Title
Recommendation to Receive an Update on the 2018 Zero Waste Implementation Plan Update; Authorize the City Manager to Execute an Agreement with HF&H Consultants, LLC in an Amount Not-to-Exceed $280,210 to Update the Zero Waste Implementation Plan; and
Adoption of Resolution Amending the Fiscal Year 2023-24 Budget to Appropriate an Additional $140,105 from the City Waste Management Fund (Fund 261) and $140,105 from the Integrated Waste Fund (Fund 262) Fund Balances for Completion of the Zero Waste Implementation Plan Update.
In accordance with California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), this project is categorically exempt from further environmental review pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15308 (Actions by Regulatory Agencies for Protection of the Environment). The Zero Waste Implementation Plan is intended to guide the City in the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, thus protecting the environment. (Public Works 26141630, 26241631)
Body
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Jennifer Ott, City Manager
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In 2018, City Council approved an update to the City of Alameda’s (City) original 2010 Zero Waste Implementation Plan (ZWIP). The 2018 ZWIP found that by 2020, Alameda was projected to have a diversion rate of 83%, or 1.9 pounds disposed per person/per day (PPDs) which would be below the 89% target set by the original 2010 ZWIP. To reach the 89% target, Alameda’s multi-family, industrial, and commercial sectors have to recycle and compost closer to the rates occurring in the singe family sector. The 2018 ZWIP proposed five key strategies to successfully meet the original 89% target. This item provides City Council an update on implementing the strategies and progress towards achieving the diversion goal.
Looking forward, staff recommends a new, updated ZWIP be prepared to further evaluate progress and identify suitable next actions for achieving zero waste. City staff issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) on February 28, 2023 to select a provider to prepare the next ZWIP. After a submittal period of 34 days, two timely proposals were received. Based on staff’s evaluation of the proposals and interviews of the firms, staff recommends an agreement with HF&H Consultants, LLC (“HF&H”) be executed in an amount not-to-exceed $280,210. The City’s City Waste Management Fund (Fund 261) and the Integrated Waste Fund (Fund 262) have sufficient fund balances to support this effort. Staff recommends approval of the associated budget resolution to appropriate the funds to support this work.
BACKGROUND
In 2008, City Council approved the Local Action Plan for Climate Protection (Climate Plan) and established a greenhouse gas reduction goal of 25% below the City’s 2005 baseline level. The Climate Plan recommended future adoption of a ZWIP, as its implementation could help eliminate an estimated 44,425 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent.
In 2010, City Council adopted the original ZWIP and set a goal of achieving zero waste, or 89% diversion, from landfill by 2020. The 89% diversion goal derives from a per capita disposal rate, or the amount of waste disposed in pounds into the landfill by PPD. PPD is calculated by the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle). If Alameda were to reach 1.2 pounds PPD, then the City will have achieved the 89% per capita diversion.
In the fall of 2017, City staff initiated a process to evaluate the progress made by implementing the original 2010 ZWIP. Staff prepared a ZWIP Update (2018 Update) that found Alameda was projected to have a diversion rate of 83%, or 1.9 pounds disposed PPDs in 2020 which would be below the 89% target set by the original 2010 ZWIP. To reach the 89% target, Alameda’s multi-family, industrial, and commercial sectors would have to recycle and compost closer to the rates occurring in the singe family sector. The 2018 Update proposed an updated zero waste goal achievement date of 2022 and five key strategies to successfully meet the 89% target. In July 2018, City Council approved the five strategies presented in the 2018 Update with direction to staff to continue attempts to meet the 2020 goal date. These five strategies are described below as well as an update of staff’s progress in executing these strategies.
DISCUSSION
2018 ZWIP Update Status Report
Strategy 1: Support Zero Waste Culture in Alameda. This strategy enhances and celebrates Alameda’s growing zero waste culture through several actions that recognize the shared responsibility for each individual to reduce and divert waste from the landfill.
2023 Status: Work for this strategy is ongoing. Staff supports this strategy in a variety of ways, primarily through continued partnership with Community Action for Sustainable Alameda (CASA) and execution of work with City contractors such as the ReThink Disposal which provides assistance to food service business to ensure compliance with Alameda’s 2017 compostable food ware law and SB 1383 compliance. In 2017, staff applied for and received a $400,000 grant from the Clean Water Fund to implement a two-year program called “ReThink Disposable: Unpackaging Alameda.” The grant program was launched by Clean Water Fund to create a model, “unpackaged” community that would enable 80-100 of the city’s food vendors to receive support and guidance on how to transition from disposable food ware to reusable items, resulting in reduction of waste and business cost savings. In 2021, following the successful completion of the initial grant work and the 2017 City Council adoption of the Disposable Food Service Ware Reduction Law (Alameda Municipal Code 4-4), City Council authorized a 5-year agreement with ReThink to continue food vendor assistance in Alameda. As part of this ReThink agreement, staff partners with CASA for joint promotion of reusable food service ware (e.g. Okapi coffee mug program). Staff additionally provide support to CASA in their community outreach work.
