program that collects yard trimmings on a weekly basis from single family households and multifamily households up to four units. The Curb Your Food Waste LA (CYFWLA) program provided residents with kitchen pails, a how-to brochure and videos to encourage residents to Shop Smart, Waste Less and Recycle the Rest. The City also conducts monthly home composting and urban gardening workshops at three sites within the City. Residents can also purchase home composting bins at these workshops. LASAN has conducted previous pilots to test for food scrap separation in the household; first through a food scraps collection pilot in 2009, and in 2017-2018 through an in-sink disposal pilot to divert food scraps from the landfill. The CYFWLA pilot program was conducted from August, 2018 and will be completed in October, 2020. It included door-to-door outreach and surveys, community events, bin evaluations and waste characterizations to measure participation. Take-aways and lessons learned from the pilot will be incorporated into a full-scale program.

President, Solid Waste West

Curb Your Food Waste LA: Outreach/Education & Data Collection Tools

A new single-family residential food waste prevention and food scraps recycling pilot was implemented for approximately 18,000 single-family households in each of 15 Council Districts in the City of Los Angeles covering 25 collection routes. The two-year pilot program included door-to-door kitchen pail distribution and outreach, surveys, community events, bin evaluations and waste characterizations to measure participation. Tetra Tech was hired to assist the City in implementing the pilot program which included development of a Communications and Outreach Plan, development and distribution of compelling, engaging and informative collateral materials (logo, Introductory letter, “How-To” brochures, flyers, maps, banners, contamination tags, cart tags, door hangers, newsletters, and multi-lingual videos), distribution of kitchen pails and conducting door-to-door surveys with the assistance of non-profit organizations including Pacoima Beautiful and LA Conservation Corps.

Data collection utilized tablets with an electronic data collection application which allowed for real-time progress tracking and establishment of a user-friendly dashboard. To evaluate the effectiveness of the pilot program, data on participation and diversion rates was collected and surveys conducted over four quarters with accompanying newsletters communicating progress. Data collection from curbside set-outs helped ground-truth self-reported data. Objectives of the data collection were to estimate participation rate, identify common contaminants found in green-bins, and characterize the composition of green-bin and black-bin materials to estimate average quantities of materials generated per household, diversion rates, and proportion of materials that were correctly or incorrectly sorted by residents. Take-aways and lessons learned from the pilot will be incorporated into a full-scale program.

Curb Your Food Waste LA: Outreach/Education & Data Collection Tools

A new single-family residential food waste prevention and food scraps recycling pilot was implemented for approximately 18,000 single-family households in each of 15 Council Districts in the City of Los Angeles covering 25 collection routes. The two-year pilot program included door-to-door kitchen pail distribution and outreach, surveys, community events, bin evaluations and waste characterizations to measure participation. Tetra Tech was hired to assist the City in implementing the pilot program which included development of a Communications and Outreach Plan, development and distribution of compelling, engaging and informative collateral materials (logo, Introductory letter, “How-To” brochures, flyers, maps, banners, contamination tags, cart tags, door hangers, newsletters, and multi-lingual videos), distribution of kitchen pails and conducting door-to-door surveys with the assistance of non-profit organizations including Pacoima Beautiful and LA Conservation Corps.

Data collection utilized tablets with an electronic data collection application which allowed for real-time progress tracking and establishment of a user-friendly dashboard. To evaluate the effectiveness of the pilot program, data on participation and diversion rates was collected and surveys conducted over four quarters with accompanying newsletters communicating progress. Data collection from curbside set-outs helped ground-truth self-reported data. Objectives of the data collection were to estimate participation rate, identify common contaminants found in green-bins, and characterize the composition of green-bin and black-bin materials to estimate average quantities of materials generated per household, diversion rates, and proportion of materials that were correctly or incorrectly sorted by residents. Take-aways and lessons learned from the pilot will be incorporated into a full-scale program.

Curb Your Food Waste LA: Outreach/Education & Data Collection Tools

A new single-family residential food waste prevention and food scraps recycling pilot was implemented for approximately 18,000 single-family households in each of 15 Council Districts in the City of Los Angeles covering 25 collection routes. The two-year pilot program included door-to-door kitchen pail distribution and outreach, surveys, community events, bin evaluations and waste characterizations to measure participation. Tetra Tech was hired to assist the City in implementing the pilot program which included development of a Communications and Outreach Plan, development and distribution of compelling, engaging and informative collateral materials (logo, Introductory letter, “How-To” brochures, flyers, maps, banners, contamination tags, cart tags, door hangers, newsletters, and multi-lingual videos), distribution of kitchen pails and conducting door-to-door surveys with the assistance of non-profit organizations including Pacoima Beautiful and LA Conservation Corps.

Data collection utilized tablets with an electronic data collection application which allowed for real-time progress tracking and establishment of a user-friendly dashboard. To evaluate the effectiveness of the pilot program, data on participation and diversion rates was collected and surveys conducted over four quarters with accompanying newsletters communicating progress. Data collection from curbside set-outs helped ground-truth self-reported data. Objectives of the data collection were to estimate participation rate, identify common contaminants found in green-bins, and characterize the composition of green-bin and black-bin materials to estimate average quantities of materials generated per household, diversion rates, and proportion of materials that were correctly or incorrectly sorted by residents. Take-aways and lessons learned from the pilot will be incorporated into a full-scale program.