Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutord026-05TO: THRU: FROM: DATE: RE: Mayor and Council Lee Cassin, Envkonmental Health Director ~--~-"' Jaunette Murison, Senior Environmental Health Specialist September 20, 2005 Continued Second Reading of Proposed Waste Reduction/Recycling Ordinance P29 SUMMARY: The City of Aspen prides itsetf on being an environmental leader. The community strives to be env~'onmental stewards. However, when it comes to recycling and reducing our waste we are Well below the national average. Currently, Chris Hoofuagle, site manager for the Pitldn County Solid Waste Center, estimates Aspen recycles about 150 pounds per person per year. The national average in 1997 was 453 pounds per person per year. Aspen can improve its rote and achieve environmental excellence with recycling. Aspen has had a voluntary recycling program for many years. Relying on voinntary measures will not bring about the kind of recycling levels with which Aspen will be satisfied. This ordinance contains measures that are in place in hunckeds of towns and states in the United States. These towns have found that recycling ordinances are necessary to reach high recycling rates'. There is no reason why Aspen cannot also implement such successful program~. Some businesses have asked City Council not to pass this ordinance. They would like to see more research and have a voluntary business recycling program. We have made a change to the proposed ordinance that we believe will meet the main business cost objection. Others have claimed the city is rushing. On the contrary, staff has spent over a year researching alternative ways to increase recycling, from surveying ever 100 local businesses to looking at the hundreds of succesYful communities in the country with recycling ordinances. Staff has come to the conclusion, like officials in hundreds of other towns and states, that some mandatory measures are necessary to greatly increase Aspen's recycling rate. Business concerns over cost are understandable and we believe they are addressed by the exemption we have added to the ordinance. In addition, we have obtained cost information from studies of hundreds of towns that have adopted similar measures. Costs to businesses and residents have gone down in some cases and up in others, although not by large amounts. While we can always delay totry to make this ordinance more perfect, one thing that is not needed, in staff's opinion, is time to do more studies and research. We know exactly how many tons of each recyclable are collected each year, we know cost impacts of similar ordinances throughout the country, we know the range of container numbers and types in Aspen's alleys, and we know the range of traffic increases or decreases in Aspea's alleys. Staff recommends that Council approve the waste reduction/recycling ordinance. It will allow Aspen to reach a better-than-average recycling level, do our part to reduce energy use, and extend the landfill's life. Like other community goods such as schools, parks and librm-ies, the community as a whole will benefit from each person paying a small amount to increase recycling in Aspen. P30 PREVIOUS COUNCIL ACTION: Council continued the second reading of Ordinance #26, 2005 - Code Amendment - Recycling Initiatives at the August 22, 2005 City Council meeting. Council continued the hearing for staff to meet with mom businesses and get more cost information from other towns. First reading of this ordinance was in the spring of 2005, and the fzrst work session on this ordinance was in August of 2004. BACKGROUND: Extensive background information on this subject is included in previous staff memos to Council on recycling and the proposed recycling ordinance. Since the August 22~a public heating, staff has met with CCLC, presented at the public recycling forum to the business community, and spoken with numerous businesses about the proposed ordinance. Staff has amended the proposed ordinance with an exemption section in an effort to address a major concern from the business community. The exemption is for existing commercial customers who self haul all their cardboard ~o the Rio Grande Recycling Center. DISCUSSION: The goal of this ordinance is to increase recycling to extend the life of our landfill and reduce our energy use and impact on global warming. Increasing recycling lessens the amount of waste taking up room m the landfill. Frisco, Boulder, Fort Collins are a few examples of other Colorado cities that have implemented similar recycling laws for residential sectors, and have subsequently seen significant increases in recycling rates. Honolulu, Hawaii and Ann Arbor, Michigan are examples of cities that have implemented recycling laws for both commercial and residential sectors and have observed success in the form of increased recycling in both sectors. The following is a summary of the main areas and issues related to Aspen City Council adopting a recycling ordinance: Ordinance Summary: The two most important elements in the ordinance require haule~-s to include recycling in the basic rote of trash service and to base their rotes on the customer's volume of trash. No one sector of the community will subsidize the other, nor will those that pay for recycling be the only ones who bear the costs of extending the life of the landfill and protection of our environment. Other ordinance provisions include: o Keeping yard waste out of trash. (This provision will help insure that the commul~ty's yard waste does not fill up the County Landfill, since yard waste makes up from 30-50% of trash taken to the landfill in spring, summer and fall). o Waste haulers providing an annual report on the amount of trash and recyclables collected within the City of Aspen. o Waste haulers providing annual recycling education to their customers. Educational material will be provided by Environmental Health. · o Council must decide after three years whether to continue, amend or repeal the ordinance. o Commercial customers with existing solid waste contracts are exempt from the recycling requirements until their earliest opt out date. (This causes a natural phasing of the ordinance in the commeroial and multi-family sectors of Aspen, which is advantageous for the haulers as well · as the bnsinesses, since it gives them a chance to decide which hauler to use and whether to share trash or recycling containers with nearby businesses.) See Attachment 1: Key Elements to the Proposed Recycling Ordinance for Aspen. 