Solid Waste & Recycling Collection 2006 Solid Waste Management Update Waste Collection The level and type of solid waste, recycling and yard trimmings collection services provided throughout the state varies greatly depending upon a community's size, density and demographic profile. The data contained in this report is obtained mainly from the Annual Solid Waste Management Survey and Full Cost Report. This data is used to attempt to identify how local governments collect and manage solid waste, yard trimmings and recyclables generated within their community. Before applying any analysis to this data it should be noted that in FY 2004 there was a significant drop in the response rate (from 93% in FY 2003 to 79% in FY 2004). It is believed that the switch to the online system is the primary reason for Residential Waste and Recyclables the significant drop in the response rate. However, for the FY 2005 reporting year, there was a reciprocal increase in the response rate over FY 2004 (91% in FY 2005 up from 79% in FY 2004). Consequently it is recommended that a minimum of two more years of survey data be collected before this information can be effectively used to establish any reliable benchmarks or trend lines. Until then the data should only be used to acquire an over-all "annual snapshot" of solid waste and recycling activities in the State. Collection FY 2003 - 2005 2003 No. of local governments responding 642 to Solid Waste Management Survey Solid Waste Service Providers Local governments 565 providing/arranging for residential waste collection Provided by public sector 362 Provided by private sector 379 2004 546 501 336 379 2005 631 593 335 356 In the table entitled Residential Waste & Recyclables Collection the changing role of local governments as solid waste collection service providers is highlighted. Many local governments have opted to "arrange for" Types of Residential Programs Curbside/backdoor City County 400 374 436 62 60 66 rather than "provide" solid waste collection services. Over the past decade, we have seen the solid waste collection role of the private sector increase. One potential trend appears to be the changing role in providing recycling services. While it is impossible to state with any certainty, it appears that the number of local governments providing recycling services has declined from 2003 to 2005. This change in the general trend could be due to the fluctuating response rate. There are several tools local governments use to partner with the private sector to manage the waste generated within their communities, including: permits, ordinances, franchise agreements, and/or contracts. Staffed Drop-off City County Unstaffed Drop-off City County Dumpsters (Green box) City County Recycling Service Providers Local governments making residential recycling services available Provided by public sector Provided by private sector Provided by non-profit organization 37 44 42 87 95 80 43 17 40 29 25 43 22 27 23 20 49 25 444 390 395 392 266 264 188 67 77 109 57 N/A The number of local governments reporting they use permits, ordinances, and/or franchise agreements appears to have increased immensely from FY 2003 to FY 2005. This may be due in part to the change in the wording of the question as well as the section of the survey in which the question was asked. Permits and ordinances governing the collection of solid waste are typically the least restrictive tools local governments use to manage solid waste collection in their community. Collection ordinances typically establish general standards by which a private sector service provider must operate. Franchise agreements, either exclusive or open, generally establish a minimum level of services that must be provided by all service providers and usually stipulate the specific operating standards. A contract between a local government and private waste service provider provides the greatest degree of management control over the waste Private/Public Partnerships for Residential Waste Collection FY 2003 - 2005 2003 2004 2005 City County City County City County Private collection does not exist 164 23 158 55 178 59 Issue permit or license 11 13 48 31 56 34 Local ordinance 11 22 230 70 251 79 Franchise agreement 34 9 103 36 134 40 Governments contract 181 41 202 53 248 60 stream, with the local government Open competition -- no local 33 66 139 66 167 72 setting forth specific performance government oversight C - 1 Solid Waste & Recycling Collection 2006 Update measures and standards to be met by both parties. As can be seen in the Residential Waste and Recyclables Collection table, the types of residential solid waste collection services range from "green box" or Dumpster drop-off service to curbside or backdoor pick-up. One trend the Department of Community Affairs has been tracking for several years is the use of Dumpsters. They are often placed in unsupervised areas, usually in rural communities, for trash collection and frequently become dumping grounds for everything from household trash to disabled vehicles, tires, and animal carcasses. They can become an eyesore in a community and attract waste from neighboring jurisdictions. The number of local governments using green boxes for residential waste collection has dwindled in recent years. In 1994, 74 cities and 99 counties reported using them for residential waste collection. In Yard Trimmings Management FY 2005, just 23 cities and 25 counties reported using FY 2003 - 2005 green boxes. It appears that around half of the counties using a Green Box system in FY04 did not report using them in FY05. Promote home 2003 City County 55 41 2004 City County 24 27 2005 City County 25 25 composting and grasscycling Yard Trimmings Collection Provide for collection 355 93 365 57 258 33 and disposal Collection Options The number of local governments reporting that they Staffed drop-off 17 41 14 16 19 28 provide for the collection and disposal of yard trimmings facilities fell from 448 in FY 2003 to 291 