Environmental and Health Issues and Recommendations
 End-of-Life Management:
Waste prevention, reuse, and recycling are techniques for maximizing efficient use of our resources and minimizing waste or even achieving zero waste. California's waste management laws promote the management of all materials to their highest and best use, and protect public health and safety, natural resources, and the environment, in partnership with all Californians.
See the Introduction for complete descriptions of these environmental and health issues.
BACKGROUND
The state of California has established goals for diverting waste from disposal at landfills and transformation facilities. The Integrated Waste Management Act (AB 939, Sher, Chapter 1095, Statutes of 1989) created the California Integrated Waste Management Board (CIWMB, Board) and a series of statewide reforms in waste management. AB 939 established the 50 percent waste diversion goal for local government based on an integrated waste management hierarchy that prioritized waste reduction and recycling over all other options. It inspired a renewed "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" ethic and enhanced public outreach programs and environmental education curricula to spread the word. AB 939 also improved landfill safety requirements and protection for public health and the environment. These core programs have been strengthened with the addition of fee-based programs to improve recycling of used motor oil, the management of waste tires, and the management of electronic wastes.
In 1999, passage of Chapter 764, Statutes of 1999 (Strom-Martin, AB 75) mandated that each State agency or large State facility develop an integrated waste management plan by July 1, 2000; divert at least 25 percent of its solid waste from landfills or transformation facilities by January 1, 2002; and divert 50 percent by January 1, 2004.
More recently, the CIWMB adopted as one of its strategic goals zero waste, which is based on the concept that wasting resources is inefficient, and that efficient use of our natural resources is what we should work to achieve. It requires that we maximize our existing recycling and reuse efforts, while ensuring that products are designed for the environment and have the potential to be repaired, reused, or recycled.
Smart government waste management, or materials management, does more than simply set an example for California residents and businesses. It provides leadership. The CIWMB has committed to work with state agencies to promote zero-waste strategies and lead by example. Through these efforts, California is now a recognized leader in promoting waste management practices that protect resources and the environment.
It important for State facility managers, purchasing officials, and building operations staff to carefully choose how their waste is managed. In general, Californians should try to recycle what can be recycled, recover materials from what cannot be recycled, and carefully choose how and where the remaining waste is disposed.
LAWS AND GUIDELINES
The following laws, policies, and guidelines include several, but not all, which pertain specifically to managing materials or wastes that may be encountered in facilities.
California
Statute
Integrated Waste Management Act (IWMA)
Also known as AB 939 (Sher, Chapter 1095, Statutes of 1989), the IWMA created the Board, required each jurisdiction in the state to submit detailed solid waste planning documents for Board approval, set diversion requirements of 25 percent in 1995 and 50 percent in 2000, established a comprehensive statewide system of permitting, inspections, enforcement, and maintenance for solid waste facilities; and authorized jurisdictions to impose fees based on the types or amounts of solid waste generated. Fines and other sanctions may be imposed on jurisdictions failing to meet or maintain their goals. A more detailed description of the IWMA is available in the Board's legislative history overview.
State Agency Integrated Waste Management
AB 75 was passed in 1999 and the State Agency Model Integrated Waste Management Act (Chapter 764, Statutes of 1999, Strom-Martin) took effect on January 1, 2000. This bill added new provisions to the Public Resources Code (PRC), mandating that State agencies develop and implement an integrated waste management plan (IWMP); it also mandated that community service districts providing solid waste services report disposal and diversion information to the city, county, or regional agency in which the community service district is located. The changes brought about by AB 75 require each State agency or large State facility to develop an integrated waste management plan by July 1, 2000; to divert at least 25 percent of its solid waste from landfills or transformation facilities by January 1, 2002; and to divert 50 percent by January 1, 2004.
Electronic Waste Recycling Act of 2003 (Senate Bill 20 and Senate Bill 50)
Key elements of the Electronic Waste Recycling Act include:
- Reduction in hazardous substances used in certain electronic products sold in California.
- Collection of an electronic waste recycling fee at the point of sale of certain products.
- Distribution of recovery and recycling payments to qualified entities covering the cost of electronic waste collection and recycling.
- Directive to recommend environmentally preferred purchasing criteria for state agency purchases of certain electronic equipment.
Cell Phone Recycling Act of 2004
This law, Chapter 891, Statutes of 2004 (Pavley and Kehoe, AB 2901), requires that as of July 1, 2006 retailers selling cell phones in California have a system for the acceptance and collection of used cell phones for reuse, recycling, or proper disposal. This applies to State agency purchased or leased phones, too.