2 Added Ordinance Provisions from Continued Second Reading: In response to business suggestions at the recent forum, staffaddcd an exemption section for commercial enstomcrs who selfhaal their cardboard. Due to the size nfthe cardboard container provided by haulers, limited space in some alleys, and cost of cardboard pickup service, several businesses self haul their cardboard to thc Rio Grand Recycling Center. This exemption prevents added costs to those businesses already self hauling their cardboard recycling. At a business owner's suggestion, we also added a provision requiring the City to annually provide to the comm~mity a report on recycling rotes and other data and measurements of SUCCCSS. Cost Analysis: When looking at costs of variable-rate waste disposal pricing, staffreports (designated by quotation marks) the following from a public-policy think tank report on Waste Management: "Concerns about costs are an issue for every community. Studies conducted by the states of Wisennsin and Iowa found that for two-thirds of the communities implementing variable r'4, tes, costs stayed the same or decreased. Only one third had an increase in costs. This demonstrates that 1) these programs do not have to bc expensive to implement, and 2) communities can fred program types that fit well with their existing or planned solid-waste management system." Also, "towns implementing variable-rate programs can expect to see reductions of more than 15 percent in tons disposed as well as increases in recycling and yard-waste diversion." "A survey in Iowa found that recycling increased by 30 percent to 100 percent, and averaged about 50 percent." The report also found "from studies using data gathered from over 500 communities across the nation that variable-rote programs decrease residential disposal by about 17 percent in weight, with 8-11 percent being diverted directly to recycling and yard programs, and another 6 percent decreased by source-reduction efforts." Residential Analysis - Of communities that have volume based pricing and recycling included in the base rate for residential customers, costs ranged from a savings of $36.00 per year, to an increase of $69.00 per year. In studies done by the states of Iowa and Wisconsin, with residential recycling ordinances, two thirds experienced no change in price, or saved money. If Aspen is like other towns with the same provisions, customers who can recycle and keep their trash volumes low tend to see small cost savings, while customers who do not recycle and cannot reduce their trash vol~es, see small increases. Commercial Analysis - Staff contacted a number of businesses and multi-family customers in Aspen that currently pay for recycling services and found they pay between $240 and $2,706 per year. This cost is often offset by reductions in trash service bills. The business paying $2,706 was able to reduce trash service, and the money saved exceeds or breaks even with the cost of recycling. We also researched the results of recycling ordinances in many other communities, and reviewed Environmental Protection A~ncy studies of costs of recycling on hundreds of tov~ns and states in the United States. These studies found cost changes varying from small savings to small increases in cost. A study in Collier County, FL found a cost savings to businesses of $57 per year to an expense ran~ng from $400 to $1,000 per year. See Attachment 2: Cost Analysis for a Recycling Ordinance in Aspen. Enforcement: This ordinance does not require any person to recycle. No one will be freed for putting a recyclable item in the trash. The recycling requirement is placed on the hauler. The ordinance requires the haulers to provide recycling service as part of their basic service. They cannot charge separately for recycling. Monitoring of hauler compliance will be done by random surveillance, customer complaints and the information provided by haulers in their required annual repons to the City. Staff will primarily be educating customers who the haulers fred contaminating their recyclables with trash and contaminating trash with yard waste. An audit card system will be used to notify the customer of P31 3 P32 contamination of recycling and putting yard waste in trash. These provisions make enforcement by staff a reasonable undertaking. Enforcement of the exemption for people who haul their own cardboard will be done by periodic surveillance and we believe it can be accomplished without additional staff. Voluntary Program by the Business Community: Recently some businesses have suggested that they do a pilot program to encourage more recycling. This idea was discussed at the public recycling forum. Two volunteered to work together and encourage those that are not already recycling to begin recycling, and to tall to their alley neighbors about recycling. Rick Jones, Aspen Chamber Resort Association (ACRA) board member, suggested that an outstanding business practices award program be developed by ACRA to positively encourage those that are recycling. He thought it may also provide a forum for sharing successful recycling practices among businesses. In stating this, he did reco~ni2e that ACRA would have to put stafftime and money towards tiffs idea and he wonid have to first speak to the board about pursuing this type of program. CCLC has stated that they have tried to improve the alleys and recycling for over ten years to no avail. Although this recycling ordinance In'st went to CCLC last spring, some CCLC members indicated that they did not have time to work with the business community during the busy summer. They have consistently asked for more time, with the length not stated, but not just a few weeks. Numerous businesses, including the St. Regis, have stated that they like the idea of having an ordinance because it provides a "stick." As mentioned above, Aspen's and Pitkin County's excellent voluntary recycling programs have not been enough to make Aspen an exemplary recycling community. Aspen has not made a name for itself on being "average". Staffhas walked the alleys in the commercial core and seen the large amounts of recyclables being thrown into trash dumpsters and commercial compactors. Staff believes that voluntary recycling has had its chance in Aspen for years, and that the ordinance's provisions can proceed or not according to their merits, but that we need to do more than a voluntary program if the community is to be a leader in recycling. Single Stream Recycling: CCLC continues to suggest that the City of Aspen postpone the recycling ordinance until Pitkin County can implement single stream recycling (a system where one cor[tainer is used to collect all forms of recyclable material). Staffhas met with Chris Hoofnagle and he does not foresee the County using single stream because there are not enough recyelables in the Roaring Fork Valley to support such a costly endeavor ($5 million alone to retrofit the county's materials recovery facility). However, if the county did decide in the future to start single stream recycling, it would not affect the proposed recycling ordinance; only the size and number of the containers used by the customer would change with single stream recycling. It is important to remember that the volume of material able to be recycled will not change. Ifa business requires six - 96 gallon containers for its recycling, which is 576 gallons, it will still need that much space for its recycling. It just might be a 2 or 4 yard container depending on the number of pickups. