Resolution 21-003 amends solid waste plan to adopt CROP CITY OF SPOKANE VALLEY
SPOKANE COUNTY,WASHINGTON
RESOLUTION NO. 21-003
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF SPOKANE VALLEY, SPOKANE COUNTY,
WASHINGTON, AMENDING THE CITY OF SPOICANE VALLEY SOLID WASTE
MANAGEMENT PLAN TO ADOPT A CONTAMINATION REDUCTION AND
OUTREACH PLAN(CROP),AND OTHER MATTERS RELATING TFIERETO.
WHEREAS, City Council (Council) adopted the Spokane Valley Solid Waste Management Plan
(SWAP) pursuant to Resolution No. 14-011 on November 4, 2014; and
WHEREAS, for decades, China was the world's largest importer of raw recyclables for recycling,
including recyclables from Washington State. In 2018, in order to reduce the contamination being received
as part of the recyclables, China instituted a maximum allowed contamination rate for this incoming
material of 0.5%that effectively eliminated China as a recyclable market for recyclables from Washington
State; and
WHEREAS,pursuant to RCW 70A.205.070(4),the City has identified a list of accepted recyclable
materials in Table 4-2 of its SWMP; and
WHEREAS, the contamination rate of Spokane Valley's recyclables is approximately 10% (as
measured at Waste Management's Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) in Spokane known as the SMaRT
Center); and other jurisdictions in Washington have similar or higher contamination rates; and
WHEREAS, negative impacts of this contamination include, but are not limited to customer
confusion and frustration due to the contaminated material not being collected, increased cost and reduced
efficiency in transporting and processing the material,and reduced value and marketability of the processed
recyclables; and
WHEREAS, in response to the loss of the China market,in 2019,the Washington State legislature
passed Engrossed Second Substitute House Bill 1543 (ESSHB 1543) (now codified as chapter 70A.240
RCW and RCW 70A.205.045). Among the various amendments,ESSHB 1543 requires most counties and
some cities, including Spokane Valley,to include a Contamination Reduction and Outreach Plan (CROP)
in their SWMP by July 1, 2021; and
WHEREAS, the CROP is a plan to address and reduce the contamination found in a jurisdiction's
recyclables coming from the generator of the recyclables; and
WHEREAS, the Council hereby finds that the adoption and implementation of the CROP is in the
best interest of the public health, safety,welfare and environment for the City and its residents.
NOW THEREFORE, be it resolved by the City Council of the City of Spokane Valley, Spokane
County, Washington,as follows:
Section 1. Amendment of SWMP to adopt CROP. The Council hereby adopts the CROP and
further amends the SWMP to incorporate the CROP in substantially the form as set forth in Attachment
"A"to this Resolution.
Section 2. Effective Date. This Resolution shall be in full force and effect as of the date of
its adoption.
Resolution No. 21-003 Adopting the CROP Page 1 of 2
Adopted this 22nd day of June, 2021.
ATTEST: CITY OF SPOKANE VALLEY
..... 6 L2P
Christine Bainbridge, City Clerk Ben Wick,Mayor
Approved as to form:
7
I- ,_ ri,va/e.
Office o e Ci ttorney
Resolution No.21-003 Adopting the CROP Page 2 of 2
Resolution No. 21-003, Attachment "A":
Final CROP including Ecology's recommended edits
CHAPTER 4
RECYCLING AND ORGANICS COLLECTION
4.7 Appended — CONTAMINATION REDUCTION AND OUTREACH PLAN
( CROP)
The Contamination Reduction and Outreach Plan (CROP) is a plan to address and
reduce the contamination found in Spokane Valley's recyclables. The plan presented
below is intended to meet the requirements of RCW 70A.205.045(10). Subsequent to
this CROP's adoption, the City will embark on the update of its Solid Waste
Management Plan(SWMP) during which a further development of contamination
reduction activities will be explored.
Background
Recycling is the act of turning selected items of solid waste into new, useable products.
For decades, China was the world's largest importer of raw recyclables for recycling.