Waste Reduction at Large Venues and Events
State law [Chapter 879, Statutes of 2004 (Montanez, AB 2176)] requires the largest venue facilities and events (as defined) in each city and county to begin planning for solid waste reduction, and annually report the progress of their recycling and waste reduction programs to their local government. The law also directs the California Integrated Waste Management Board to provide guidance and assistance to venues and local governments in meeting their obligations.
Regulations
California Universal Waste Rule (UWR)
The Universal Waste Rule is set forth in Title 22 of the California Code of Regulations. "Universal wastes are hazardous wastes that are generated by a wide variety of people. Examples include batteries and fluorescent tubes. Universal waste rules allow common, low-hazard wastes to be managed under less stringent requirements than other hazardous wastes.
California's Universal Waste Rule became effective on February 8, 2002. Since that time, several other common wastes have been added to the list of universal wastes. These include mercury wastes, consumer electronic devices and cathode ray tubes (CRTs)." [1] Additional information about universal wastes is available from the California Department of Toxic Substances Control.
Policies
- State Agency Recycling, Executive Order W-7-91. This executive order requires State agencies provide for the collection and recycling of: aluminum, glass, plastic and metal containers; white office paper, colored paper, corrugated cardboard, newspaper; and surplus reusable equipment and other materials generated in sufficient quantities for a viable recycling and reuse effort.
- State of California, State Administrative Manual. Chapter 1900 describes waste prevention and recycling policies
Federal
- The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) created the framework for the proper management of hazardous and nonhazardous solid waste, and it encourages source reduction and recycling. RCRA set national goals for:
- Protecting human health and the environment from the potential hazards of waste disposal.
- Conserving energy and natural resources.
- Reducing the amount of waste generated.
- Ensuring that wastes are managed in an environmentally-sound manner. [2]
- Greening the Government through Waste Prevention, Recycling, and Federal Acquisition, Executive Order 13101. This executive order strengthens and expands the federal government's commitment to recycling and buying recycled-content and environmentally preferable products.
PERFORMANCE
Keeping in mind the "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" ethic, agencies may support particular waste management strategies because they are considered to protect the environment and serve Californians better than other alternatives. These strategies for example, can reclaim recyclables or organic material from waste streams instead of burying or burning them. They can promote programs such as grasscycling, on-site composting, and curbside pick up of green waste, thus preventing this material from ending up in a landfill or transformation facility.
Any arrangement for solid waste services and recycling should meet expectations for environmental and economic performance. By specifically identifying the types of waste diversion programs, the allowed contamination or residual acceptable from collection, transfer, and separation activities; and the facility or facilities to which waste will be delivered, agencies can control their performance and meet California's waste diversion requirements.
Traditional waste management contracts specify services that begin at the dumpster and pay the contractor based on the amount of waste that they haul out for disposal or out to the recycler. This service model fails to result in source reduction since it does not provide any incentive to the contractor to reduce wastes but instead offers to pay them more for increased hauled quantities.
One emerging environmentally preferable procurement methodology for garbage and recycling contracts is to transform them from garbage and recycling contracts into "resource management" (RM) contracts, a term coined by a large company in a United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) WasteWise pilot study with the Tellus Institute.
The company's objective in executing RM contracts was to "provide a systems approach to resource efficiency that motivates cost reduction and conservation of plant resources." [3] RM contracts go beyond service contracting for disposal and recycle hauling saving money and resources.
One of the unique features of RM contracts is that they significantly compensate contractors for their waste minimization efforts performed, decoupling contractor profitability from waste disposal and/or service levels. In an RM contract, total organization-wide waste and recycling costs are "capped" and compensation is tied to waste minimization efforts.
RM includes dispensing performance bonuses based on and financed from demonstrated resource efficiency savings from a documented baseline. This methodology creates contractor incentives since it seeks savings through recycling/diversion and other resource efficiency innovations.
The USEPA WasteWise Web site provides numerous remarkable pilot results showing how RM contracts have resulted in achieving reduced waste disposal, increased source reduction and recycling quantities, and saving resources and money while appropriately rewarding contractors for their performance.
COST
One way to reduce costs for garbage and recycling services is by structuring the contract as an RM contract or setting an internal policy to cap waste disposal and recycling costs and using in-house staff to continuously devise a waste reduction program.