Strategy 2: Conduct Targeted Technical Assistance with Commercial and Multi-Family Sectors. Alameda’s commercial and multi-family waste generators have the greatest opportunity to reduce waste sent to landfill and help them to achieve higher levels of waste diversion that could significantly reduce Alameda’s landfill disposal.
2023 Status: Work for this strategy is ongoing. When City Council approved the 2018 Update, they also approved the initial contracting/funding to complete this strategy. Staff has been continuously conducting this work since late 2018 with SCS Engineers, a consulting group specializing in technical assistance for commercial and multi-family generators. On July 18, 2023, City Council awarded a new, five-year agreement with SCS to continue this work. The Strategy 2 work has cumulatively resulted in:
• Increased recycling service for 22 generators
• Increased organics service for 41 generators
• Increased recycling and organics combined for service for 44 generators
• Increased recycling diversion by 532 cubic yards per week
• Increased organics diversion by 266 cubic yards per week
• Reduction in garbage by 305 cubic yards per week
Further analysis will be completed in this next ZWIP Update, as proposed in this award of agreement, to evaluate how these positive service changes have impacted Alameda’s overall diversion.
Strategy 3: Create a Food Recovery Program and Enhance Organics Management. Food waste and other organic materials represent over 20% of waste sent to landfill and increasingly strict state requirements regarding its disposal make this strategy important for Alameda’s zero waste achievement.
2023 Status: Work for this strategy is ongoing. In 2016, Senate Bill (SB) 1383, California’s Short-Lived Climate Pollutant Reduction Strategy, was signed into law. SB 1383 established statewide targets to reduce disposal of organic waste and increase the recovery of edible food. The regulations for SB 1383 require jurisdictions to provide mandatory organics collection services to all residents and businesses, conduct education and outreach, monitor compliance and conduct enforcement, establish an edible food recovery program, and procure recovered organic products. SB 1383 requires jurisdictions to establish a phased-in edible food recovery program for commercial food generators. Beginning January 1, 2022, certain businesses (wholesale food vendors, distributors, food service providers, and large grocery stores) were required to recover the maximum amount of edible food that would otherwise go to landfills. City staff, in coordination with StopWaste, identified generators of edible food and food recovery organizations and provided outreach on the new requirements. Additionally, StopWaste coordinated a partnership by way of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Alameda County Department of Environmental Health (ACDEH) and member agencies for implementation and enforcement of the edible food recovery requirements. City staff executed the MOU between the City and ACDEH which formally designates ACDEH as an additional implementation and enforcement entity. ACDEH initially committed to assist with compliance monitoring of SB 1383 requirements related to edible food recovery for one year, with no cost to member agencies, and at a per business rate following the first year. City Council approved staff’s recommendation to continue to fund this work as part of the Fiscal Year 2023-25 biennial budget approval.
Strategy 4: Update the City’s Construction and Demolition Debris Recycling Ordinance and Conduct Outreach. Building projects produce large amounts of waste that often end up in a landfill despite its potential to be reused or recycled, underscoring the need to increase materials recovery.
2023 Status: This strategy was completed in 2021. City Council approved an update to Alameda Municipal Code Chapter 21 (Solid Waste and Recycling) to comply with Senate Bill 1383, conform with the ACI franchise agreement, and implement strategy four of Alameda’s zero waste implementation plan update. This code update provides the legal basis to implement Strategy Four of the ZWIP to reduce construction and demolition waste and included the following:
• Codifying the California Green Building Standards Code (CALGreen). This ensures the City will keep pace with State standards and ensures compliance with SB 1383.
• Increasing diversion rate of concrete and asphalt to 95%. Most jurisdictions in Alameda County require this as these materials are already being recycled at high rates.
• Requiring contractors to consider deconstruction. This follows the waste management hierarchy (reduce waste first, reuse second, and then recycle) by encouraging deconstruction of existing buildings and salvaging materials for reuse.
• Requiring contractors to utilize approved facilities for mixed construction and demolition. This helps ensure the City can verify recycling rates and assess penalties for noncompliance.
Strategy 5: Expand High Diversion Franchise Agreement. Alameda County Industries (ACI) is a strong partner in achieving its zero waste goal, and as such updating the franchise agreement to support zero waste initiatives and build on that partnership will be important moving forward.