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: This ordinance does not require any budget adjustments at tlfis time. Council has already provided the Environmental Health Department with a three year part-time position to work on recycling. With or without this ordinance, staff plans to continue its education campaign, events like the zero-waste community picnic, television programs, and one-on-one recycling consultations. By passing the ordinance and increasing recycling rates, the community would save money by prolon~mLng the life of the landfill and deferring higher disposal costs. Space for burying trash in the Pitldn County 4 Landfill is finite and without increasing recycling and other diversion programs it will close within 15 to 20 years. When it does, the cost to dispose of Aspen's trash will increase. Exactly how much is difficult to say because we do not know what the closest available landfill and its tipping fees will be at that t/me. However we do know that our trash will have to be hauled to at least Garfield County, Eagle County or further. The transportation costs alone will greatly increase the cost to dispose of trash. Aspen will also be doing more to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and save energy in the products we use. Other communities that have implemented similar ordinances as. a general rule have seen small cost savings to businesses and residents that currently recycle and small cost increases tO those that continue to not recycle and cannot lower their trash volumes. One of the concerns of some businesses is trash haulers taking advantage of customers and significantly raising thek rotes. However the waste industry operates in a highly competitive and tight market; while haulers are clearly looking to expand profit margins, they also have to keep rates reasonable to stay competitive and not lose customers to haulers offering lower rates. While anyone can speculate that costs will go up or down, because of all the variables for different customers, staffprefers to rely on known facts. In other communities, when recycling ordinances were adopted, these concerns were not borne out. See Attachment 2 ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS: The intent of including recycling in the base rate and having volume based pricing, as is proposed by this ordinance, is to create incentives for people to start recycling, increase current rates of recycling, and to reduce their trash volumes. The goal of this ordinance is to prolong the lii'e of the Pitkin County landfill and to increase Aspen's stewardship of the environment. The most notable environmental benefit of recycling is the reduction of natural resources and energy used in the manufacturing of products. Products made from virgin material are full of"embodied energy." The mount of energy required to extract raw materials, and then transport them to a production facility, far exceeds the energy inputs required to manufacture new products from recycled materials - thus accounting for a significant portion of the energy savings associated with recycled products. Using recycled materials instead of raw materials saves about 90-95% of the energy'/~eded to produce aluminum from ore, 60% of the energy for steel, 70% for plastics, and 40% for both glass and newspaper. Eliminating the need for extraction also corresponds to significant savings in air pollution and water usage and pollution (nrc.org). By working with Aspen's Global Warming Program Manager and reviewing the work done by the City of Portland, staffbelieves that the reduction in emissions resulting from the increase in recycling wiI1 more than offset the CO2 emissions from the collection and transportation ofrecyclable materials. RECOMMENDATION: Staffrecommends that Council approve the waste reduction/recycling ordinance as amended. This ordinance will encourage Aspen's residents and businesses to recycle more. It will also join them together in addressing an important environmental issue that people believe in and support. ALTERNATIVES: The following are possible alternatives to the proposed recycling ordinance: (1) Mandatory Recycling: Several people have suggested that Aspen pass an ordinance mandating recycling, in other words requiring businesses to recycle as a matter of law. Council could implement the P33 5 P34 residential and reporting requn:ements of the law as proposed, and make recycling mandatory for commercial customers (again, suggested by some businesses). (2) No Recycling Ordinance: A purely voluntary program is the current alternative, and has been in place since the 1970's. A voluntary program would be the no-change alternative. Staff would continue current outreach efforts through events, television, print media and group and individual meetings. We would expect not to see significant changes in recycling rates. (3) Staged Implementation: The ordinance as proposed will already be phased over a several year period, since provisions do not go into effect until the first auto-renewal dates for contracts. As an additional way te phase implementation of the ordinance, several members of CCLC have suggested that Council start with cardboard recycling initially, to allow time for a voluntary business program for all types of recycling. (The ordinance would include only cardboard recycling right now, since it is responsible for such a large volume ofrecynlables.) Then other commodities could be included in a' staged manner, starting in 90 days, if Council decides the voluntary business effort is not successful. It would be beneficial if the details of this staging could