Credit: Kristina Carpenter Louisville’s Bloomberg Recycling Initiatives Pete Flood – Manager, Solid Waste Management Services Mark Noll – Project Coordinator, Innovation Delivery Team

Overview Bloomberg and the Playbook The Process The Projects (Initiatives)

Bloomberg Philanthropies Awarded grants to five cities in 2011 to drive innovation within city government The Bloomberg “Playbook” drives a process by which: challenges are defined, ideas are generated, initiatives are developed, and progress is measured against clearly defined targets Benefits of process informed decisions long-term planning – “what could be” can be adopted by any municipality grant money runs out, but the process carries on…institutionalized into daily routine of city departments

The Process Step 1: Define the challenge Louisville citizens and businesses are not offered a full range of recycling services, nor is there a strong culture to reduce, reuse, and recycle.

Step 2: Assess current state and set a target Are there programs currently in place to address the challenge? Are these activities accomplishing their stated goals? (Do they have stated goals?) What metrics are available to establish benchmarks and baselines? What is an aggressive, yet achievable, target? Benchmark against leaders and peer communities. Set a baseline and target.

Step 3: Identify contributing issues (Barriers) Why does the challenge exist in your community? Why are we not reaching our established target? Residential: Bins are too small Commercial: Difficult to service, no space Education: Limited understanding of environmental, economic benefits Cultural: Absence of recycling culture Regulatory: No mandatory recycling regulations Credit: Clean River Recycling Solutions

Step 4: Research solutions Assess other cities Speak with outside experts (consultants, peers in other cities) Google! Louisville hosted an “ideation” session with local stakeholders, peers from leading recycling cities, and consultants. We generated a list of ideas to address each of the contributing issues. Commercial ResidentialCulture/Marketing Education

Step 5: Develop list of initiatives and prioritize What initiatives will have the greatest impact and are the most feasible in your community? Impact High Priority Initiatives Feasibility Greatest Impact Greatest Feasibility

Step 6: Establish metrics and set targets for initiatives! How will you measure success? Ambitious, but achievable targets. Initiative: Introduce 95-gallon roll carts to two neighborhoods Metric: Recycling tonnage collected Target: Increase recycling tonnage collected by 25% Initiative: Introduce desk-side recycling in Metro Government Offices Metric: Recycling tonnage collected Target: Increase recycling tonnage collected by 50% Initiative: Introduce Wet-Dry Recycling to the Central Business District (CBD) Metric: Percent of total waste recycled Target: Increase overall recycling/composting rate from 11% to 85% in CBD

Step 7: Develop initiative charters and work plans Incorporate initiatives into daily work stream Develops timeline with key activities and milestones Establishes roles and responsibilities From this, we can develop detailed work plans Step 8: Get to work! Measure outcomes against established targets Celebrate quick wins Evaluate project successes and shortcomings “Rinse and repeat”

11 Commercial – All Louisville Metro offices recycle – Office Building Pilot Program in CBD: Wet/Dry Program – Food Composting Program at Schools – Multi-unit Apartment Pilot Program – Retail Center Pilot Program-Fourth Street Live Entertainment Complex (Case Study) Residential – Residential Purchase Program – Residential Pilot Program: Larger Capacity Containers Change Management – Solar Compactors in CBD – Yard Waste Plastic Bag Ban Ordinance-Passed-Implementation Phase (Waste District) Related-Supported – Construction and Demolition Recycling System: Subcommittee Formed (Waste District) – Construction and Demolition (Metro Government Operations) – Special Events Recycling – Solid Waste Collection System Study (Waste District) – Surplus Exchange Program Initiatives Overview

12 Central Business District Pilot Key Requirements QRS Recycling Commercial Dry Waste Facility (CDW) Opened in 2013 in Louisville. Low-Tech/Handles Higher Contamination Levels Food Waste Collection/Composting Valet Service – Education Intensive Potential Advantages Takes participation rate out of equation All material is processed for recovery (processing gee?) Nothing goes directly to the landfill (no landfill fee) Potential 85-90% recovery rate (with WTE) Potential Expansion Residential Business-specific initiatives Inclusion of yard waste Anaerobic digestion

13 Pre Pilot Current State: Commercial Single Stream Containers located on each floor Waste audit found significant amount of recyclable materials remaining in outgoing trash New Program Recycling (Clear Bag) at all desk-side and common areas Wet Waste (Black Bag) in all restrooms and break-rooms Dumpsters Became Recycling “Ah-ha” moment: Why have garbage dumpsters when the majority of the materials generated is recyclable? Results-Learnings Very high recovery rates Contamination caused by illegal dumping and unauthorized use of LMG employees Lower collection cost for dumpsters (no landfill charge) Education and Training Critical Louisville Metro Government Recycling Program

14 Potential reduction in the overall cost per household Blanket vs Targeted Distribution Route Time Increased-Overtime Biweekly Collection? 95-Gallon Roll Cart Residential Pilot

15 Issue: Plastic bags in collection system cannot be removed Result: Compostable material can’t be resold (yard waste ends up as alternative daily cover in landfill) Solution: Waste Management District Board adopted regulation specifying allowable containers for yard waste Yard Waste Regulation Educating public on preferred methods 1.Compost at home Mulch grass and leaves 2.Reusable containers 3.Paper bags 4.Compostable plastic 5.Season drop-off sites

Credit: Kristina Carpenter Thank you! More information is available at Pete Flood – Mark Noll –