Title
Organics Pilots and Multi-Family Recycling Resolution
Memorandum
The attached resolution recommends that the Ann Arbor City Council direct the City Administrator to allocate $225,000 from the Solid Waste Fund to the 2016/17 Solid Waste operating budget to pilot a commercial food waste collection pilot program in the Downtown Development Authority (DDA), a pilot program in Ann Arbor Public Schools (AAPS), and non-recoverable food items from Food Gatherers; an aggressive education and outreach campaign for the DDA district; and continued outreach campaign for the existing multifamily housing recycling program; and recommends that the Ann Arbor City Council direct the City Administrator to increase the Solid Waste FY2017 expenditure budget by 1 FTE and appropriate $75,000 for additional administrative staffing support, funded by the Solid Waste Fund.
Staff
Prepared by Commissioner Skinner
Body
Whereas, There is a strong ethic of conservation and environmental stewardship among the residents of Ann Arbor;
Whereas, Ann Arbor residents put these values into practice, currently recycling and composting just under half of their solid waste each year;
Whereas, on December 17, 2012, the Ann Arbor City Council adopted the Ann Arbor Climate Action Plan, which promotes opportunities to create stronger, more effective recycling and composting programs;
Whereas, The Waste Less: Solid Waste Resource Plan adopted in October 2013 set goals of increasing single family diversion rates from 50% to 60% and total citywide diversion rates from 31% to 40% by 2017;
Whereas, City-wide diversion rates have remained stagnant for the past several years;
Whereas, Local studies have indicated that recovery rates in the multifamily sector can often be less than half of those in the single-family sector, which constitutes half of Ann Arbor’s housing stock;
Whereas, a 2012 waste sort conducted by the City of Ann Arbor found that over 40% of the material making its way to the landfill from Ann Arbor was comprised of potentially recoverable organic waste, much of it food and wood waste;
Whereas, The City of Ann Arbor spends hundreds of thousands of dollars each year to send unrecovered materials to a private landfill;
Whereas, Staffing in the City’s Solid Waste Department has steadily decreased from 5.0 FTE in 2002 to 1.0 FTE in 2016, leaving little support for innovation and program expansion;
Whereas, Meaningful increases in diversion rates will require a host of interrelated strategies in order to maximize the recovery of materials in a cost-effective and efficient manner;
Whereas, Such innovations include: commercial food waste collection pilot programs in the Downtown Development Authority (DDA), Ann Arbor Public Schools (AAPS), and non-recoverable food items from Food Gatherers; an aggressive education and outreach campaign for the DDA district; and continued outreach campaign for the existing multifamily housing recycling program;
Whereas, Such programs have widespread support from local businesses and potential participants;
Whereas, Ann Arbor City Council views minimization of waste and the conservation of natural resources to be a priority of the community, and therefore desires to create momentum to drive this agenda forward in a thoughtful manner; and
Whereas, the Solid Waste fund balance is just under $30 million, including over $14.2 million in unrestricted funds as of FY2014, and the Administrator’s proposed operating budget shows continuing annual surpluses that will further grow the Solid Waste enterprise fund;
RESOLVED, The Environmental Commission recommends that the Ann Arbor City Council direct the City Administrator to allocate $225,000 from the Solid Waste Fund to the 2016/17 Solid Waste operating budget to pilot a commercial food waste collection pilot program in the Downtown Development Authority (DDA), a pilot program in Ann Arbor Public Schools (AAPS), and non-recoverable food items from Food Gatherers; an aggressive education and outreach campaign for the DDA district; and continued outreach campaign for the existing multifamily housing recycling program; and
RESOLVED, The Environmental Commission recommends that the Ann Arbor City Council direct the City Administrator to increase the Solid Waste FY2017 expenditure budget by 1 FTE and appropriate $75,000 for additional administrative staffing support, funded by the Solid Waste Fund.