However, up to 30% of the material being imported as "recyclable" was actually
garbage (contamination) and sometimes even included hazardous waste. China
ultimately determined they would no longer accept what they called yang laji (foreign
trash) and progressively set up very restrictive import criteria that in 2018 effectively
stopped shipments of recyclables from the United States to China.
This loss of one of the primary recyclable markets created a crisis. In response, in 2019,
the Washington State legislature passed Engrossed Second Substitute House Bill 1543
(ESSHB 1543) (now codified as chapter 70A.240 RCW and RCW 70A.205.045). Among
the various amendments, ESSHB 1543 requires most counties and some cities in the
state to include a CROP in their Solid Waste Management Plan (SWMP) by July 1, 2021.
Spokane Valley is one of those cities.
The required contents of a CROP are specified in RCW 70A.205.045(10) and are
provided below.
Recycling Definition and Benefits
RCW 70A.205,015(18) provides "Recycling" means transforming or remanufacturing waste
materials into usable or marketable materials for use other than landfill disposal or incineration.
Benefits of recycling include:
Spokane Valley Solid Waste Management Plan 4-13 Chapter 4: Recycling and Organics Collection
• Recycling reduces greenhouse gas emissions, conserves energy and landfill space, provides
jobs and valuable feedstock materials to industry, promotes health, and protects the
environment.
• Washington's environment and economy will benefit from expanding the number of
industries that process recycled materials and use recycled feedstocks in their manufacturing.
RCW 70A.240.010.
Recycling Services in Spokane Valley
RCW 70A.205.010 states "It is the intent of the legislature that local governments be
encouraged to use the expertise of private industry and to contract with private industry to the
fullest extent possible to carry out solid waste recovery and/or recycling programs."Consistent
with this, Spokane Valley handles its recycling services through four contracts with
private industry which are:
• One collection contract with Waste Management (WM) which includes collecting
recyclables from single-family residences, Multifamily Complex residences and
commercial establishments. Residential recycling collection is bundled with their
garbage collection. The contract term commenced April 1, 2018, and expires March
31, 2028 with two options for renewal.
• Two drop-box contracts - one with Waste Management and one with Sunshine
Recyclers - which include collecting recyclables from subscribing Multifamily
Complex Customers that utilize Drop-box Container Garbage service. Both contract
terms commenced April 1, 2018, and expire March 31, 2028 with two options for
renewal.
• One disposal contract with Sunshine Recyclers where, at the University Road
transfer station, source-separated recyclables are accepted at no charge from the
public. The contract term commenced June 4, 2014, and expires December 31, 2024
with two options for renewal.
Each contract is for an initial ten-year term during which the Contractor is responsible
for handling all operations and meeting all City, State and Federal requirements.
Subscription to solid waste collection is voluntary in the City. The recycling collection
method in the City is single stream where the recyclables are separated from the rest of
the solid waste at the generator (house, apartment, business, etc.) and are placed in a
single container. Residential collection containers are 96-gallon (default, other sizes
available) carts placed at curbside. Multifamily Complex and commercial containers
are primarily detachable containers (1 to 8 cubic yard capacity) or drop-boxes (10 or
more cubic yard capacity) placed within the property.
Alternatively, source-separated recyclables can be taken to the University Road transfer
station.
Spokane Valley Solid Waste Management Plan 4-14 Chapter 4:Recycling and Organics Collection
The contracts require the contractor to collect and recycle the recyclables but do not
specify where they are to be taken for recycling. Currently,both contractors take the
collected recyclables to Waste Management's 62,000-square-foot Materials Recovery
Facility (MRF) in Spokane,known as the Spokane Materials and Recycling Technology
(SMaRT) Center, where they are sorted, baled and sent out to the markets.
Recycling Contamination
RCW 70A.205.070(4)(b) states Contamination means any material not included on the local
jurisdiction's acceptance list. The City has identified a list of recyclable materials as part
of the SWMP (see SWMP, Table 4-2). Items not on that list constitute "contamination"
for purposes of recycling and this CROP. Further, listed items may constitute
contamination if they are too wet or dirty for processing, or if they are broken such that
they cannot be separated from other types of recyclables. For example, glass is
currently a listed recyclable, but if it breaks, the glass shards may contaminate other
recyclables such as cardboard and plastic.