in FY 2005. This Unstaffed drop-off 10 6 9 3 9 3 decrease may be linked to the increase use of the facilities private sector to provide collection services. The private Curbside collection Accepted at 276 35 16 50 220 3 5 15 294 21 22 32 sector is less likely to offer yard trimmings collection landfill/transfer station because of the additional cost associated with its Other 13 10 13 3 16 6 collection and disposal. The decline may also be due to the discrepancy in the response rate over the last two years. The type of collection service options ranged from accepting yard trimmings at solid waste management facilities like a solid waste transfer station to curbside collection programs. The number of communities reporting they provide collection services has decreased from 448 in FY 2003 to 291 in FY 2005. From the information reported it appears that this decrease is occurring mainly in the curbside programs and transfer stations accepting the material, however due to the low response rate it is impossible to present a conclusive finding. Recyclables Collection During FY 2005, 395 local governments reported they provided or arranged for residential recycling 500 services in their communities. As can be seen in the Residential Recycling Services Providers graph, 450 the strong tradition of public, private, and non-profit 400 partnerships used to provide recycling services throughout Georgia continues. However it appears 350 that the number of private vendors has increased 300 slightly while the non-profit organizations have decreased; this could also be due to the fluctuating 250 response rate. 200 Residential Recycling Service Providers FY 2003 - 2005 The number of local governments whose residents 150 have access to recycling services appears to have slowly dwindled during the last three years however 100 this could be due to the fluctuating response rate. 50 Collection programs for glass, scrap metal, aluminum, and newspaper had fallen dramatically 0 in FY 2004, however they have all risen significantly in FY 2005; the increase in the number of communities reporting aluminum, newspaper, plastic containers, and electronics collection programs appears to indicate a trend beyond just the number or communities responding to the survey. 2003 2004 2005 Governments with recycling services available to residents Provided by public sector Provided by private vendor Provided by non-profit organization C - 2 Solid Waste & Recycling Collection 2006 Update Collection programs appear to have been trimmed mainly from small, rural communities. Some of the decrease may be attributed to the low survey response rate. On a more positive note, more jurisdictions reported collecting problem wastes such as electronic items. As shown in the Number of Jurisdictions Collecting Materials for Recycling tables on page C-4, there was an increase in the number of local governments making residential recycling services available in their jurisdictions. Nationally and regionally, market prices for recycled materials have varied widely. Virtually any recyclable commodity price, when tracked over time, varies greatly. This affects which materials some local governments choose to recycle, given their budget restraints and shifting priorities. This report does not address the scale of the individual local recycling operations, which would be difficult to quantify. Rather, it focuses upon the level of recycling services being offered throughout the state. Since 1992, newspaper has been reported as the residential recyclable material most widely collected in Georgia, followed by aluminum cans. The most popular commodities recycled from residences were newspaper (509 jurisdictions reporting collection); aluminum (452); magazines (378); corrugated cardboard (368); and #1 plastic (360.) round-off the top five most recycled materials category during FY 2005. After trending drastically down in FY 2004 glass has rebounded sharply in FY 2005 this fluctuation could be attributed to the response rate. Although some recyclers have dropped glass from their programs, saying prices have fallen to the point that dealing with the material (which can be a contaminant for other recyclables if not handled properly) is no longer worth the trouble. Glass proponents claim that markets for the material have strengthened in the last two year, and that with care and proper equipment maintenance, glass should not be a problem for a recycling operation. The tables on page C-4 tally the number of local governments collecting commercial and residential materials for recycling. Recyclables Processing In FY 2005 176 local governments reported processing residential recyclables as source separated materials, or reported that they collect source-separated materials from their customers. Source-separated means the materials are separated before being collected, typically by the consumer. For example, a homeowner may have to place glass, plastic and metal in separate containers before collection. Commingled collection means the consumer places all the material in one container and the material is sorted after collection, often by paid staff, inmates or probationers Processing of Residential Recyclables FY 2003 - 2005 2003 2004 2005 City County City County City County Source-separated 142 75 75 97 79 97 Commingled 41 12 32 12 46 14 Both 32 35 8 10 6 9 Unknown 94 11 52 34 32 21 C - 3 Solid Waste & Recycling Collection 2006 Update Number of Jurisdictions Collecting Residential Materials for Recycling by Type FY 2001 - 2005 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 Number of Jurisdictions Collecting Commercial Materials for Recycling by Type FY 2001 - 2005 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 Automobile components tires 98 89 88 62 54 auto batteries 74 70 71 44 38 motor oil 82 71 75 50 36 Automobile components tires auto batteries antifreeze motor oil oil filters Metals aluminum steel cans 141 137 136 117 142 88 93 91 89 100 15 22 24 18 21 109 101 