be included in the ordinance so businesses could better plan the measures they would take, instead of lenving it uncertain. It would also be important for the measures of success of the pilot program to be clearly spelled out. Staff suggests that at the end of the 90-day voluntac/test program, there should be an improvement of 20% in the number of downtown dumpsters where cardboard is still put in trash dumpsters. A 90-day period will be sufficient time to fmd out whether businesses are interested in voluntarily recycling. (While some will request months for this exper/ment, CCLC members have stressed that businesses have time for such projects only during the off seasons. If the business voluntary program can be successful, we will see increased recycling rates during this off-season, since they can call a hauler immediately.) Council could stage the ordinance, without trying a voluntary program, beginning with cardboard and then adding commingled after three months, adding newspaper after another three months, and so on until the items in the Recycled Materials List were all included. This was also a CCLC suggestion. (4) No Commercial Recycling Requirements: Council could implement the (~rdinance for the residential and multi-family sectors only, but that would not capture the majority of the volume of recyclable materials in Aspen. (5) Partial Approval: Ail the sections of th/s ordinance "stand alone" and could be implemented without any of the other measures. If Council believes one section of the ordinance needs more evaluation, consideration of that section could be continued and the rest of the ordinance passed. PROPOSED MOTION: "I move to approve as amended Ordinance # ~_~, Series of 2005 to amend the City of Aspen solid waste ordinance." CITY MANAGER COMMENTS: ~-~-~.~aac~-t.~,*~ ~ ~ ~ 6 Ordinance NO. (Series 2005) AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER TWELVE OF THE MUNICIPAL CODE OF THE CITY OF ASPEN, COLORADO TO ENCOURAGE RECYCLING BY BUSINESSES AND RESDENTS P35 WHEREAS, The City Council of the City of Aspen finds that a significant reduction of the volume of solid waste and a corresponding increase in the volume of Recyclable Materials generated by citizens and businesses in the City would benefit the public welfare by reducing the consumption of important, non-renewable natural resources and by saving energy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions; and, WHEREAS, increasing recycling and reducing trash volumes will extend the life of the Pitkin County landfill as long as possible, thereby protecting city residents from furore large cost increases when the landfill closes and trash must be transported to distant landfills; and, WHEREAS, The City CounCil's intent in enacting this ordinance is to decrease the amount of solid waste and increase waste reduction and recycling practices by the citizens of and businesses located in the City; and, WHEREAS, the Aspen City Council desires to ensure that Aspen demonstrates leadership and excellence in environmental practices including increasing the community's recycling volumes and decreasing volumes of non~recycled trash; and, WHEREAS, the Aspen City Council has determined that the existing rules and regulations governing solid waste are inadequate to protect non-renewable natural resources, save energy, reduce pollution, and extend the life of the landfill; and; WHEREAS, these rules and regulations will make it much easier for residents and businesses to recycle and increase recycling success in Aspen. NOW, THEREFORE BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ASPEN, COLORADO: Section I That Chapter 12 of the Municipal Code of the City of Asperg Colorado is hereby amended by the addition ora new section 12.06 which section shall read as follows: 12.06.000 Waste Reduction 12.06.010 Definitions. P36 For purposes of this section, the following terms shall have the meanings ascribed to them: "Audit Car~' shall mean a card that waste Haulers give to customers who have included banned Yard Waste in their garbage or who have failed to properly sort their Recyclable Materials. "Commercial Customers" shall mean any premises utilizing collection service where a commercial, industrial or institutional enterprise is carried on, including, without limitation, retail establishments, restaurants, hospitals, schools, day care centers, offices, nursing homes, clubs, churches and public facilities. "Arauler'' means any person in the business of collecting, transporting or disposing of garbage for another, for a fee, in the City. "Multi-family Customer" means the occupants, taken together, of a residential building or set of residential buildings that use a collective, common system for the collection of garbage generated by the occupants. "Recyclable Materials" means any materials that are designated by the city manager in the "Recyc[able Materials List" which may include,.but are not limited to, newspaper, office paper, cardboard, glass containers, plastic containers, steel cans, and aluminum CanS,. "]~esidentiai' Customer" means every occupant of a residential building or set of residential buildings who receives periodic garbage collection service, and who does not use a collective, common system for the collection of garbage generated by the occupants. "Yard Waste" shall mean materials generated from the maintenance of the vegetation on · a property that have been designated by the city manager in the "Banned Yard Waste List" which may include, but are not limited to, grass clippings, leaves, weeds, holiday trees, and other plant materials. 12.06.020 Exemptions The following persons are exempt from the provisions of this chapter: (1) Any person or agent thereof who transports to the landfill only the garbage that person generates. (2) Any person who transports only liquid wastes (such as restaurant grease), discarded or abandoned vehicles or parts thereof, discarded home or industrial appliances, household hazardous wastes, or hazardous materials as defined in the rules and regulations adopted by the United States Hazardous Mate;rials Transportation Act, 49 U.S.C. Section 5101, et seq. (3) (A) Any Commercial Customer contracting trash pickup with a Hauler who transports his or her cardboard recycling to the R/o Grande Recycling Center or Pitkin County Materials Recovery Facility may apply for an annual hardship variance to the Environmental Health Department. Such variance shall be granted upon satisfactory demonstration to the Environmental Health Director that: (i) Said customer is taking his or her recyclable cardboard to the Pdo Grande Recycling Center or Pitkin County Materials Recoyery Facility, (ii) Is not allowing recyclable cardboard to be placed in trash containers, and that (iii) Complying with the requirements of section 12.06.030 would be unduly burdensome to the applicant. 