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
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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500,000
1,000,000
1,500,000
2,000,000
2,500,000
3,000,000
3,500,000
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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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20,000
40,000
60,000
80,000
100,000
120,000
140,000
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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2012 2015 2025 2030
Residential Recycling %
Commercial & Institutional Recycling %
Diversion from Landfill %