Lists of materials that should be in the recycling container can also be found at the
websites of Waste Management (http://www.wmnorthwest.com/spokanevalley/) and
Sunshine Disposal (https://sunshinedisposal.com/).
Some other impacts of contamination include:
• Creates unsafe working conditions.
• Reduces the efficiency and increases the cost and effort of processing recyclables
(which may eventually increase collection costs) as the contamination has to be
picked out of the desired material and disposed. This goes against the State's goal
that Steps should be taken to make recycling at least as affordable and convenient to the
ratepayer as mixed waste disposal (RCW 70A.205.005(11)).
• Good, useable recyclable material could end up not being marketable and also could
get disposed as garbage.
• Contamination that is missed ends up in the material that manufacturers buy, thus
reducing the recyclable's value and marketability.
At the SMaRT center the bulk of the material received is from single-stream collection
where the process is mostly automated and so catching incoming contamination is
difficult unless it is obvious. Here, contamination makes up about 10% by weight of the
collected recyclables. At the University Road transfer station catching incoming
contamination is easier because the recyclables are presorted by the customer, dropped
into open bins where the contamination is readily spotted and the area is monitored by
staff. At the transfer station contamination is less than 2% by weight.
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Though contamination can come from several sources, per the state CROP the focus of
this CROP is addressing contamination that occurs at the generator. Main causes of
contamination here are:
• Confusion over what should be recycled,
• Desire to not add more to the landfill so if the waste appears to have any value then
it is put into the recycle container,
• Items that the generator feels could have some recycle-value are placed into the
recycle container in hope that someone will figure out how to recycle it, and,
• The rare person who purposely uses the recycle container as a second garbage can to
save cost on their garbage bill.
CROP Contents
A recycling contamination reduction and outreach plan must include the five elements
listed in RCW 70A.205.045(10)(a-e), which are listed below.
The City's fulfillment of the CROP's requested information is found within the scope of
the contracts mentioned above and in the details of the Contractor's daily operations.
Information provided below was obtained from pertinent portions of our contracts and
requesting data and operational information from our contractors.
1) RCW 70A.205.045(10)(a)A list of actions for reducing contamination in recycling
programs for single-family and multiple family residences, conzmercial locations, and drop
boxes depending on the jurisdictions system components;
Within each of the four solid waste contracts mentioned above are effective actions
currently being employed by the contractors on behalf of the City to address and reduce
recycling contamination. In general, the actions include proactive education and
outreach coupled with looking for and addressing occurrences of contamination when
it is found. Addressing contamination involves alerting the customer either in person or
by not collecting the container and leaving an educational tag on the container so the
contamination can be removed and service resumed. Current contracted actions are
provided below.
Collection (WM) and Drop-box contracts (WM &Sunshine)
When collecting recyclables, a container with visually obvious contaminants shall not
be collected, and the container shall be left with either (1) a prominently displayed
written notification tag or (2) with the contractor contacting the customer directly.
Either way, the customer shall learn the specific problem(s) and reasons for the rejection
and that the customer may either remove the contaminated materials to meet the
standards for recyclables or if the contaminated materials are not removed, the
container shall be collected on the next regular collection cycle as garbage.
Spokane Valley Solid Waste Management Plan 4-16 Chapter 4: Recycling and Organics Collection
For multifamily complexes, the contractor and City shall jointly develop a protocol to
address multifamily complex recycling contamination issues. The protocol shall address
thresholds for when contamination levels trigger customer contact, when to put a
customer on" probation" for possible discontinued collection, when to suspend
collection service and remove the subject container, and finally, procedures to allow a
customer to resume service after it has been suspended due to contamination. The
contractor shall implement the protocol consistently for all multifamily customers and
shall notify the City via e-mail of any customer being handled under the protocol.