Clearly, costs can be continuously reduced when methods, practices, and policies work in concert to reduce waste generation at a facility. Likewise, costs may be significantly reduced by using in-house expertise to:
- Evaluate waste streams and devise methods to separate out recyclables since these wasted resources have the potential to generate revenue. Costs can be neutralized by realizing that some of the wastes being managed may have resource value that may be able to generate revenue. Recycling markets for different waste types should be reviewed to find revenue generating opportunities.
- Evaluate and improve the logistics of the transfer and processing of generated waste to final disposition. The feasibility of alternatives to potentially costly collection, movement, or processing steps for wastes should be considered prior to drafting a request for proposal (RFP) or a garbage and recycling contract.
Comprehensive garbage and recycling contracts should manage waste according to an agency's AB 75 solid waste plan to avoid possible steep penalties from failing to comply with these mandates. Garbage and recycling contracts should aim to achieve the least billed costs for disposal. Seeking out strong legitimate markets for recyclables is desired to generate maximum revenue and to increase resource recycling and recovery.
If there is a cheaper disposal alternative available, it may not be the most environmentally friendly. Closer analysis may show that any short-term savings may not be worth the implementation costs, potential liabilities, and costly court proceedings that could result from choosing a different disposal option just because it looks cheaper.
The cost of reusing, recycling, or composting various materials may or may not be less than disposing of them as garbage. It depends on many factors, including:
- Materials chosen for recycling;
- Location of material in association to recycler (transportation cost);
- Percentage of the waste stream that is recyclable;
- Volume that is available for collection;
- How materials are separated or aggregated for pick-up; and
- Value of any particular material as a commodity to recyclers (market value).
Any additional costs should be considered in light of reductions in the cost for waste disposal service and the requirement in California law to divert at least 50 percent of total generated waste.
Eliminating or minimizing specialty management activities is another way extraordinary costs may be avoided. For example, specialty management that requires skilled labor and special insurance protections may add costs. Secure shredding and destruction services for documents are one example. These services are labor intensive and require skilled oversight and equipment after it leaves the facility door.
The feasibility of alternatives to potentially costly collection, movement, or processing steps for wastes should be considered prior to drafting an RFP or a garbage and recycling contract. For example, discussions with a team of representatives from the facility should be conducted wherever possible to determine if shredding of documents can be done on-site by the waste generators or their departments; and recyclers should be consulted to see if they will accept paper that is shredded by the waste generators.
Costs can be greatly reduced through subscribing to principles of economy of scale wherever possible. Reduced costs can be achieved when larger quantities are moved. Check with your facilities, operations, landscape, and janitorial representatives to determine if there is square footage space available at your facility to accumulatively store, process, and consolidate different waste types such that larger quantities may be moved or sold to reduce costs or earn more.
To reduce costs, also determine if other State agencies, sister organizations, or partners located nearby may be interested in jointly storing, processing, and consolidating wastes together at a location in an effort to accumulate greater quantities before moving the wastes or recyclables.
Costs can also be neutralized by procuring products that generate recycling revenues compared to those that have no markets. As a result, it's useful to identify wastes that have no markets and design these wastes out of the system by procuring alternative products.
SPECIFICATIONS
Tips for Writing Specifications
Waste and recycling contracts should aim to meet or exceed the goals of a State organization's AB 75 integrated waste management plan. In addition, remember to contact the solid waste management office of the local jurisdiction in which your organization generates waste to learn about the requirements of the jurisdiction's waste management plan.
To develop the contract specifications, the following steps are recommended:
Consider a Resource Management Contract
If the facility contract is a traditional contract that is structured to provide hauling and disposal services and hauling and recycling services from the facility dumpsters, consider transforming the scope of the contract to a resource management (RM) contract that will include the following:
- Capping of disposal.
- Reducing waste generation through preventative upstream measures.
- Increasing recycling and recovery rates.
- Providing waste and cost reduction initiatives.
- Providing a tracking, reporting, and invoicing system.
Specify a Phased Approach
Specify Phase I to begin after the start date. Specify Phase I to be the period of time where relationships are established and baseline data are compiled.
- Establish and form a "Team" of technical support persons to aid in writing the contract and the request for proposal. Select persons from facilities management, food management, janitorial services, and landscape management.
- Document a baseline. Facilities change operations and improve their waste management operations over time; it is essential that up-to-date information is compiled to serve as a baseline for Phase II. Work with the Team to provide the following key information:
- A comprehensive list of waste types generated and their locations of generation in the facility to be serviced. In particular, identify all generated sources of food wastes, putrescibles, and yard waste.
