Alachua County Mandatory Commercial Recycling Sally Palmi, Waste Alternatives Manager Energy Conservation Strategies Commission April 22, 2008

Mandatory Commercial Recycling Program Goals Ensure sustainability Increase recycling participation by businesses and commercially collected residential properties Reduce municipal solid waste

Targeted Properties 3428 commercial parcels in unincorporated area Number of businesses unknown ~3600 commercial entities (according to the Alachua County Tax Collector) Goals to find out

Alachua County Waste Stream FY 2007

History Development of both the ordinance and the resolution accomplished with input from the community  Board workshops  Public meetings  TAG July 2001: BoCC adoption of Mandatory Commercial Recycling Ordinance #01-18 February 2002: BoCC adoption of Resolution #02-16

Mandatory Ordinance Provisions Authorizes BoCC to require commercial recycling Directs BoCC to adopt a resolution Requires permit holders to collect and report recycling information

Resolution #02-16 Property owners source separate a minimum of 3 of 8 designated materials  Aluminum cans  Glass containers  Plastic containers (HDPE, PETE, PVC)  Steel cans  Magazines  Newspaper  Office paper  Corrugated cardboard

Requirements for Property Owners Provide convenient and accessible location for containers Maintain containers

Penalties and Fines “Penalties and fines imposed by the code enforcement board shall accrue to the division of waste management.” Non-compliance can result in fine of $1000/day Up to $5000/day for repeat offenders

Exemption Small quantity generators  Produce less than 4 cubic yards/week  Recyclable materials constitute less than 15% of solid waste generated Small quantity generators must apply for exemption

Commercially-Collected Residential Property Recycling Sally Palmi, Waste Alternatives Manager Energy Conservation Strategies Commission April 22, 2008

Commercially-Collected Residential Properties Apartments, condominiums, mobile home parks in unincorporated Alachua County In process of creating comprehensive list Google maps

Education & Tools “How to...” packets  Ordinance  Acceptable recyclable materials  Contact information for local recycling haulers/collection services companies  EPA waste prevention publication  Information about how to start a program Workshops

Education & Tools Waste Surveys Liaison with haulers Supplies  Multi-bag pilot program  Promotional incentives  Education material templates  Recycling Celebrations

Enforcement Two code enforcement officers on staff who deal solely with commercial recycling Goal is compliance and beyond (exceeding the minimum requirements of the ordinance)

New Opportunity to Comply Tools for Schools 8 yd dumpster  Newspaper, white office paper Revenue to TFS Helps businesses comply  2 commodities

What we’ve found so far Visited apartments: 40  In compliance: 23 (not in compliance: 17)  Most commonly recycled commodities: Commingled bottles and jars (metals, plastics, glass) Newspaper  Improvements needed: Contamination Container location Number of setups

Proposed Changes to Ordinance Commercial exclusion Requirement for approval for commercial exclusion Requirement for number of containers for apartments Automatic exclusion for small businesses (less than 2 cubic yards) Requirement for additional commodities

Possible Future Changes to Ordinance Number of recycling setups Property owner responsibility for contamination Small quantity generator exemption requirements Recycling receptacles in close proximity to the trash receptacles Define “convenient and accessible”

Questions ??? Sally Palmi