City of Sunnyvale Waste Characterization Report

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Key Opportunities City of Sunnyvale Waste Characterization Report The purpose of this section is to review the disposal findings from the waste characterization study and identify key opportunities for reduction or diversion in each of four substreams: single family, multifamily, commercial, and C&D. This section also identifies potential opportunities for the SMaRT Station’s current MRF residual stream and identifies potential new technologies for addressing residual waste. This information can help the City target its efforts to increase waste reduction, reuse, and recycling. The City plans to explore these opportunities in detail in a Zero Waste Plan to be developed in 2011. The plan will assess the viability of new programs based on such factors as cost and availability of markets. The following key opportunities for single-family, multi-family, and commercial waste were identified based on analyses of material categories with potential for additional diversion, as presented in the findings detailed in Chapter 3 and summarized by recoverability category in the table below. Recoverability Category Compostable/ Potentially Compostable Single Family Multi-Family Commercial Est. % Est. Tons Est. % Est. Tons Est. % Est. Tons 43.3% 10,476 39.6% 6,085 41.6% 12,966 Recyclable Paper 14.6% 3,531 15.9% 2,448 12.4% 3,876 Other Recyclables 18.4% 4,451 13.4% 2,060 23.6% 7,340 Potentially Recyclable 4.9% 1,196 3.7% 574 6.2% 1,940 Problem Materials 18.8% 4,556 27.2% 4,182 16.2% 5,042 TOTAL 100% 24,209 100% 15,349 100% 31,164 To gain the most additional diversion, the City should look first at the top materials disposed by residents and businesses and assess the viability of new programs based on such factors as cost and availability of markets. Viable markets for recovered materials are essential to the success of diversion programs. Reliance on mere separation and collection of materials is inadequate unless those materials can be effectively marketed over the long term at a minimal public subsidy. In addition, since all incoming waste shown in the table above, as well as C&D waste, is sorted to remove additional recyclable or compostable material prior to landfilling, choices that would result in additional “up-front” diversion could affect choices made for residual diversion later. This should be addressed in more detail in the Zero Waste Plan. 12 November 2010
Implement Organics Diversion City of Sunnyvale Waste Characterization Report Food waste and compostable paper from single family, multi-family, and commercial sources totaled more than 23,000 tons, approximately 33% of the total. The generation of this waste is about evenly split between the residential and commercial sectors. Since these compostable materials represent 42% of the waste sampled for this study, capturing them for diversion, either through new collection programs or additional MRF residual processing through the SMaRT Station provides the greatest opportunity to enhance diversion. For example, depending on markets for compostables, an up-front diversion program could recover more and better quality compostables than the current residual MRF process. A cost-efficient program might target the commercial sector during outreach to acquire the same volume of organics as the residential sector but at a lower cost, since there would be fewer collection stops. These considerations should be addressed in the Zero Waste Plan. Yard waste (leaves, grass, prunings, trimmings) totaled a little over 5,000 tons. About 75% of this yard waste came from multi-family residential sources. The City could consider ways to capture these yard trimmings, perhaps by expanding yard trimming cart collection service to all multi-family residences as in the single family program. Currently, this service is offered only to a few multi-family residences that regularly produce a large volume of clean yard trimmings. Focus on Recyclable Paper Recyclable papers, such as cardboard, kraft bags, newspaper, catalogs, magazines, and office paper, represent 14% of disposed materials at about 5,600 tons. This is a significant amount considering that the City accepts a wide range of paper types in both its curbside residential and office recycling programs. Since the recyclability of paper often diminishes once the paper runs through the MRF, refocusing on efforts to capture this material in curbside and commercial programs would be beneficial. MRF Residuals Materials entering the SMaRT Station go through a MRF where a percentage of materials are diverted. The remainder is the MRF Residual. The SMaRT Station MRF residuals include a significant amount of compostable materials (57.1%), most of which is compostable paper (45.6%). Composition of MRF residuals is shown in the table below. 13 November 2010
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City of Sunnyvale Waste Characterization Report

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