- Identify the approximate rate of generation of each of the identified waste types per week or month.
- Identify the existing storage capacity for these wastes on site.
- Identify all existing on-site locations and types of processing and consolidation that occur.
- Survey the facility and determine if there are any new storage, processing, or consolidation areas available.
- Identify all on-site waste accumulation, processing, or consolidation constraints (i.e., odor, noise, dust, fire hazard, code, etc.)
- Identify if there are any sister organizations or other state agencies nearby that may be interested in co-location or shared service agreements.
- For each waste type, determine if there is any on-site or off-site reuse occurring; document barriers, and look for opportunities that can generate revenues or save these wastes from disposal.
- For each material type generated, estimate the amount that is separated out by on-site practices (i.e., employees separating materials out into bins, on-site materials recovery facility (MRF), and transferred off-site for recycling or recovery. Identify opportunities where this can be increased by policy and by adding on-site waste separation processing steps or infrastructure.
- Specify that an action plan be developed for Phase II to reduce waste generation through preventative upstream measures, increase recycling and recovery rates, provide waste and cost reduction initiatives, and provide a tracking, reporting, and invoicing system for data management.
- In particular, work with the Team to determine and consider what sort of policy and added infrastructure (i.e., bins, staff to manage, etc.) are needed for the facility to separate out generated organic wastes (i.e., food, yard, residual paper). Priority should be placed on this step to 1) eliminate contamination of other wastes to improve reuse and recycling resource quality, and 2) to avoid disposal of the organics to increase diversion quantities significantly. The CIWMB commercial waste generation database indicates that organics can make up as much as 40 percent of some commercial business wastes.
- RM Financial Proposals
- Specify that waste management services be provided on a budget neutral basis (i.e., at a cost not exceeding that currently paid for waste and recycling services, adjusted for any facility-driven changes in waste volumes) and that recycling and waste reduction services be provided as value-added services at no additional charge. Expenses incurred in the provision of these services must be covered by waste/recycling hauling services, recycling revenues and/or overall program savings (avoided hauling costs, avoided disposal costs, avoided taxes, commodity revenue). The financial proposals shall consist of two components: 1) costs of existing services provided including the costs of hauling and processing waste, costs of hauling and processing recyclables, revenues or costs for recyclables and 2) the incentive structure including any plans for gain-sharing with the facility.
Traditional Waste Disposal Contracts
Waste disposal contracts should specify these items:
- Identify where waste will be delivered for final disposal (Note: transfer stations are not final disposal facilities);
- Require that the hauler will provide written disclosure of where waste will be delivered.
- Require that, upon request, the hauler will provide documentation of final disposition of all waste, such as weight tickets.
Traditional Recycling Contracts
When arranging for recycling and composting services, consider the following specifications:
- Consider incentives that will increase diversion rates.
- Decouple contractor profitability from waste disposal and/or service levels by "capping" total organization-wide waste and recycling costs, then tying compensation to waste minimization.
- Performance bonuses based on and financed from demonstrated resource efficiency savings from documented baseline. Contractor incentive: Seek savings through recycling/ diversion and other resource efficiency innovations. Performance bonus based on resource efficiency dollars saved.
- Consider if reuse, recycling, and waste management collection, pre-processing, and consolidation services can be more cost effectively added through janitorial services.
- Consider the following provisions:
- Consider how often off-site transfer is needed.
- Consider if on-site space is available for shredding confidential documents on-site instead of processing through special confidential document services. Determine if recyclers will accept paper that is shredded by the generator.
- Consider implementing installation of equipment to consolidate or separate wastes on-site.
- Consider the feasibility of collecting compostable materials separate from other garbage and recyclables into on-site compostable bins for transfer since compostables may account for up to 40 percent of some waste streams.
- Consider the feasibility of collecting white ledger paper since there is increased market value for this commodity compared to mixed paper.
- Consider special site specific provisions to avoid site specific generated hazardous substances from entering solid waste streams.
- Identify specific materials that are generated at the facility and that will be collected.
- Require that the vendor report the volume of materials collected for recycling.
- If the materials generated are not source separated, then identify an acceptable residual or contamination rate for processing at the materials recovery facility (MRF) in the contract and require the vendor to provide periodic reporting of the residual or contamination rate for material separation.
- Require that the vendor provide proof of recycling by reporting where the materials are delivered.
