Agenda - Environmental Policy Board - 03/16/2020

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Should the City move to an open hauling system, this would provide flexibility for property owners to select their own recycling service provider. This would, however, require various ordinance amendments related specifically to the licensing requirements. Most notably, City Code would need to be amended to specify licensed haulers offering garbage service must also offer recycling service and that each licensed hauler shall provide monthly tonnage reports to the City. As a reminder, the City's recycling program is funded through the Select Committee On Recycling and the Environment (SCORE). Each community in Anoka County receives a base of $10,000.00 plus another $5.00 per household and has the ability to apply for additional enhancement funds to make improvements to their recycling program. Ramsey's allocation for 2020 is $77,566.00. Additionally, the Anoka County Board of Commissioners also sets a tonnage goal for each community (based on 215 pounds per person per year per single family home and 160 pounds per person per year for multifamily buildings of five [5] units or more) and Ramsey's current goal is set at 2,840 tons. Ramsey has now achieved its recycling goal for sixteen(16) consecutive years. The City has had a contract with ACE Solid Waste since approximately 1996. ACE Solid Waste calls Ramsey home and has provided good service for over twenty (20) years. The City and ACE continue to have a good working relationship. While ACE Solid Waste is headquartered in Ramsey, its parent company, Waste Connections Inc. (purchased in 2013), is headquartered in Texas. ACE Solid Waste continues to provide dependable service and is investing in the community. In 2019, ACE Solid Waste initiated a $2,000,000 building expansion on their property to improve their overall waste management operations. This expansion has created potential new opportunities as well, including a 'convenience center' for customer drop-off opportunities and the possibility of hosting recycling day events at ACE's site in the future. Staff is working on getting this topic added to a future City Council Work Session for formal direction from City Council. Input from the Environmental Policy Board is desired before that discussion occurs. Alternatives Alternative 1. Recommend that the City continue to provide recycling service via a curbside recycling contract either by entering into negotiations with the current hauler (ACE Solid Waste) or draft an RFP for competitive bids. Providing recycling as a contracted service will best position the City to continue to meet or exceed its recycling goals. Furthermore, this would help to limit truck traffic volumes on residential streets and result in less wear and tear on roads. This would also provide the City with an opportunity to potentially expand (or at least explore) services covered by contract, such as introducing organics (beyond the current organics recycling drop-off program). This would also be most efficient from an administrative perspective as Staff would only be working with a single hauler regarding education, promotion, and reporting (again, with the exception of apartment complexes). Alternative 2. Recommend that the City migrate to an open hauling system. This would give each property owner the flexibility to choose their recycling service provider. However, it is more likely to result in greater traffic volumes on collection day (or multiple collection days), more wear and tear on roads, and more Staff time when it comes to preparing required reports due to Anoka County. Staff would be concerned that this would ultimately result in a decrease in participation as well as an overall decrease in the quantity of materials recycled. Staff would not recommend this alternative at this time unless an additional recycling opportunity, such as a year-round recycling center, is considered. Funding Source: Staff is handling this case as part of its normal recycling duties, which will be covered through SCORE funds. Action: Based on discussion. Attachments Current Recycling Contract