12.06.030 Hauler Requirements (A) No person shall operate as a solid waste Hauler within the city limits without first obtaining a business license from the City. In order to receive a city business license, a solid waste Hauler must comply with the requirements of this chapter. (B) Except for customers exempt from the provis{on pursuant to subsection 12.06.020, Haulers providing trash service in the City of Aspen shall include in the base rote for trash pickup service the pickup 6fKecyclable Materials as designated by the City Manager in the Recyclable Materials List. It shall be unlawful for Haulers to deduct any amount from a customer's rate if the recycling services are not used unless the customer has received a variance from the Environmental Health Department. (C) The collection of Recyclable Materials for Residential Customers shall be provided on the same day and upon the same frequency as trash pickup. (D) Haulers shall provide collection of Recyclable Materials for Multi-family and 'Commercial Customers as often as necessary to prevent the overflow of the recycling containers and to permit the customer to use the recycling containers without causing an overflow. (E) Any person licensed to operate as a solid waste Hauler within the City shall charge all Residential Customers on the basis of volume of trash collected, which shall be meagured by the volume capacity of the container used by the customer, All charges shall be based upon units of volume no greater than 32 gallons. The charge for the second and subsequent units shall be no less than the charge for the first unit of volume. The charge for each subsequent unit of volume shall be no less than the charge for the first unit of volume. (F) In offering or arranging for services, a Hauler shall provide reasonable notice of the full range of container sizes or levels of services offered by the Hauler, and shall provide to each customer that customer's requested container size or level of service. (G) Each Hauler shall submit an annual report to the city manager of the weight in tons or cubic yards of garbage, trash, Recyclable Materials (as determined by the City Manager in the Recyclable Materials List pursuant to 12.06.040) and Yard Waste materials collected within the limits of the City. For loads that contain garbage or Recyclable Materials originating in part from within the limits of the City, and in part from outside P37 P38 the limits of the City, the reported quantity may be estimated by the Hauler, and reported as an estimate. Reports shall be submitted for the year by January 31 of the succeeding year, using: a form or forms provided by the Environmental Health Director. Ail reports shall be treated as confidential commercial documents under the provisions of the Colorado Open Records Act. (H) Nothing in this section shall be construed as prohibiting any Hauler from providing separate pricing for special collection of bulky items, Yard Waste, contaminated recyclables, unscheduled pick up of trash, extra volumes of trash, such as bags, boxes, or bundles, or more than what was subscribed with a Hauler for trash. (I) Except for materials that customers have not properly prepared for recycling and so, are grossly contaminated (15 percent or more of trash), Haulers may not dispose of Recyclable Materials set out by recycling customers by any means other than at a recycling facility that sorts, packages, and otherwise prepares Recyclable Materials for. sale. Haulers must notify customers of contam'mated recyclables with an Audit Card provided by the Environmental Health Department. (J) Upon the initial provision of solid waste collection services to new customers, ninety days prior to any opt out or auto renewal date, and on or before December 31 of the year of adoption of this ordinance with respect to existing customers, Haulers shall notify such customers of the provisions of this ordinance by a letter provided by the City of Aspen. Haulers will also provide within the above reference letter information on the materials designated for recycling collection pursuant to 12.06~040 and such rules and regulations as established by the Hauler for the orderly collection of Recyclable Materials as authorized pursuant to 12.06.050(1o). Such notice shall further include for Residential Customers the notification of the variable rate system employed by the .Hauler, and shall be in a form reasonably acceptable to the City to ensure that customers Me fully informed of the availability of recycling and level of service options. For group accounts, the notices required herein may be sent to the group representative for said account, provided that such notice shall further notify said representative of its obligation to notify all individual customers or users of the service within the group of the availability of recycling services. On or before January 31 of each year, the Hauler shall deliver to the City's Environmental Health Director a true and correct copy of the notification sent to each customer type, i.e. Residential, Multi-family or Commercial, on or before December 31 of the previous year. (K) Haulers shall not pick up trash that coma'ms banned Yard Waste materials. Haulers shall notify customers of the ban with an Audit Card provided by the Environmental Health Department. The Environmental Health Department, once notified by the customer, will determine when the customer has removed the contaminating materials 4 and then contact the Hauler to approve the collection of the trash, which the Hauler may choose to pick up at the next scheduled pickup or wl-rich may incur a charge for an extra pickup. 12.06.040 Designation of Recyclable Materials and Banned Yard Waste Materials. (A) The Recyclable Materials that haulers are required to pick up shall be set forth in the City ofAspen's "Recyclable Materials List," which shall be prepared and amended from . time to time by the City Manager. The Recyclable Materials List shall be developed after consultation with the Pitkin County Landfill Director/Manager, the Environmental Health Director, representatives of the licensed Haulers operating within the City, as well as the public, and shall be available for review on the City's Environmental Health Department website. (B) The Yard Waste material that is requked to be separated fi-om trash shall be set forth in the City of Aspen's "Banned Yard Waste List," which shall be prepared and amended fi-om time to time by the City Manager. The Banned Yard Waste List shall be developed after consultation with the Pitkin County Landfill Manager, the City of Aspen Environmental Health Director, licensed Haulers operating within the City, as well as the public, and shall be available for review on the City's Environmental Health Department website. 