- Require that a certificate of destruction be provided for recycling of confidential documents.
- Require that, upon request, the recycler will provide documentation of final disposition of material, such as weight tickets and verification of domestic or international markets.
Sample Requests for Proposals, Specifications, and Contracts
Independent School District 196, Minnesota. Request for Proposal (RFP): Services for Resource Management.
Lansing School District, Lansing, Michigan. Request for Proposal to provide: Chemical and Resource Management Services (CRMS).
Lemuel Shattuck Hospital, Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts. Request for Response (RFR): Resource Management Services for Lemuel Shattuck Hospital.
City of Palo Alto, California. Public Works Department, Operations Division. Request for Proposal (RFP) Number 113497 for Professional Services, Title: Provision of Services for "Getting to Zero Waste" Program.
County of Santa Clara, California. Request for Proposal # B2595 -- Garbage, Recyclables and Compostables Collection from County Facilities.
West Des Moines Community School District, West Des Moines, Iowa. Request for Proposal (RFP): Services for Resource Management.
VENDORS
The CIWMB administers several contracts for the collection of specific recyclable materials for certain geographic areas. These contracts have been set up by the CIWMB and are ready to use, thereby saving your agency the trouble of development and implementation.
SUCCESS STORIES
California
Local Government
Reducing our waste requires the combined efforts of government, business, and the public. The progress made in a few short years has been remarkable, with California reaching a statewide average diversion rate of 48 percent in 2002. This achievement would not have been possible without the tremendous efforts on the part of local governments all over California to provide a wide range of exciting and successful waste reduction programs in their communities. To read about some of the outstanding California success stories, visit the CIWMB's Trash Cutters Web page.
State Agencies
The State Agency Recycling Recognition (STARR) Awards program was offered through the interim goal year of 2002 by the California Legislature and the CIWMB. The awards recognized hard work and shared successes with other agencies/facilities that may benefit from the experiences of others.
Other
The USEPA's WasteWise Program conducted a number of pilot studies using resource management (RM) contracts. RM has been piloted in many places. One year after implementing RM contracts at several of its North American plants, a large company realized a 20 percent reduction in overall waste generation (30,000 tons), a 65 percent increase in recycling (from 50,000 tons to more than 82,000 tons), and a 15 percent to 30 percent decrease in waste management costs.
RESOURCES AND WEBSITES
California Integrated Waste Management Board (CIWMB)
Sacramento, CA
(916) 341-6000
The CIWMB's mission is to reduce waste, promote the management of all materials to their highest and best use, and protect public health and safety and the environment, in partnership with all Californians.
- The CIWMB assists state agencies and facilities to reduce the amount of waste they generate and dispose of by implementing waste prevention, reuse, and recycling programs. For more information, contact the State Agency Assistance section.
- The Office of Local Assistance (OLA) helps local governments meet the planning and diversion mandates of the Integrated Waste Management Act . Visit the CIWMB's Web site for contact information.
- Solid Waste Information System (SWIS). The CIWMB maintains the SWIS database, which contains information on solid waste facilities, operations, and disposal sites throughout the state of California. The types of facilities found in this database include landfills, transfer stations, material recovery facilities, composting sites, transformation facilities, waste tire sites, and closed disposal sites. For each facility, the database contains information about location, owner, operator, facility type, regulatory and operational status, authorized waste types, local enforcement agency and inspection and enforcement records. The facility database is continuously updated.
Massachusetts, Commonwealth of
Department of Environmental Protection (DEP)
Boston, MA
(617) 292-5500
The following resources are available on the DEP's Web site:
United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA)
Washington, DC
(202) 272-0167
The following resources are available on the USEPA's Web site:
[1] State of California. Department of Toxic Substances Control. Final Regulations: Universal Waste Rule Web page. Available at http://www.dtsc.ca.gov/LawsRegsPolicies/Regs/UWR_regs.cfm. Accessed on May 5, 2006.
[2] United States Environmental Protection Agency. Wastes - Laws and Regulations Web page. Available at http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/osw/laws-reg.htm. Accessed on May 5, 2006.
[3] United States Environmental Protection Agency. WasteWise - What is Resource Management Web page. Available at http://www.epa.gov/wastewise/wrr/rm.htm. Accessed on May 5, 2006.
Special Note: Portions of the Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Best Practices Manual were borrowed or adapted from the Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Guide published by the Solid Waste Management Coordinating Board of Minnesota.
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