2023 Status: This strategy was completed in 2021. In February 2020, City Council approved a two-step procurement process in which sole source negotiations were initiated with then current franchisee, ACI. If those negotiations were not successful, staff would have then initiated a competitive procurement. Over the remainder of 2020 and into early 2021, staff prepared a draft agreement and conducted negotiations with ACI. Additionally, staff completed a customer satisfaction survey, conducted a stakeholder outreach process, and completed a peer review of the draft agreement. In July of 2021, City Council authorized entering into a new Agreement with ACI for an initial term of twelve years. New programs negotiated as part of the new agreement include: expansion of the bulky collection program to multi-family accounts, free city drop box service, contamination monitoring, additional recycling route, bundled cardboard collection, multi-family motor and cooking oil collection, additional SB 1383 1/2 organics route, multi-family move in and move out kits, large event and venue services, bulk compost and mulch, compost give-aways and the addition of a full time ACI Recycling Coordinator to provide more assistance to Alameda’s accounts. The next ZWIP Update is likely to include an in-depth evaluation and analysis of these new programs and services. As part of the code updates mentioned in Strategy 4, City Council approved an update to the Alameda Municipal Code to update Chapter 21 (Solid Waste and Recycling) to: comply with Senate Bill 1383, conform with the franchise agreement, and implement strategy four of Alameda’s zero waste implementation plan update.
Current Diversion Rate
Further in-depth analysis is needed to assess the effectiveness of the 2018 ZWIP and chart Alameda’s continued path for achieving zero waste. Although the 2020 goal date to achieve zero waste has passed, Alameda continues to make progress by increasing the overall diversion rate, despite the significant challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Staff recently completed Alameda’s annual Electronic Annual Report (EAR) submittal to CalRecycle which reports on Alameda’s diversion, programs and SB 1383 compliance. As of the reporting of calendar year 2022, Alameda’s diversion rate has increased to 81% meaning that the City’s pounds per person per day disposal rate has gone down to 2.1 pounds disposed per day per person, this is an improvement from 2021 diversion which was 79% which translates to 2.3 pounds disposed per day per person.
Next ZWIP Update
City staff issued an RFP on February 28, 2023 to select a provider to prepare the next ZWIP update. After a submittal period of 34 days, two timely proposals were received. Based on the staff’s evaluation of the proposals and interviews of the firms by a cross departmental team, staff is recommending the selection of HF&H to complete the next ZWIP update and recommends the agreement with HF&H be executed in an amount not-to-exceed $280,210. Staff is also recommending approval of the associated budget resolution.
HF&H proposes to update the ZWIP by building on the previous two ZWIPs, the 2010 ZWIP which established why Alameda is working towards zero waste, and the 2018 ZWIP which focused on policies and programs. This update will further integrate existing zero waste work with the community as well as City plans and policies (e.g. General Plan, the Climate Action and Resiliency Plan and Alameda’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging initiatives) to create a holistic, integrated, long term plan for Alameda, with a focus on moving beyond diversion to sustainability. The updated ZWIP will create a mid- and long-term menu of options by balancing goals and costs and will include cost-benefit analysis, prioritization of programs and policies, and evaluation of phased implementation to best future-proof Alameda in achieving zero waste. This approach to create a menu of options will allow the City to be flexible if and when circumstances dictate a short-term change in direction. The update will include significant community engagement with a focus on equity and inclusion as a means to further build on Alameda’s zero waste culture and remove barriers that restrict certain populations from participating, as well as build social infrastructure to sustain engagement and zero waste culture with residents and businesses alike. The proposed work plan includes the following major task areas:
Task 1: Evaluate past plans and review effectiveness of current programs. HF&H will provide a thorough evaluation of the City’s zero waste progress since the 2018 ZWIP that will help guide the new strategic direction. Work in this task area includes evaluation of current strategies, programs, outreach and partnerships, production of a current programs analysis (progress) report, and interviews with City partners such as CASA, StopWaste, and the city’s business community.
Task 2: Recommend new zero waste strategies and current policy and program enhancements. HF&H will work closely with City staff to align on a strategic approach that threads upstream, midstream, and downstream programs to not only meet a specific diversion number, but to ensure the various social, economic and environmental benefits of a zero waste community are realized. Work in this task area includes development of a menu and a short list of zero waste strategies and enhancement options as well as updating the zero waste goal date and timeline.
Task 3: Use data-driven approach to estimate diversion potential and costs. HF&H will utilize tested cost models to help the City visualize the resources required to implement selected programs and policies and their impacts across the community. Work in this task area will include cost and diversion analysis, funding analysis, benchmarking to other agencies and programs, and equity scans to perform a critical look at how programs and policies impact different populations.
