CRRA2019

Sustainability Specialist

David DiDonato is a Recycling Specialist for the City of Chula Vista, Office of Sustainability. In addition to providing the “3 R” education to businesses and residents, Dave is the Lead for the City’s Organics management which include Food Recovery, Food Waste Collection, and Backyard Composting programs.

Senior Associate

Philip Mainolfi is a SWANA Certified instructor of Zero Waste Principles & Practices who has also facilitated public workshops and presented at conferences regarding SB 1383 requirements as drafted, implementation challenges, and strategies for compliance and funding. Mr. Mainolfi is assisting several agencies, including the cities of El Monte, Lawndale, Manhattan Beach, and Santa Ana, and the Central Contra Costa Solid Waste Authority and County of San Diego, with updating franchise agreements, drafting municipal code language, and/or implementation of SB 1383 draft compliant programs.  He has presented at several regional workshops on SB 1383 implementation requirements.

In the world of solid waste, SB 1383 is being described as the biggest legislative milestone since the adoption of AB 939. Many jurisdictions across the state (particularly ones without organics collection programs) are anxiously anticipating the final adoptions of SB 1383, but implementing SB 1383 may not be as challenging as anticipated.  HF&H has been at the forefront of understanding SB 1383 requirements since the original drafts were released. We have been engaged with CalRecycle staff, have hosted two SB 1383 Local Government Summits, and are assisting a number of agencies with determining how they will achieve SB 1383 compliance.  HF&H has helped jurisdictions evaluate which requirements should be designated to franchise haulers (or other third parties) and which should be handled by local government staff, subsequently ensuring that franchise agreements and ordinances reflect those responsibilities.

This presentation will:

• Provide a big-picture summary of SB 1383, highlighting requirements that will likely have the biggest impact on local jurisdictions.
• Describe practical steps local jurisdictions can take now to ensure that their agencies are SB 1383-compliant.
• Spotlight local governments that have recently adopted or modified franchise agreements to meet SB 1383 requirements.

Director

Dieter heads Cascadia’s Recycling and Materials Management research and analytics. Dieter has spent much of his 14 years with Cascadia standing in landfills, leading primary data collection efforts to support weight-based diversion program evaluations for clients ranging from the U.S. Pentagon to the five boroughs of New York City to Kauai. Dieter manages dozens of waste characterization projects each year, including California's statewide waste characterizations every five years, and he is excited about innovative performance metrics embraced by many of his clients that push beyond recycling rate metrics.

SB1383! It’s not an asteroid hurtling towards Earth, but it can feel just as daunting, and Hollywood can’t save us. This bill has required a rethink of how to approach food waste – not just new processes for reduction and diversion, but also new measurement strategies. Come hear about how some communities have measured their food waste using CalRecycle’s draft food waste categories. This presentation will first cover the planning process of the first waste characterization studies around the state using the new food waste types CalRecycle has proposed. This will include a discussion of nuances in the new set of definitions. Next, this presentation will delve into implementation of the new measurement categories. The jurisdictions included range from urban to rural, from NorCal to SoCal, and from places with curbside food waste collection to those without. I will discuss the data available from these case studies and the unique and interesting findings it offers. Lastly, attendees will be provided with an opportunity to ask questions or provide feedback. Thorough understanding and thoughtful implementation of these new categories is critically important to guide California’s path towards greenhouse gas emissions reduction and climate leadership, and I aim to provide a clear and informative view of our peers’ experiences.

Regulatory Affairs Director

Veronica Pardo has served the California Refuse Recycling Council's (CRRC) governmental affairs program since 2013, advocating for the waste and recycling industry to promote viable solid waste policy solutions in California. Ms. Pardo has engaged in a number of significant rulemakings, ranging from organics management regulations to health and safety standards. The diversity of daily issues impacting the industry means that she is always learning and inspired to address the numerous environmental and socioeconomic challenges we face. Ms. Pardo holds a master's degree in Community Development from UC Davis, and a bachelor's degree in French and English from UCLA.

California's ambitious Proposed Organics Waste Reduction Regulations (SB 1383) mark a new era for the waste and recycling industry as we look to divert over 20 million additional tons of organic waste from our landfills annually by 2025. To meet this goal we need to virtually triple our current infrastructure and guarantee robust local markets to procure organics management commodities. How will we realize this effort and ultimately achieve our greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction goals? 

This presentation will attempt to answer this question from the viewpoint of the Northern California independent refuse industry experience.

Overall, the presentation will address:

• The history of municipal solid waste (MSW) organics management in Northern California
• The region’s current MSW organics management infrastructure, including collection and processing capacity
• Opportunities and barriers to infrastructure growth
• Markets and procurement of organics management commodities
• Feedstock challenges and future issues of concern

Attendees will get a practical overview of Northern California’s current organics management system, with a detailed breakdown of the regulatory obstacles we face in achieving the goals of SB 1383 and potential solutions to overcoming those obstacles. The general goal of the presentation is to encourage local, collaborative approaches to effectively divert organics and create sustainable markets to make use of organics management commodities, ultimately reducing GHG emissions and addressing our climate change goals.