CRRA 2022 Conference & Tradeshow

Environmental Officer

The City and its waste hauler, Waste Management, designed its commercial organics program starting in September 2019 in response to AB 1826 and in preparation for SB 1383. With in-person outreach commencing in January 2020, with services slated for delivery in March 2020, Staff could never have foreseen the economic and logistical impact of COVID-19. In March 2020, Staff had to immediately halt deliveries and refocus programming to account for unprecedented business shutdowns and subsequent economic challenges. While working to relaunch food scraps service deliveries in August 2020, Staff worked to completely reorient outreach materials and messaging that emphasized cost savings through rightsizing and downsizing, as well virtual resources and training support in collaboration with the hauler, third party consultants, and the City’s design firm. To demonstrate flexibility and customer service, Staff also redesigned all scripts, emails, letters, and FAQs documents to accommodate the challenging and unpredictability felt by businesses throughout 2020. In order to provide a simple, easy, and useful service launch, City Staff redesigned the logistics of physically delivering signs, printed guides, and interior receptacles to each business following delivery of their food scraps recycling bin or cart.  Due to the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, the City was able to develop and successfully implement a hybrid rollout of commercial food scraps services with materials distributed physically and digitally, hosting webinars, and by offering both in person and virtual training opportunities.

Senior Environmental Specialist

Since December 2020, the City and Waste Management have been focused on providing more tailored outreach and attention to the remaining businesses that are still unsubscribed to food scraps recycling services. The remaining businesses who have yet to receive food scraps recycling services represent the most challenging generators to add food scraps recycling services, as they are low-volume generators primarily subscribing to the lowest volume service available (three cubic yard trash service with once a week pick-up), have space constraints, and/or economic challenges. To support the program’s implementation and improve the materials collected from the food scraps bin, the City and WM went through multiple phases of development of a contamination notification program. The resulting program includes a designed “Oops Tag”, accompanied by an automatic email, and a more detailed email letting businesses know of common contaminants found within their bins. This program was further developed to prepare for an SB 1383 monitoring program, and was launched in late 2021 in time for 2022 requirements and ahead of contamination charges from Waste Management in 2022. Participants will gain insight into how to develop educational resources in response to common issues of a rapidly developing program and changing conditions on the ground.

Project Manager

Although the City has made great efforts in bringing food scraps services to businesses, CalRecycle still considers the City out of compliance with AB 1826 as of January 2022. While the City has demonstrated good faith effort on AB 1826, Staff are having to adapt and accelerate the timeline of rollout for the remaining businesses and all Multi-Family complexes to comply with SB 1383. City staff worked with its consultants at HF&H to provide a comprehensive and accelerated timeline for bringing the remaining businesses and all the multi-family complexes automatic food scraps service delivery in the first few months of 2022, within the context of increased COVID resurgences and labor shortages. Consultant staff had to logistically manage the rollout timeline to ensure the City’s compliance with CalRecycle and successful delivery of services by the hauler. In this new phase of compliance, the role of consultants to support limited staffing and serve as a regulatory advocate has been essential in meeting the new demands of SB 1383.