Task 4: Community engagement, survey and presentations. HF&H’s community engagement strategy includes development of a community survey and hosting meetings and focus groups that increase diverse representation from the Alameda community. Work in this task area includes developing and conducting a community survey, delivering up to eight (8) community meetings, focus groups, gathering input from internal stakeholders for the City’s internal operations, and presentation of engagement results to City staff.
Task 5: Prepare new ZWIP report, goal date, and timeline. HF&H will synthesize their analysis into an intuitive document and provide presentations in an easily digestible format. Work in this task area will include a draft updated ZWIP, presentation to City staff and a final presentation to City Council for adopting a new ZWIP.
Staff is recommending the HF&H proposal versus the other proposal as their approach aims to create a mid and long-term plan for Alameda, and includes an approach to deepen community engagement and equity. The HF&H proposal includes 944 hours of work in the core budget and an additional 356 hours of optional tasks. Staff is recommending proceeding with the 944 hours in the core budget and 234 hours from the optional task budget, with the remaining 122 hours from the optional task budget reserved in contingency for use if needed. (For example, greenhouse gas inventory/analysis may not be needed if completed as part of an update to the Climate Plan.) It is anticipated that the entire project will take approximately nine-months to complete. In comparison to the other proposal received. The average hourly rate for HF&H to complete this work is also less than that presented in the other proposal and comparable to the hourly rate for preparing the 2018 ZWIP. Staff does not anticipate that the proposal presented by HF&H will require any amendment or increase in scope to effectively complete this project. The work plan associated with these hours is described above and in Exhibit 1 to this report.
ALTERNATIVES
City Council may consider a range of alternatives:
• Authorize the recommended agreement and approval of the associated budget resolution.
• Authorize the recommended agreement and associated budget resolution with revisions to the scope and budget as determined necessary by the City Council.
• Do not authorize the agreement and associated budget resolution, and direct staff to proceed with another approach. Should City Council take this action staff will continue remaining work outlined in the 2018 ZWIP Update.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
The proposed Fiscal Year (FY) 2023-24 budget amendment increases the Integrated Waste Fund (Fund 261) and Integrated Waste Fund (Fund 262) expenditures by $140,105 each for a collective expenditure increase of $280,210 to complete the ZWIP update. There is sufficient fund balance to support this one-time request in consideration of existing/ongoing operational commitments by the funds.
FY 2023-24 Budget Adjustment - Increasing expenditures for ZWIP update
|
Budget Request |
Revenue/ Expenditure |
Fund Number |
Fund Description |
ORG |
OBJ |
Expenditure Increase |
|
New Appropriation Request |
Increase Expenditure Budget |
261 |
City Waste Management |
26141630 |
52010 |
$140,105 |
|
New Appropriation Request |
Increase Expenditure Budget |
262 |
Integrated Waste - Restricted |
26241631 |
52010 |
$140,105 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
TOTAL |
$280,210 |
MUNICIPAL CODE/POLICY DOCUMENT CROSS REFERENCE
This action is consistent with Alameda Municipal Code Chapter 21, Solid Waste and Recycling and the City of Alameda Climate Action and Resiliency Plan (2019), the General Plan (2022), and Zero Waste Implementation Plans (2010, 2018).
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
In accordance with CEQA, this project is categorically exempt from further environmental review pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15308 (Actions by Regulatory Agencies for Protection of the Environment). The Zero Waste Implementation Plan is intended to guide the City in the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, thus protecting the environment.
CLIMATE IMPACT
The City’s Climate Plan assumes full implementation of the (2018) ZWIP and its attendant reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through 2030. Completion of this project will further allow Alameda to divert waste, including organics, from the landfill, which reduces methane emissions. The importance of reducing methane emissions from municipal waste sent to the landfill is codified in California’s Senate Bill 1383 passed in 2016.
RECOMMENDATION
Receive an update on the 2018 ZWIP Update; authorize the City Manager to execute an agreement with HF&H in an amount not-to-exceed $280,210 to update the City’s ZWIP; and adopt a resolution amending the Fiscal Year 2023-24 budget to appropriate an additional $140,105 from the City Waste Management Fund (Fund 261) and $140,105 from the Integrated Waste Fund (Fund 262) fund balances for completion of the ZWIP update.
Respectfully submitted,
Erin Smith, Public Works Director
By,
Liz Acord, Public Works Coordinator
Financial Impact section reviewed,
Margaret O’Brien, Finance Director
Exhibit:
1. Agreement