2013-02-26_PWETC_Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mr. Willmus repeated his request from a recent City Council meeting for the PWETC's exploration of regional and national trends for single-sort recycling, including organics, with that exploration among vendors other than Eureka. Chair Vanderwall responded that, the PWETC's research(included in recent agenda packet materials and available online) indicated a bump in participation in moving to single-sort, as well as indications that more things ended up in the waste stream. However, Chair Vanderwall indicated the need to balance both areas, and suggested the PWETC may end up providing recommendations to the City Council for both a single-sort and dual sort option. Mr. Willmus suggested that, if larger carts could be provided at multi-family buildings by Eureka, it would be beneficial for all parties; and spoke in support of larger carts. While recognizing fewer materials collected with a multi-stream sort, Mr. Willmus suggested that consideration also be given to demographic issues, referencing senior citizens calling Eureka for walk-up service, opining that it would soon negatively impact Eureka's business significantly; and encouraged the PWETC to contact other vendors for current innovations and sort facility enhancements. Along those lines, Mr. Schwartz requested other types of information still needed by the PWETC and/or City Council on those particular issues, or other information, follow-up, or research needs for staff to provide before the next PWETC meeting. Member DeBenedet, from his perspective and in response to Mr. Willmus, requested more current data than already provided on what percentage of non- usable recycling materials being collected; and residuals between a single and dual sort system, since the information from the Roseville pilot project was considerably outdated. Mr. Pratt clarified that the data from the pilot program was dated 2004-2005. Whether or not the previous data remained valid in today's market, Member DeBenedet opined that, given Roseville citizen interest in recycling, the best service would be providing for the most quantity pick-up, while proving the materials are recycled and not simply diverted to a landfill. Chair Vanderwall noted his additional interest in exploring options for larger bins and whether that would serve to increase and keep improving that participation. Discussion ensued regarding types of private collections bins, and the ease for haulers in picking up materials from those bins purchased privately and dependent on their equipment. Page 8 of 10