Note - a specific protocol has not yet been developed but the contractors do contact
multifamily complex managers when contamination is found and discuss solutions
with them. The contractors then discuss with the City unusual or difficult situations
encountered and how they were resolved.
Concerning recycling promotion and education,for recyclables collected in carts or
detachable containers the contractor shall provide annual service-oriented information
and outreach to customers, distribution of City-developed promotional and educational
pieces and implementation of on-going recycling promotions, education, and outreach
programs. Also, the contractor shall contact the manager or owner of multifamily
complex sites to encourage recycling participation, address concerns, space or
contamination problems and provide outreach to residents.
Also, as part of their collection contract operations, Waste Management provides the
following resources and actions:
• Cart Decals: all recycle containers/carts are identified with a list of proper
recyclables, a telephone number and a website to obtain more information.
• Annual Service Guide: every residential customer receives a direct mail annual
service guide with recycling preparation instructions.
• Website: www.wmnorthwest.com/spokanevalley is an excellent resource for
customers to find information about recycling and contamination reduction.
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thinkgreenspokanevalley/ is used to update
customers on how to recycle right.
• Email: recycleinlandnw@wm.com was created for customers to ask recycling
questions and get answers tailored to Spokane Valley's program.
• Oops Tags: WM drivers use Oops tags to notify customers when they have placed
the wrong items in a recycling cart.
For the drop-box contracts, the contractor shall contact the manager or owner of
multifamily complex sites to which it provides drop-box container service to encourage
recycling participation, address concerns, space or contamination problems and provide
outreach to residents.
Spokane Valley Solid Waste Management Plan 4-17 Chapter 4: Recycling and Organics Collection
As part of their drop-box operations, Waste Management and Sunshine provide the
following resources and actions:
• WM provides durable bags for Multifamily Complex residents to collect and store
their recyclable inside until they are ready to be emptied in the outdoor recycling
containers. The bags include the list of recyclables and preparation instructions.
• Sunshine provides for Multifamily Complex residents educational brochures, call
center assistance and website access.
Disposal Contract:(Sunshine)
Recyclables brought to the transfer station are source-separated out by the generator
and the contractor inspects all recyclables.
Contractor shall ensure a sufficient number of employees shall be provided, on hand
and working at all times so as to handle and process recyclables and to assist self
haulers with the proper unloading of solid waste.
It is the responsibility of the spotter/ screener to educate and assist customers with
recycling and to make sure all customers are disposing of items that the contractor can
legally accept. In the event that an item cannot be disposed, the onsite manager will be
contacted to discuss this issue with the customer.
Concerning education and outreach, contractor shall work with City to assist it in
providing ongoing education and outreach on recycling options,which may include
providing materials and outreach visits to schools within the City,brochures, and
material on the website.
As part of their operations,Sunshine provides the following resources and actions at
the transfer station:
• Staff available to answer questions;
• Public informational brochures available that explain what recyclables are accepted
and how they need to be prepared;
• Website informational access;
• Call Center assistance; and;
• The recycling drop-off area is under supervision during operation hours thus
minimizing contamination issues.
2) RCVV7OA.205.045(1O)(b)A list of key contaminants identified by the jurisdiction or
identified by the department;
Some of the main contaminants observed at the SMaRT center include:
• Plastic bags and film (clog the machinery),
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• Bagged recyclables (which makes the material difficult to separate),
• Plastic cups,
• Polystyrene (includes Styrofoam containers and cups),
• Tangiers -hoses, wire, Christmas lights, tire chains,
• Dirty diapers,
• Miscellaneous household items (clothes, small appliances, etc.),
• Medical waste,
• Containers partially filled with food or liquids,
• Garage waste (batteries, paint,liquids, etc.), and,
• Hazardous waste- propane tanks, car batteries, liquids.
3) RCW 70A.205.045(10)(c) A discussion of problem contaminants and the contaminants'
impact on the collection system;
The contaminants mentioned above cause many problems:
• At the customer's site,the contaminated recycling container may not be collected
and the customer must remove the contaminants. This can create confusion and
frustration for the customer which may result in reduced participation in recycling.
