2013 Municipal Waste Management Association Fall Summit

Best Practices in Voluntary Product Stewardship: Carton Recycling & Beyond

Phil Bresee, Recycling Director, City of Philadelphia October 14, 2013

About Philadelphia… • Founded 1682 by William Penn • Fifth-largest City in U.S. with

1.55 million residents • Metro area = ~6 million • Healthcare, financial services,

tourism, refining, IT based economy (transitioning from manufacturing).

• Renowned higher education system

• “Global” city, rich in history, arts, culture, professional sports, etc.

Solid Waste Management in Philadelphia

Recycled

1,364,255 50%

WTE 640,743

23%

Landfilled 724,010

27%

• 2.7 million tons + of solid waste generated in 2012.

– Residential = 25%

– Commercial/Institutional = 75%

• C&D debris included (~500K tons)

• ~50% of all (residential + commercial) solid waste recycled in 2012.

Solid Waste Management Trends in Philadelphia

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Recycled & Composted 1,221,029 1,025,394 1,175,842 1,493,955 1,396,987 1,364,255

Disposed 1,964,247 1,771,033 1,495,412 1,437,419 1,443,037 1,351,800

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Philadelphia MSW 2007-2012

Key Recycling Requirements & Policy Goals

• PA Act 101 (1988): – Mandatory recycling for

municipalities with more than 5,000 persons.

– Includes commercial recycling requirements.

– Established 35% recycling goal.

• City ordinance requirements (10-700) includes commercial recycling (1994).

• Greenworks goals including 25% residential diversion rate and 70% landfill diversion rate.

Residential MSW in Philadelphia

• Department of Streets collects weekly from 523,000 HH – $95 million budget – 1,200 employees – 200+ trucks (100% run on bio-

diesel); 5 transfer sites – Street cleaning & litter can

collections – Special event collections – Anti-litter programs

• Recyclables = 123,000+ tons curbside for 2013

• Garbage = 497,000 tons for FY 2013

Photo courtesy of Peter Tobia

Commercial MSW in Philadelphia

• Commercial and institutional MSW stream of ~2 million tons

• Recycling mandated through PA Act 101 (City ordinance established 1994).

• Businesses must file recycling plan (on-line), contract for services, provide appropriate bins, etc. $300 per day fine for non-compliance.

• 50%+ commercial recycling rate although many gaps exist among small & medium sized businesses.

• Private sector innovation:

– C&D recycling

– Organics recycling

– Food waste

Recycling Rewards Program

• Philadelphia original Recyclebank pilot (2006).

• Program became City-wide 2010.

• ~190,000 households have signed up for the program.

• Outreach, events, and overall program visibility are key elements: – 2012 summer sweepstakes – Recycling bin distribution

events – America Recycles Day – Green Schools Project – U.S. Conference of Mayors

Award

Other Initiatives & Programs

• Public space recycling opportunities (920 Big-Belly sites).

• Recycling drop-off centers at sanitation yards accept other materials: – Electronics

– Household Hazardous Waste

• Public event recycling: – 85% recycling/composting

rate at 2012 Philadelphia Marathon

Recycling in Philadelphia: Vintage 1990’s to mid

2000’s

• Program much-maligned… • Funding support & staffing

issues. • Recycling coordinator

turnover. • Every-other week pickup,

limited materials. • Less than 40,000 tons per year

from curbside program. • Negative perceptions:

– Too much trouble – Unclear what was recyclable – Fines most effective motivator

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Recycling Revitalization Milestones in Philadelphia

Citywide single-stream

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2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Tons per-year of Residential Recyclables

Mayor Nutter elected

Plastics & OCC

Single-stream phase-in

City-wide single-stream

Weekly pickup

#3-7 plastics

Recyclebank goes city-wide

Cartons added…

Recyclebank pilot…

Moving the Recycling Needle…

• 2013 curbside recyclables capture rate of ~65% (and growing)

• Additional 30,000+ tons needed to reach Greenworks goal.

• Organics collection pose challenges.

• New program materials have to be targeted

Amount of remaining program recyclables shrinking…

Currently Recyclable

64,610 13%

Potentially Recyclable

(addtl. plastics, metals, cartons) 26,590

5% Organics 143,136

29%

Disposal & Problem Materials 262,665

53%

Kick-Starting Carton Recycling

• Program began late 2011

• Kick-off with press conference with Mayor Nutter, Carton Council, Recyclebank, etc.

• Extensive coverage in local media.

Kick-Starting Carton Recycling

• Carton Council partnered with City on outreach campaign buys.

– Flyers through direct mail (utility bills)

– Transit advertising (bus stops, subway, trains)

Future Recycling Initiatives & Challenges

• Waste stream is changing with less paper, more plastic, less glass, etc.

• City needs to consider additional materials to push residential diversion rates higher.

• Similar public-private partnerships likely to emerge.

• Leverage resources and use opportunity to promote entire recycling program.

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Residential Recycling %

Commercial & Institutional Recycling %

Diversion from Landfill %