Presentation to: City of Saginaw City Council July 15, :30 pm Monica Duebbert MMWA General Manager

 Mid Michigan Waste Authority is a government service  Formed in 1991 by 12 municipalities (including the City of Saginaw)  Solid waste services began in 1995  Achieve better pricing/more services by creating cooperative group of communities  Now serve 35 municipalities equates to app. 99% of county population plus three townships in Gratiot County (204,000 pop}

Provide a quality, cost- effective, environmentally sound, integrated solid waste system for our members

Albee Township Jonesfield Township Bethany TownshipKochville Township Birch Run - Village Lakefield Township Birch Run Township Maple Grove Township Blumfield Township Marion Township Brady Township Merrill - Village Brant Township Richland Township Breckenridge – VillageSaginaw - City Bridgeport Township Saginaw Township Buena Vista Township St. Charles - Village Carrollton Township St. Charles Township Chapin TownshipSpaulding Township Chesaning - Village Swan Creek Township Chesaning Township Thomas Township Frankenmuth - City Tittabawassee Twp Frankenmuth Township Wheeler Township Fremont Township Zilwaukee - City James Township

 MMWA membership is diverse: Inner city Urban Suburban Rural Agri-rural

 The mixture of population density and economic characteristics impact a variety of solid waste system issues: type of services needed/wanted collection efficiencies public education tools available resident interest in sw alternatives available funding for sw management

 Long term contracts keep costs lower as vendors have longer assured time of service and/or material stream  Long term membership allows members multi- year budget planning for sw services  Access to problem material programs that would not be available individually  Demonstrated expertise in developing and advancing the solid waste services system for members

 Size and density allow for purchasing power with service vendors  Established relationships with vendors ensures quality service provision  Monetary savings in staff salary, hiring, training, benefits  Ability to offer integrated, up-to-date residential solid waste management services

 Municipal Member Services Offer a menu of residential curbside solid waste services for municipal members Cover residential households single family housing up to quadplexes Recycling offered by all 35 MMWA members Also offer separate programming for other problem wastes Household Special Wastes disposal events Electronic waste recycling events Prescription disposal at HSW events

 Trash collection and disposal (2 levels) Standard manual 33 gallon bags/can service 96 wheeled curbcart service  Recycling collection and disposal (2 levels) weekly bi-weekly  Yard Waste collection and composting

What’s Next for the Region’s Solid Waste System?

 MMWA’s current solid waste services contracts sunset at the end of 2014  Working to develop service agreements for 2015 and beyond  Researched current, available methods, trends and technologies for the waste services offered membership: residential solid waste collection waste disposal recyclables processing yard waste composting

 Two methods of trash collection service exist under the current agreement: standard unlimited manual collection 95-gal curbcart  All 35 MMWA members selected standard, manual curbside collection of all solid waste material streams  Recyclables and yard waste are also collected manually

 The service standard for manual collection programs is the same across the nation: 33 gallon/50 lb weight maximum for trash containers 18 gallon recycling bins for manual recycling collection service  MMWA program is more expansive, allowing 2 bulkies and a bundle of brush with weekly trash

 Manual service has limitations on the size and weight of the cans, bags and bins used for materials In place to minimize the potential for injury to collection workers  Top resident complaints on curbside program all revolve around unintended side consequences of manual service : small, light cans and lids (max 33 gal) blow and break easily (from wind, passing cars, etc)  Residents often seek larger cans to avoid these issues Those cans are tagged as oversized and not serviced

 Requires between 28 and 47 trucks a day to service MMWA member residents  Provide collection services 5 days a week in between 5 and 11 communities a day  Waste collection services proved to more than 750,000 service points/month

Trash Wastestream

 Curbcart collection is used for a variety of solid waste materials collection across communities of all sizes  Using curbcarts for several MMWA member residential solid waste material streams offers a number of advantages over manual collection

 Removes workers’ back, shoulders and most hand use from service provision  Adds to ease of use for collection workers getting materials on the truck  Wheeled, lidded cart easy for resident and workers to use/maneuver

 MMWA already has pricing for curbcart trash collection service selection Pricing is cheaper than manual service or no increase in 3 of 6 MMWA service zones  Carts leased through vendor with repair/replace warranty  Reduces truck traffic; collection efficiencies mean fewer trucks/routes needed in larger communities  Eliminates residents need to buy and replace garbage cans