• Contaminants add weight and volume to the load which can add cost to
transporting the materials.
• At the SMaRT Center contamination causes:
o Sorting lines to be slower and less efficient;
o More personnel needed for hand sorting;
o Downtime and safety issues as plastic bags and film that are wrap around the
sorting equipment have to be cut out;
o Bagged recyclables to be disposed as garbage adding cost;
o Some entire loads to be ruined by motor oil and other liquids;
o Reduced marketability and possibility of closing the door to some markets that
require cleaner material; and
o Mills to reject whole loads of material due to contaminants found in baled
recyclables.
• At the transfer station, the bin for receiving plastics sometimes gets so contaminated
with non-desirable plastics that the contents end up having to be disposed as
garbage adding time and cost. Also, due to the ongoing possibility of
contamination, the incoming material has to be inspected and contamination
removed which also adds time and expense.
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4) RCW 70A,205.045(10)(d)An analysis of the costs and other impacts associated with
contaminants to the recycling system;
According to The Recycling Partnership, the greatest costs associated with managing a
contaminated recycling stream at MRFs nationally come from the following and
represent 80% of total contamination-related costs:
• 40% for disposal of residuals,
• 26% in value lost from contaminated recyclables, and,
• 14% in labor to remove contamination from sorting equipment, etc.
• Contaminants also cause marketable recyclables to be disposed as garbage resulting
in the loss of good material for manufacturing, more material unnecessarily placed
in landfills and more raw materials needing to be used for manufacturing.
• Costs of servicing properties may increase as the customer has to pay for disposal of
contaminants on top of the cost of recycling.
• The public becomes frustrated and disillusioned with recycling.
• At the SMaRT center,WM has implemented additional processing measures to
attempt to reduce contamination. These measures have resulted in an increase of
processing costs of approximately $50 per ton.
• Contamination reduces:
o The number of markets desiring the material,
o The marketability of the processed material within receptive markets, and,
o The price manufacturers will pay for the material.
5) RCW 70A.205.045(10)(e) An implementation schedule and details of how outreach is to be
conducted. Contamination reduction education methods may include sharing community-
wide messaging through newsletters, articles, mailers, social media, web sites, or community
events, informing recycling drop box customers about contamination, and improving
signage.
The following CROP implementation schedule for outreach and education activities is
based on what is currently being performed. Except for special requests by the City, the
costs for these activities is covered under the current contract rates.
Year 1 - 2021
Continuously
• WM-Container Decals: placed on all recycle containers with a list of proper
recyclables, a telephone number and a website to obtain more information.
• WM Email &Text: Customers may opt in to receive email or text notices related to
contamination or other service related information.
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• WM website: www.wmnorthwest.com/spokanevalley is a comprehensive resource
for customers to find information about recycling and contamination reduction.
Reviewed quarterly.
• WM Facebook: https://www.facebook.corn/thinkgreenspokanevalley/ is used to
update customers on how to recycle right. Weekly posts on relevant topics.
• WM Email: recycleinclandnew@wm.com was created for customers to ask the hard
recycling questions and get answers tailored to Spokane Valley's program. Response
daily Monday through Friday.
• WM-Email: pnwrsservices@wm.com- customer service available Monday through
Friday, 7-6 and Saturday 9-1.
• WM-Recycle by mail:
https://www.thinkgreenfromhome.com/ThinkGreenFromHome.cfm
• At the transfer station- provide public informational brochures. Also, on the website
is information explaining what materials are acceptable at the transfer station and
how they are to be prepared.
• City website for recycling lists the benefits of recycling and provides links to WM
and Sunshine.
As needed
• WM and Sunshine - Oops Tags, direct contact then container rejection are used by
drivers to notify customers when they have placed the wrong items in a recycling
cart or drop-box. Often contamination is buried in the bottom of the container and
not seen until the container is emptied.