93 66 95 22 17 23 18 28 375 362 334 292 452 173 165 157 118 226 Metals aluminum scrap metal Paper newspaper magazines corrugated cardboard white paper phone books other paper Misc. plastic glass 249 249 238 248 196 175 170 168 106 94 270 258 257 293 254 218 202 198 189 84 268 257 253 202 177 184 190 177 98 66 181 176 168 163 71 154 153 148 92 50 353 353 326 214 181 193 176 177 139 57 scrap metal aerosol cans Paper newspaper magazines corrugated cardboard phone books paper board other paper Misc. #1 plastic #2 plastic other plastic 223 212 214 124 208 38 41 40 16 39 406 380 365 344 509 315 298 280 269 378 332 314 287 280 368 250 241 234 202 322 126 129 132 111 72 238 234 206 172 236 276 268 256 247 360 259 244 255 208 311 85 85 76 52 69 glass 293 266 251 180 303 white goods 263 250 239 246 225 Christmas trees 262 245 244 253 262 C&D materials 66 60 65 51 48 Transfer Stations agricultural chemical 23 22 23 15 10 containers With fewer, more regional-sized landfills in the state and a electronics 20 27 40 12 76 wide array of solid waste collection programs, solid waste Household transfer stations continue to be a popular method of streamlining solid waste collection services. Transfer stations are especially effective when collection routes are farther than 50 miles from a landfill. Combining several Hazardous Waste paint 19 21 24 42 29 cleaning products 6 8 10 0 2 pesticides 4 3 7 4 4 conventional rear-loader garbage truck loads into a single other 12 25 21 19 12 tractor-trailer for the trip to the landfill saves fuel costs, vehicle wear and tear, and means fewer trucks can service more customers. Only 20 cities reported that they or their n/a: Question not asked on that year's survey *Prior to the 2000 survey, DCA did not separate #1 and #2 plastics in its survey. contractors used transfer stations for the collection or disposal of residential waste in FY 1995. By FY 2005, 157 cities or their contractors were using transfer stations to manage residential waste. Use of Solid Waste Transfer Stations FY 2001 - 2005 City County 2001 142 63 2002 143 67 2003 146 70 2004 153 70 2005 157 72 C - 4 Solid Waste & Recycling Collection 2006 Update Georgia banned yard trimmings from lined Yard Trimmings Management Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) landfills in 1996, as part of an effort to extend landfill disposal capacity. Effective Sept. 1, 1996, each city, county and solid waste management authority was required to impose restrictions on yard Promote Home Composting and Beneficial Reuse FY 2003 - 2005 2003 City County 2004 City County 55 41 24 27 2005 City County 25 25 trimmings generated in or disposed within their jurisdiction. The restrictions required that yard Provide for collection and disposal 355 93 365 57 258 33 trimmings: Not be placed in or mixed with municipal solid waste; Not available Collection 133 61 137 86 178 96 Be sorted and stored for collection to facilitate composting or other handling; Your government Another government Solid Waste Authority 253 67 308 54 242 76 18 16 18 12 17 22 11 7 7 6 8 11 To the maximum extent feasible be Private vendor via individual 7 20 8 20 11 24 sorted, stockpiled or chipped for composting subscription or used as a mulch or for other beneficial Private vendor via government contract 30 10 19 12 35 11 purposes; Collection Options Be banned from disposal at MSW Staffed drop-off facilities 17 41 16 23 16 32 disposal facilities having liners and leachate Unstaffed drop-off facilities Curbside collection 10 276 6 16 9 220 6 15 10 240 8 16 collection systems; Accepted at landfill/transfer 35 50 19 39 21 44 Annually, DCA surveys local governments to determine how they collect, process and use station Other 13 10 8 6 8 6 yard trimmings generated within their Processing Methods communities. During FY 2005, 25 cities and 25 counties reported actively promoting waste minimization practices such as home composting or beneficial reuse of yard Composting Solid waste landfill Inert landfill 46 11 46 12 48 18 40 8 35 8 22 8 91 46 177 94 154 92 trimmings. During FY 2005, 258 cities and 33 Grind/chip into mulch 173 55 177 55 183 76 counties reported collecting yard trimmings Own a chipper/shredder 132 23 146 20 143 29 for diversion from MSW landfills. While the total number of local governments Contract out chipping/shredding Use another local 39 28 35 33 31 33 19 5 17 9 18 9 responding to the survey is about the same in FY03 and FY05, the number of local government's chipper/shredder Burning 30 3 24 0 24 4 governments reporting they collect materials is significantly lower in FY05. Those that did report that the service was available Other Beneficial Use 23 8 0 0 23 6 indicated that they provided the collection Give away 171 49 180 56 178 68 services with just a few indicating they Sell contracted with a private vendor to collect 8 9 8 7 8 8 yard trimmings. In many areas, especially Used by local government 92 29 112 26 97 41 urban and suburban communities, the visible Becomes property of private contractor result of the yard trimmings ban has been the 12 8 39 13 39 15 presence of large paper bags of leaves and grass at curbsides. Collection of yard trimmings in paper bags enables them to be ground into a mulch or feedstock for composting. The majority of local governments who reported collecting yard trimmings, either ground or shredded the collected material for use as mulch, however 246 local governments reported disposing the collected materials into an inert landfill. Composting and burning were also reported as common processing methods Yard trimmings, when processed properly, have numerous beneficial uses in a community. The use of compost and mulch is extremely beneficial for slowing storm-water runoff and retaining moisture around plants. Many local governments use processed yard trimmings as mulch for their landscaping and civil engineering applications or report offering the processed yard trimmings to their citizens for residential landscaping. C - 5