12.06.050 Placement of Recyclable Materials and Yard Waste for Pickup (A) All recyclables and Yard Waste accumulated on any premises shall be placed in a container separate from garbage, or in a suitable manner such as cardboard broken down and placed on a shelf. (B) Recycling containers for storing and setting out Recyclable Materials may be of any color or design as long as it does not interfere with industry-accepted requirements for the preparation of materials for recycling that are necessary to provide for the orderly collection of Recyclable Materials. P39 12.06.060 Educational Materials (A) The City Environmental Health Department shall provide an annual summary of waste and recycled material totals collected in Aspen, and shall report on other measures of success and aspects of the ordinance. (B) The City will provide Audit Cards that the Haulers must use to notify their customers of contamination of Yard Waste in trash and contamination of trash in recyclables. In addition, the City will produce an educational flyer, not to exceed one sheet of paper in length. Haulers shall distribute this educational flyer at least once a year to all their customers that may be at the same time as materials sent out under section 12.06.030(j). The City will consult with the Haulers about the educational flyer prior to printing them. 12.06.070 Audits and Violations 5 P40 (A) Each Hauler licensed pursuant to this Article shall maintain accurate and complete records of the services provided to all customers, the charges to such customers and payments received, the form and recipients of any notice required pursuant to this Article, and any underlying records, including any books, accounts, contracts for services, ~witten records of individual level of service requests, invoices, route sheets or other records necessary to verify the accuracy and completeness of such records. It shall be the duty of each Hauler to keep and preserve all such documents and records, including any electronic information, for a period of three (3) years from the end of the calendar year Of such records, except for paper records of route sheets, which may be discarded one (1) year after the end of the calendar year of such route sheets. (B) If requested, each Hauler shall make its records available for audit by the City Manager during regular business hours in order for the City to verify Hauler compliance with the provisions of this chapter. All such information shall be treated as confidential commercial documents under the provisions of the Colorado Open Records Act. (C) Violation of any provision of this chapter by any person, finn or corporation, whether as Hauler, owner or occupant, shall be unlawful and subject to the penalty provisions in section t.04.080 of this Code. Each violation shall constitute a separate offense. 12.06.080 Sunset Provision This ordinance shall remain in effect until three years from the date of adoption, at which time the Aspen City Council shall amend, expand or repeal the ordinance. Section 2 That a new section 14.08.130 of the Municipal Code of the City of Aspen, Colorado is hereby enacted to read as follows: : 14.08.130 Solid Waste Collection Business License--Reqnired In order to obtain a business license, a solid waste Hauler must comply with the requirements of Chapter 12.06, entitled "Waste Reduction." Section 3 This ordinance shall not become effective until sixty days. after adoption by the City Council. It is not the intention of the City Council in the adoption of this ordinance to interfere with any valid contractual arrangement between Haulers and their Residential, Multi-family, or Commercial Customers. Accordingly, sub-sections 12.06.030 B, C, D, and E shall not apply in those instances in which Haulers have contracts with customers, the provisions of which are inconsistent with said subsections of this Chapter until the terms of said contracts authorize the customer or Hauler to renew or amend said contract. Evidence of a contract may be provided upon request to the City Attorney by a written contract or other evidence satisfactory to the City Attorney. Section 4 This ordinance, when effective, shall not have any effect on existing litigation and shall not operate as an abatement of any action or proceeding then pending under or by virtue of the ordinances repealed or amended as herein prohibited, and the same shall be construed and concluded under such pr/or ordinances. Section 5. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase or portion of this ordinance is for any reason held invalid or unconstitutional in a court of competent jurisdiction, such portion shall be deemed a separate, distinct and independent provision and shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions thereof. Section 6 A public hearing on the ordinance shall be held on the day of ~ 2005, in the City Council Chambers, Aspen City Hall, 130 South Galena, Aspen, Colorado. P41 INTRODUCED, READ, AND ORDERED PUBLISHED as provided by law by the City Council of the City of Aspen on the day of ,2005. ATTEST: Helen Kalin Klanderud, Mayor Kathryn S. Koch, City Clerk 7 ~M~achment 1: Key Elements to the Proposed Recycling Ordinance for Aspen - 9/20/05 (1) Including Recycling in the basic rate of trash service: This provision would have waste haulers include recycling pick-up in their rote for basic service to all their customers. By having tiffs requirement throughout Aspen for both residential and commercial customers, neither will feel their sector is carrying more of the burden. Businesses and residents that divert large volumes of recyclable materials can reduce their waste disposal costs by needing fewer trash pickups. (2) Volume based pricing: Waste haulers would be required to charge residential customers at least the same unit price for each 32-gallon can of trash they generate. This way, customers who generate less trash pay less, so there is an incentive to recycle more and reduce the amount of txash. It has been demonstrated