 MMWA current collection agreement offers pricing for optional curbcart trash collection service  Pricing cheaper than manual service or no increase in 3 of 6 zones: Zone 1 & City Zone = decrease $0.10/hshld/month Zone 2= same price / no increase Zone 3 & Zone 4= increase$0.42/hshld/month Zone 5= increase$0.62/hshld/month

 Same cart(s) for all community residents and all members  Eliminates most current program complaint issues: 33 Gal Can IssueW/ Curbcart Can blew/thrownCurbcart sturdy, very wind resistant Lid blew/goneLid securely attached to cart Can brokenVendor cart repair/replace program Stickered as oversizedCurbcart size(s) same for all residents  Curbcart damage covered under lease with repair/replace provision  More uniform look at the curb in community, improving community aesthetics

 The more bin capacity provided residents for recyclables, the more likely they will participate in recycling  By having a limit on how much trash will go in a curbcart, recycling becomes a more attractive option  If using a curbcart for recycling also, increases capacity and municipal support of recycling as a mainstream waste mgmt option

Recyclables Wastestream

 Moving to curbcart for recyclables can significantly increase recycling diversion rates  Recycling is further incentivized when communities offer curbcart service for the recyclables stream, in combo with single-stream collection/processing High diversion + low contamination = single stream recycling collection + larger recycling containers

 Many of the benefits of using curbcarts for trash collection are also pluses for using curbcarts for the recyclables stream: Ease of use for resident and worker; no bending Carts leased through vendor with 10 year repair/replace warranty Reduces truck traffic; faster collection efficiencies mean fewer trucks/routes needed Eliminates most current program complaint issues: Bin too small Paper blows out of recycling bin

 Single stream recycling collection allows residents to put all recyclables in one container; no sorting  Expanded recyclables collection would allow residents to curbside recycle plastics #3 - #7  Larger size container allows more/easier recycling without more bins needed  Eliminates residents need to buy and replace standard 18 gallon recycling

 Curbcart programs work well in towns of all sizes  Large increases in recycling rate have been seen with the combo of large cart/single stream recycling  MMWA nearby neighbors, Bangor Twp and Monitor Twp, both have had curbcart trash collection for years; no resident issues reported  Several downstate authority members moved to curbcart for trash and recycling high residential satisfaction and huge increase in diversion from landfill (40%+)

 Several RRRASOC communities moved to single-stream recycling with 65 gallon carts in mid % increase in recyclables diversion over first six months  Alton, IL, similar in size and characteristics to Saginaw went to single stream recycling with curbcart 100% increase in recycling diversion (6% to 12%) in first year/2012

Timeline for Developing a New Collection Services Agreement

 MMWA Board of Trustees will be provided additional information on curbcart collection services and narrow down possible collection service option scenarios  Member community informational presentations on curbcart collection will continue

 Type of collection method on which to get pricing : Manual only Curbcart only Mix of curbcart and manual  Wastestream(s) to curbcart: Trash Recyclables Both trash and recyclables

 If curbcart service(s) will be offered members: Size of cart / carts Developing a multiple cart size plan for selected wastestreams would allow members to have additional flexibility in the service levels they have to choose Allow/offer multiple cart sizes across members and within a community Number of carts allowed per household Available styles/colors of carts

 Select colors for curbcarts one color for all trash carts across members (tan or grey) one color for all recycling carts across members (green)  Recyclables processing method Continue dual stream collection and sorting Requires residents to sort fiber & hard containers separately Switch to singe stream collection and sorting and expand allowed recyclables No resident sorting needed Add in plastics # 3 through #7

 MMWA trustees determine what collection services options they want to include in request for proposals Staff will develop RFP and release by end of 2013  RFP will likely request pricing on several options: Standard trash collection service Standard trash and recyclables collection services Curbcart service for multiple cart sizes and multiple wastestreams (trash and recycling) Pricing tiered within each zone for percentage of participating members

Looking to award contract in early 2014:  Allows members to select which services and cart sizes they want to offer their community based on vendor pricing received  Allows collection vendor to establish truck depot, if needed  Collection vendor has time to develop capital needed to make truck equipment modifications for curbcart service

 Collection vendor must purchase anywhere from 50k to 150k curbcarts Need multiple months to deliver selected curbcarts to applicable members housecount MMWA will develop a public education campaign detailing the 2015 sw curbside program Need to develop methods for distributing information to all 72,000+ MMWA member households

Contact info: Mid Michigan Waste Authority