Watertown City Council

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1 City of Watertown Agenda Item: Grant Application for Organics Recycling Watertown City Council October 14, 2014 Request for Action Request for Action: Adopt a Motion to Approve Grant Application to Carver County for Organics Recycling Department: Shane Fineran, City Administrator Background: In a review of current services with Randy s Sanitation we discussed the organics recycling program currently offered. Randy s has made available their Blue Bag Organics Recycling program to Watertown residents as a way for customers to dispose of household organics such as soiled food containers, food waste, etc. To date only 11 customers have enrolled for this service within Watertown. Randy s Sanitation and Carver County has approached the City with an opportunity to further promote this service to Watertown residents in an effort to increase organics collection and reduce the amount of reusable waste being landfilled. Carver County and Randy s Sanitation have agreed to work together to develop a promotional campaign and make available a $100 credit to customers to enroll in the Blue Bag Organics program. This would cover organics recycling service for one year, at which time if the customer continued the service they would pay the regular rate. Carver County has made available a grant program totaling $11,700 that would provide funding for up to 100 participants as well as a marketing campaign that will be managed by Carver County and Randy s Sanitation. There is no cost to the City to implement the program other than acting as the fiduciary agent for administration of grant funds. Staff is recommending application to Carver County for Organics Recycling Grant Funds. Attachments: Grant Application Blue Bag Organic Brochure

2 2014 CARVER COUNTY SOLID WASTE GRANT APPLICATION NOTE TO APPLICANT: Please print in black ink or type all applicable information; be sure to complete all sections of the application. WARNING: INCOMPLETE APPLICATIONS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. Organization Name: City of Watertown Organization Address (Street, City, State, Zip Code): 309 Lewis Ave. S, Watertown, MN Official Mailing Address (Street, City, State, Zip Code) (if other than above address): 309 Lewis Ave. S, P.O. Box 279, Watertown, MN Responsible Person: Shane Fineran Title: Watertown City Administrator Telephone Number: (952) Fax Number: (952) address: n.us Contact Person: Deb Gatz Title: Company Operations Administrator Telephone Number: (612) address: Organization: (please check one) Non-profit X Profit Total grant funding requested: $10,500 I hereby certify that the information provided on this application, and all attachments, is correct and complete. Shane Fineran Printed Name City Administrator Watertown Title Signature Date

3 Project Title: Expansion of Residential Organics Collection in the City of Watertown through Randy s Environmental Blue Bag Program The City of Watertown contracts with Randy s Environmental Services to provide Watertown residents with refuse and recycling collections. The City of Watertown also added Blue Bag organics collection service to the contract in an effort to increase the City s recycling rate. As a result, all 1654 households now have the choice to opt in on the Blue Bag program at a cost of $8.33 per month. Please review the attached brochure for a complete description of the Blue Bag program. The fee covers the cost of: One year supply of Blue Bag organics liners Kitchen scrap recycling container Collection and disposal costs The Blue Bag Organics liners are made from bioplastics composed corn syrup and polymers that are both puncture and tear resistance and fully compost in 45 days. Since the Blue bag program has been offered in Watertown only 11 households have elected to participate. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency s 2013 waste characterization study determined that organics material accounted for up to 41% of what Minnesota throw away. If the Blue Bag program was more heavily utilized the residential recycling rate would significantly increase. The City of Watertown is proposing to utilize grant dollars to market the Blue Bag program by offering a one year service free to the first 100 residents. The City would also disseminate a pre and post participation survey to gather information on the effectiveness of the program and potential ways to improve collection methods as the organic service if offered in other communities. Project Budget ($100.00) subsidy offer 100 Watertown Residents Blue Bag Organics service $10,000 Mailing to 1,564 households: 1. Initial program marketing letter and survey (Carver County will administer mailing) $ Follow- up survey to organics customers (Carver County will administer mailing) $600 Newspaper advertisement (Carver County News) $500 Total $11,700

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6 TO ORDER BLUE BAG ORGANICS, please call Randy s Environmental Services at GOOD STUFF for Blue Bag Organics Recycling Food waste and food-soiled paper are called organic waste. It includes: Spoiled leftovers Dairy products Meat and meat bones Paper cups and Poultry and poultry plates bones Paper towels and Fish and fish bones napkins Vegetable scraps Waxed paper and parchment paper Fruit scraps Egg and nut shells Wax-coated paperboard Fruit stones packaging and Coffee grounds containers and filters Refrigerated foods Tea leaves and Frozen foods tea bags (staples removed) Takeout and to-go containers Butter and margarine wrappers Pizza boxes KEEP OUT of Blue Bag Organics Recycling These items should not go into your kitchen compost bucket or Blue Bag Organics liner. They do not compost. Twist ties Personal sanitary products Aluminum foil Diapers or wipes Foil-lined cartons, Pet droppings or kitty litter containers or packaging Glass or metal Cooking oils, fats or grease Clothes Staples Plastics Cigarette butts Styrofoam Rocks or bricks Yard waste (grass clippings, flowers, leaves, brush and branches) and recyclable paper are picked up separately from Blue Bag Organics. 1 Discard food waste and food-soiled paper from meals, your refrigerator and the pantry into a kitchen compost bucket, separate from your other household trash. Use a kitchen scraps recycling setup that is most convenient for you and your household. You may already have a ventilated kitchen compost bucket for your kitchen scraps. Some households prefer to line the compost bucket with newspaper, a paper bag or an empty paperboard ice cream container. These paper items are compostable right along with the kitchen scraps. Or you may prefer to line your compost bucket with a 3-gallon compostable bag certified by the Biodegradable Products Institute. A list of BPI-certified bags can be found at bpiworld.org. Please don t use plastic shopping bags or other kinds of plastic bags. They will not compost. You may use any sturdy washable container as a kitchen compost bucket. A plastic ice cream bucket or plastic gallon milk jug with the top cut off works well, along with newspaper or a paper bag placed in the bottom to absorb liquids. 2 Empty your kitchen compost bucket into the tall kitchen Blue Bag Organics Bag. Unlike most plastic trash bags, this bag is specially made to be compostable. All your household s organics, including flattened and folded pizza boxes, go into that special Blue Bag Organics bag. On trash day, hand tie the Blue Bag Organics bag and place it inside your regular garbage cart for curbside 3 pickup. We ll separate all Blue Bag Organics from other trash at our facility. And off they ll go to a composting company. ABOUT TWO MONTHS LATER, RECYCLED FOOD WASTE FROM HOUSEHOLDS LIKE YOURS WILL BE CONVERTED TO COMPOST AND SOLD AT A LOCAL GARDEN CENTER.