2018_01-23_PWETCpacket - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

residents, and material distributed online has contributed to low contamination rates at the existing Ramsey County organics collection sites (Springman, 2017). While highly detailed information is appropriate in some cases, it is generally recommended that mass distributed organics recycling educational materials provide a higher-level overview of foundational organics recycling information (Appendix G -H). This approach enhances clarity and prevents residents from formulating negative perceptions that the organics recycling process is complicated or inconvenient. Educational materials may also help reduce odor nuisance as these materials allow site owners to communicate the ground rules to be followed when using the collection site. Ground rules to reduce odor might include using compostable bags, closing the dumpster lid, and securing the enclosure gate. In addition to education, strategic placement of organics waste collection dumpsters further from the ballfields and in the shade, can limit odors and odor complaints during the warmer months of the year. Another concern expressed during conversations regarding implementation of an organics collection site at the Victoria Ballfields was lack of parking in the lot during high park use seasons (Brokke, 2017). Current estimates suggest that approximately 30-50 cars frequent each of the existing Ramsey County organics collection sites per day (Springman, 2017). The Victoria Ballfields parking lot has nearly 200 designated parking spaces, which is more than sufficient to accommodate the slight increase in vehicle parking during off seasons, but could prove challenging during peak seasons. This location does possess some valuable characteristics that could help overcome this challenge. The Victoria Ballfields site is located in close proximity to several neighborhoods and is connected to these neighborhoods and other parks by way of walking and bicycle paths. This connectivity increases the walkability and accessibility of the site, which has the potential to increase the number of people dropping organics waste off on foot therefore reducing the number of vehicles frequenting the site for organics recycling purposes. A Bridge to Curbside Organics Organics collection data from Ramsey County shows that more than 1.18 million pounds of organics were diverted from landfills between 2014 and 2016 (Ramsey County, 2017) (Appendix 1). Calculations based on participation data provided by Ramsey County and data from the American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau indicates that nearly 59% of households in the county are taking advantage of the organics collection sites (Ramsey County, 2017; U.S. Census Bureau, n.d). Although this participation percent is impressive, and the county has documented steady increases in participation in organics recycling since the inception of the drop-off sites in 2014, forecasts suggest that participation could be leveling off (Springman, 2017) (Appendix J). To overcome this participation plateau and maximize organics recycling in both Roseville and Ramsey County, it is recommended that Roseville pursue a co-sponsored organics drop-off site as an incremental step towards a more convenient citywide curbside collection program. Recommendation 2: Implement a Source Separated Curbside Cart Program One highly convenient method of organics collection recommended for Roseville is curbside cart service. As previously mentioned, the lack of a transfer station within the city represents a challenge in the short-term prospect of implementing this option for organics recycling. Despite this barrier, at least one Roseville staff member expressed confidence that a stepwise transition to curbside cart collection is a possibility (Brokke, 2017), perhaps once the community has an organics drop-off site available, and a roll out program featuring education and outreach has been established. 15