in communities across the country that volume based pricing encourages trash reduction and recycling. The base volume unit proposed is 32-gallons (a traditional trash can size). The amount to be charged per container would be determined by the waste haulers. Without volume based pricing, residents who recycle and reduce their waste generation subsidize costs for customers who don't recycle. Six months into Boulder's volume based trash ordinance (adopted in November, 2000), 52% of Boulder's households subscribed te 1-can or less per week trash service, compared with 26% of households before. This change represented 3,800 households who switched down from 2~ or 3-cans of trash service per week down to 1 -can per week. (3) Same day pickup for recyclables and trash: Residential customers will no longer have to remember which week to put out their recyclables for pickup. Many people have discontinued recycling service with their waste hauler because it was too difficult to remember which day it was picked up. The City believes tiffs provision will make it easier for people to recycle. (4) No Yard waste in regular trash: Tiffs provision will help insure that the community's yard waste does not fill up the County Landfill. One waste hauler estimates that yard waste in Aspen accounts for about 40% of residential trash in spring, 30% in summer and 50% in the fall. The City recommends the use of several free alternatives, including backyard composting, mulciffng mowers, taking yard waste for free to the landfill compost center, and a future residential yard waste drop-off site. (5) Required reporting: Staffrecommends that waste haulers provide an annual report on the amount of trash and recyclables collected within the city's residential, multi-family and commercial sectors. This will help the City in evaluating Aspen's recycling ordinance as well as the other waste reduction/reuse effo~s implemented by the City. (6) Sunset, provision: The ordinance requires Council to decide whether to continue the ordinance in three years. It gives some assurance to the community that the City will provide assistance to businesses in fmding the best locations and options f?r containers and helping those businesses that want to share containers with neighbors. (7) Contract exemption: Existing contracts that businesses have with haulers are exempt from the recycling requirements. However, at the earliest opt-out or auto renewal date on the contract, the hauler must include both trash and recycling in the basic rate of service. Recycling cannot be a separate charge. This causes a natural phasing of the ordinance in the commercial and multi-family sectors of Aspen, which is advantageous for the haulers as well as the businesses, since it gives them a chance to decide which hauler to use and whether to share trash or recycling containers with nearby businesses. (8) Implementation: The ordinance will not be implemented for 60 days, until November 25, 2005, to give businesses a chance to implement the changes during the off-season. (9) Cardboard self hauling exemption: The ordinance provides exemption for commercial customers who self haul their cardboard. Due to the size of the cardboard container provided by haulers, limited space in some alleys, and cost of cardboard pickup service, several businesses currently self haul their cardboard to the Rio Grand Recycling Center. This exemption prevents added costs to those businesses. (10) City reporting requirements: The ordinance requires the City to anmlally provide to the community a report on recycling rates and other data and measurements of success. 1 Attachment 2 - Cost Analysis for a Recycling Ordinance in Aspen P43 Costs or savings from this ordinance will vary depending the type and frequency of service, and mount of trash and recycling each business produces. The multitude of variables involved in trash service precludes a blanket statement for costs. Haulers will not divulge their rates. Accordingly, the cost analysis performed by staffprovides a range of costs for the commercial and residential sectors both within Aspen, and in other cities around the country. No two communities have identical mixes of businesses, similarity to Aspen, and the exact mix of requirements included in Aspen's ordinance. Most communities with commercial recycling provisions mandate recycling, and many also have state recycling rote goals they have to meet. Some customers save money and some pay more, depending on how much a business or resident is able to reduce its garbage volumes. A project in Collier County, F.L studied the costs incurred by businesses when recycling is mandated. The results showed a savings to businesses of $57/year to a cost of $1,000/year. In other towns, costs varied from savings of $36/year to added costs of $69/year. See details below for information on each town or state. Staff contacted a number of businesses and multi-family customers in Aspen that currently pay for recycling services and found they pay between $240 and $2,706 per year for recycling. However, this cost is often offset by reductions in trash service bills. For example, the business paying $2,706 was able to reduce its wash service enough that the cost savings on its wash bill were greater than or equal to the recycling costs. The business paying $240/year was able to go from three times a week pickup, to twice a week pickup of trash. See additional examples below. Of communities that have volume based pricing and recycling included in the base rote for residential customers, costs ranged from a savings of $36.00 per year, to an increase of $69.00 per year, or $5.75 extra dollars per month. In studies done by the states of Iowa and Wisconsin, with residential recycling ordinances, 2/3 experienced no change in price, or saved money. If Aspen functions like the other coraxnunities with similar ordinances, residents who choose to use a 96 gallon container will likely see a slight cost increase, while those who can make use of a 32 gallon container, by recycling, will likely experience a shght cost savings. Additional Comrfients: Haulers do not have to divulge their rates, and rates will undoubtedly be adjusted as haulers compete for customers. Ultimately, haulers will need to cover costs, but they also need to stay in business. Taking advantage of this ordinance to hike up rotes would allow their competitors to underbid them, and they would lose customers. Another important factor is that there are no tipping fees associated with recycling. Part of what customers