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�� � REQUEST FOR COUNCIL ACTION Department Approval .� � Item Description: Zero Waste Discussion BACKGROUND Date: January 12, Item No.: City Manager Approval Roseville promotes four Zero Waste events each year which include the Living Smarter Fair, Earth Day, Run for the Roses, and the Wild Rice Festival where organic material is collected for composting. Roseville staff, volunteers, and Eureka Recycling monitor the collection stations where food waste, compostable utensils, napkins , etc. are collected during the events. Materials collected are weighed to determine the amount of material that was diverted from going to a landfill. Since 2010, Zero Waste events have diverted 1,700 lbs of organics produced by the 10,000 attendees. All the composted material has been delivered to Eureka Recycling where it was composted at an industrial composting facility. Eureka Recycling started conversations with the Taste of Rosefest in 2014 in an effort to make this a Zero Waste Event. There is considerable staff time put into shifting an event towards Zero Waste as event organizers need to be educated on composting, versus putting all non-recycleable materials into the trash. Once the organizers are educated, then each vendor has to be educated on proper materials that can be used for food and drink service that are also compostable. Eureka Recycling estimates that it will take another 3-5 years to see a shift towards composting at this type of event. POLICY OBJECTIVE The City of Roseville has always been a leader in recycling, and is committed to advancing the diversion of organics. BUDGET IMPLICATIONS � The City of Roseville called out four zero waste events in the Recycling RFP sent out in 2013. Any new events that are added will need to be funded. On average, each event takes � approximately 20 Roseville staff hours to coordinate and/or operate, and each event averages 6- 12 people with a total time of 60 hours spent by Roseville staff, volunteers, and/or Eureka Recycling. City volunteers have been difficult to find for these events so Eureka Recycling has �� been assisting with their volunteer pool, but staffing has still been an issue. Based on quotes from Eureka, it will cost approximately $1,500-$2,000 to hire out each additional zero waste � event. STAFF RECOMMENDATION Staff is open to increasing the number of Zero Waste Events, and recognizes that there will be more time and cost associated with it. Page 1 of 2