Title
Resolution to Approve Contract Amendment Number 2 with WeCare Organics to Allow Expanded Food Composting ($14,950.00), Approve Selling Compost Carts for $25.00 and to Appropriate $64,550.00 from the Solid Waste Enterprise Fund Balance (8 Votes Required)
Memorandum
The City of Ann Arbor Solid Waste Resource Plan includes expanded food waste composting as a goal. As a first step towards implementing that goal, staff is proposing expansion of the existing seasonal composting collection program to include expanded food waste composting.
WeCare Organics, the City’s compost facility operator, will accept all residential plate scrapings, as allowed under Michigan Department of Environment regulations. Plate scrapings include meats and cooked or processed foods that are not currently accepted at the compost facility. To process this material, WeCare will need to grind and mix the material on a daily basis into the compost windrow piles. Currently, WeCare allows incoming material to stockpile, then periodically brings in a machine to grind the material before placing it in the windrows. Under the new process, WeCare will need to bring a machine to the site and operate it daily, which will entail a significant additional cost for the company.
Following City Council direction for implementation of the expanded food waste composting to be financially feasible for the City, WeCare has priced this service to be roughly equivalent to the City’s cost of transfer and disposal of refuse. The result is there will be no net additional cost to the City for the expanded food waste processing program. Currently, the City pays $25.90 per ton for transfer and disposal of refuse. In comparison, the City currently pays WeCare $18.00 per ton for processing compostable materials, for a difference of $7.90 per ton. WeCare is offering to process expanded food waste at the city’s compost site for $14,950.00 per calendar year. City staff estimates that the program will collect an ad...
Click here for full text