pay for with trash service is the cost to dispose of the trash at the landfill. Recycling has no such disposal costs. According to one local hauler, costs will ultimately depend on how much garbage the customer generates and how much he/she recycles. AS a rule, he anticipates a drop in price for customers that currently have frequent pick-up (5 times per week) and do not recycle, and an increase in price for customers that have minimal weekly pick-ups. The thought is that those who only have trash picked up once a week will not have much leeway in reducing the frequency of trash pick up, even if he/she can start to divert recycling out of trash and reduce the volume of trash ganemted. But when customers with frequent trash pick-up start to recycle, the volume of trash will decrease and that individual or business will be able to reduce the frequency of wash pick-up and corresponding costs. Recycling Prices for Aspen Businesses General Prices:. Smaller businesses tend to generate less and need less frequent pick-up. Businesses with more space can have more containers and require fewer weekly pick-ups. Type of service Cost Business that require recycling pick-up lx/wk ....................................... Approx. $500/year Business that require recycling pick-up 2x/wk ........................................ Approx. $1000/year · Business that require recycling pick-up 6rdwk... .................................... Approx. $3000/year Type of Business and Service Cost / Me~9/n Restaurant (cardboard recycling plus trash) ............................... $3,000/year Large Dinner Restaurants (Cardboard and 2 co-mingled 6x/wk) ................... $2,706/year (Willing to pay b/c saved on trash - net zero expense) Large Athletic Club (Newspaper and co-mingled 2x/month) ........................ $480-$1,200/year (Cost of employees' time to self haul) Large Lodge (Co-mingled and newspaper 2x/wk) .................................... $600/year (6- 95gallon containers) Large Hotel (Newspaper and office paper) ............................................. $2,400/year (Includes cost of shredding) Retail (Cardboard 6x/wk) ................................................................ $2,160/year Small Multi Family (Cardboard 2x~month) .................................. : ......... $240/year Recycling ~Programs in Other Cities Type of Recycling Cost Commercial Mandatory Recycling Commercial .......................................... ]...+$57/year to -$ 1,000/year (per biz) Mandatory Recycling of cardboard & Office paper ........................... Some save, some pay a little more Residential Volume Based Price (Recycling included in b~se rate} ............................................ ....+$3.00 to $69.00/year -$36~00 to +$60.00/year Mandatory Recycling (Recycling included in base rate) .............................. , ......... i ....... +$31 20/year +$40..00 to +4.5.00/year Types of Commercial Recycling Programs Incentive Programs Boulder, CO - City will pay the cost of recycling for the first three months if a business starts a new recycling program. Thousand Oaks, CA- Recycling bins must cost 30% less than trash bins. Businesses have incentive to recycle because they can lower costs by recycling and haulers have an incentive to offer recycling because their franchise fees are discounted if they do achieve a 25% recycling rote. Mandatory Programs Collier County, FL - Pilot program showed cost to business of reeycling ranged from saving a business $400 to $1,000 per year, to costing a business $57 per year. Outcome of pilot project led to adoption of mandatory business recycling ordinance, businesses can contract with hauler or self-haul. Mecklenburg County, NC - Business required to recycle cardboard and office paper. Exemption for businesses that produce less than 16 cubic yards or less than 500 pounds of cardboard or office paper per week. Can contract with hauler or sail-haul. Some businesses have saved money, and some spend more due to recycling. Sarasota County, FL - Businesses required to recycle. Costs are unknown because businesses work out prices with private haulers. 2 Cambridge, MA - Businesses required to recycle. No record of costs because businesses work out costs with private haulers. P45 Portland, OR - Business required to recycle. Costs are unknown because businesses work out costs with haulers. City has a goal to recycle 50% of waste. Mandatory Programs with State Requirements Tredyffrin Township, PA- Businesses required to recycle and state mandates recyc/Lng. Arlin~on County, VA- Businesses required to recycle. State of Virginia requires a 25% recycling rote. State of CT - Businesses required to recycle. Each municipality has sli~atly different means, but generally costs are unknown because businesses and private haulers work out costs, and because recycling has been required since 1991. Types of Residential Recycling Programs Volume based pricing and recycling included in base rote Fort Collins, CO - Volume based pricing and recycling included in the base rote. Depending on the type of service, prices ranged from households saving about $36 per year to spending an extra $60 per year. Austin, TX - Volume based pr/cing and recycling included in the base mte. Costs increased between $3 per year and $69 per year depending on the type of service, i.e. the size of trash container, 32, 64 or 96 gallons. Concord, MA - Volume based pricing and recycling included in base rote. Customers can either contract with the town or a private hauler. Town contmcts charge $126 per year plus $1.50 per 34 gallon barrel or bag of trash, recycling has no additional charge. Program has about a 98% participation rote. Portland, OR - Volume based pricing, recycling included in the base mte, and recycling is required. The cost to customers is unknown to the City of Portland Office of Sustainable Development. Required Recycling Hemando Couaty, FL - Recycling included in the base rote and is required. Cost increased $31.20 per year Sarasota County, FL - Recycling included in the base rote and required. Cost increased $40-$45 per year. Cambridge, MA - Recycling required and cost of trnsh and recycling is paid out of property taxes. Arlington County, VA - Recycling is required and achievement of a 25% recycling rote is necessary to meet state requirements. Tredyffrin Township, PA- Recycling required and mandated by the state. Costs are worked out between residents and private haulers. Other Montpelier, VT- Recycling is free at drop-of site while trash costs $3 per 30 gallon bag. P46