• WM and Sunshine for Multifamily Complexes -
o Contact the manager or owner of Multifamily Complex sites to encourage
recycling participation; address concerns, space or contamination problems;
provide outreach to residents and inform the manager or owner of all available
services and ways to decrease Garbage generation.
o WM provides durable bags for Multifamily Complex residents which include the
list of recyclables and preparation instructions.
a Sunshine provides for Multifamily Complex residents educational brochures, call
center assistance and website access.
• WM media releases: Recycling service media releases are produced as needed.
• At the transfer station, the spotter/screener educates and assists customers with
recycling.
• Sunshine provides materials and outreach visits to schools within the City, as well
as brochures, and material on their website.
• Direct citizens to spokanewastedirectory.org
Quarterly
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• Monitoring amount of residue handled at the SMaRT Center for discussion with
WM.
At events (as pandemic measures allow)
• WM participates in events providing literature about correct recycling practices and
also responds to citizen's questions.
Semi-annually
• City magazine: in the city's semi-annual magazine - Spokane Valley View- is a
section dedicated to solid waste news. Occasionally articles about recycling and
how to prevent its contamination are featured.
Annually
• The Contractor provides annual service-oriented information and outreach to
Customers
• In winter- WM Annual Service Guide: Every residential customer receives by direct
mail an annual service guide with pictures of acceptable recyclables and recycling
preparation instructions.
• Sunshine Recyclers - updates of public informational brochures and website
information.
Year 2- 2022
Activities to be performed continuously, as needed, quarterly, at events, semi-annually,
and annually in Year 2 are the same as those in Year 1. See Year 1 for details.
Solid Waste Management Plan (SWMP) revision
As part of the SWMP revision, evaluate and update the CROP details which may
include:
• Updating the acceptable recyclables list to include those materials that:
o Can be efficiently processed at the SMaRT Center (which is the current
destination of collected recyclables),
o Have a solid, relatively stable market, and,
o Correspond with those materials in the lists of other local jurisdictions (creating a
coordinated list throughout the region which will reduce confusion),
• Developing and implementing steps to reduce contamination at the curb such as:
o Utilize recommendations presented in the Recycling Partnership's 2020 State of
Curbside Recycling report: "The Recycling Partnership endorses complementary
strategies for educating residents as close to the recycling behavior as possible
with direct feedback to improve material quality in a recycling program.
Residential education alone is not enough to tackle contamination at the curb;
curbside feedback through the use of cart inspection and tagging is crucial for
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reinforcing good recycling behaviors and informing residents about what they
are doing wrong and right when recycling."
• Based on this recommendation,pursue a lid-lift container inspection program
which has been shown to be more effective than simply tagging carts with
recycle-right messaging. With this program provide:
- Cart tags that give direct feedback by identifying specific contaminants
found in the container, and,
- Rewards to subscribers with consistently clean recyclables.
o Including cart removal as an option for repeat contamination offenders and have
the cart only be returned after the subscriber successfully completes relevant
training.
• Messaging--
o As messaging tends to be forgotten and thus needs to be reinforced, make the
education and outreach activities continuous with fresh information delivered to
subscribers in each route every 6 months.
o Ensure recycling messages are simple and multi-lingual.
• Regular reporting of contamination instances, how they are addressed and their
outcomes to document that all contamination-reduction activities are being
regularly utilized and to evaluate their level of effectiveness.
• Separating out recycling costs in the billing to make it visible to customers so they
realize recycling is not free. Alternatively, have recycling subscriptions be
independent of garbage subscriptions so only those who really want to recycle and
appreciate it will subscribe.
• Evaluating pros and cons of different collection systems.
• Glass recycling- study the pros, cons, opportunities and constraints of glass
recycling both locally and regionally and determine whether to continue glass
collection.
Year 3 - 2023
Activities to be performed continuously, as needed, quarterly, at events, semi-annually,
and annually in Year 3 are proposed to be the same as those in Year 1. See Year 1 for
details. Note -the specific activities may change as a result of the 2022 CROP update in
the SWMP revision.
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