Live-Blogging: Miami Dade County Recycling Workshop

I’ll be live blogging this meeting now.

We are on a month to month contract with our provider right now – BFI. Ask that the commission extends the relationship with BFI until we continue the RFP (request for proposal?) process. I believe that he said that they would like to consider an every other week recycling curbside on Wednesdays.

The manager IS committed to having a curbside recycling program.

Currently weekly, dual-stream – meaning that the glass/cans are in a separate container than newspaper.

Speaker: Current program isn’t working. Can turn this around, develop a program to educate the public. Increase the amount of materials that are being recycled. Can do it better. Ask that the commission & manager to take a closer look. (Think asking that they use his company?) Talk about glass recycling could be cost effective.

Comm. Diaz: Wanted to hear from the industry that was out there. Cost per ton: $280 / ton is the cost to recycle. Regular garbage: $153/ ton. My problem: this program is too costly and not working. RFP is for curbside recycling only. Commissioner Diaz wanted to hear other venues that were outside of just curbside. Outside the box. I could’ve thought of that, "let’s get a bigger container and pick it up once a month" looking for something more creative. Want to keep recycling but make it more efficient.

Survey was done: would you be willing to bring your recycling to drop off at a central location. The survey showed that the residents wanted curbside and were willing to pay for it.

Comm. Sejias: I applaud those that want the service and are willing to pay for it. But I have concerns…

Survey of residents: 56% of respondents – would not support replacing curbside, 28% would support it. Total 408 respondents.

Comm. Diaz: How many said they were totally satisfied? From what I understand there was a lot of complaints. Not getting picked up. 251 missed pick ups beginning of 2006. Over 500 in August 2006.

Actual survey question: The cost of providing curbside recycling services is much greater than central drop off. Knowing this, would you support the change?

Diaz: Need to think of the future, of our employees. Goal was to hear different alternatives to our current system. I think that’s what this thing was about. Now we have an RFP on the street that’s not really covering what I’m looking for.

Roger Carlton, asst. County manager: points out a few areas in the RFP seeking alternative solutions.

Comm. Sorensor: Inefficient, ineffective program right now. However wholeheartedly support curbside recycling. Think we can do it a lot better than we are doing it now. Could be recycling yard waste, tires, styrofoam. Mr. Manager – get with our employees and our unions and get their ideas on how this could be improved. That might be the way to go…I think the community is clear on what they want. Even though it’s a small sample, if it’s statistically valid, it tends to work. We could become a leader instead of an embarassment as we are now.

Comm. Jordan: Like the idea of managed competition. I know you are proposing that the staff work the regular five days…The other issue is to have a pre-designated location for disposing and reuse.

Speaker, Richard Ellis: We’ve thought out options, don’t have all the answers….

Jordan: Would there be a separate education program that would be part of the managing department, or would it go with each of the separate industries.

Carlton: We have to improve education through the schools, handouts, television, whatever…to make sure we get our percentage up. We could do the program ourselves, or we could see what the industry brings us through the RFPs. No matter what comes back, we will have a solution because that’s an area that needs much improvement.

Jordan: If we decide we want to split the county for managed competition purposes…would we be able to do that or would we have to start the RFP over?

You’d have to start over. We didn’t plan on splitting it.

Solid Waste rep: Easier the process,more likely people will do it. Larger container (not as often) and one that rolls. Single container makes it easier. The processing plant separates it later.

Jordan: What about managed competition

Solid Waste: Challenges, during the hurricane you get into a big problem with administration. Everyone following same rules, turning in the right paperwork. Have to pay all of them. Some areas of the county participates more than other areas. How do you split it up fairly/evenly with the numbers being so different. It has been tried and used in other areas, such as Broward. It can work, it just has to be set up appropriately.

Comm. Gimenez: What is the participation right now? (Answer: 30%) When you look at the survey, 85% of the respondents said they do it every week. This is how people that use the program feel about it…but there are 70% of the people that don’t use the program at all. I think it’s better to do a phone survey. How much do we pay today for the recycling program. (Around $9 million / year….net, put out 10 million, get one million back.) In order to increase participation, you have to make it easier. I’m intrigued by separating at the processing plant. One way to do it at home would be garbage in one and recycling in another. Wednesday is recycle day…we can do something with that. I like every week. People get confused if it’s their week or not. I would rather have it every week. If we did that, could we get the employees back up? If we had employees doing it, would it be cheaper than what we are paying now?

Solid Waste union rep: Yes, I think it would be cheaper. *then there is talk about separate days for paper, etc…

Comm Gimenez: We don’t have to have separate pick ups or even separate bins – can break the paradigm.

Mngr.: It would cost money to build another MERF(?) to be able to handle a single stream (all recyclables together)…right now it requires that the paper is separate from the others.

Gimenez: Like commissioner Diaz, I would like to hear some more ideas that are "out of the box". Want an analysis of what gets recycled, what doesn’t get recycled. I liked the idea of crushing the glass and putting it back on the beach. What happens with paper?

Marketplace for paper and glass is very weak, market for metal is okay. Those markets go up and down. You don’t want to make a decision today regarding current market conditions.

Mike Adams, World Waste Services: I have seen this market evolve over the past 15 (?) years…there are new alternatives and new ways out there. I haven’t seen the RFP as it came out late last night. Collection is collection, but there are many alternatives with what you do with it after collection.

Diaz: We are interested in alternatives. We want to know about cost of pick up. Single stream, dual stream, multi-stream. Single zone, multi-zone.

Adams: From the collection point of view, Palm Beach County is an excellent example.  Multiple providers, incentives, penalties. I disagree with the single vendor process, which this looks like it’s going that way, again. The current facility that you use now will need to me modified, upgraded. The RFP came out very unexpectedly, very late last night. We were not prepared, we won’t have time to put together a good proposal. You’ve done it again. You’ll be luck if you get one bid tonight.

Sejias: It was never a workshop to produce, create, or promote an RFP.

Another speaker: The RFP came out unexpectedly. I would like to have Mike Taylor from Recycle America come fly down this morning. I hope that you indulge me and let him come up. Waste Management is making a serious investment in upgrading the MERF to make it single stream recycling. You could have the process and the collection done separately.

Sejias: Many circumstances when an RFP has been put out, there are addendums. This is a viable system which we can work through…

Asst. Manager: The RFP was the product on an industry meeting..many of the people that are hear today were in attendance.

Mike Taylor, WM Recycle America: Been in the industry about 19 years. My area of expertise today relates to the processing side of the business. What happens to the materials once they are collected. As part of what we’ve viewed on the processing side. Relating to convenience…providing a service that is cost effective and convenient for the public…one of the things that we’ve seen in the industry is the rise in single stream processing. All recyclables collected together at the curb. On the processing side, we have a machine that separates materials using gravity, etc.  Paper, bottles, cans, plastic, glass, aluminum, tin can be separated at the plant when it arrives in one container. Now in single-stream, you are able to use the same collection vehicle that you use to collect solid waste to collect the recyclables. You can use the same vehicle – can be an old vehicle…do not need a new fleet. The purpose of the single stream processing is to make the collection more convenient. This allows greater competition because anyone that has a trash collector can do the collection. This puts the work on the processor, however. Would need a facility that can accept single stream. Refuse collection must be separate from recycling collection. There is a plant being constructed today that can accept this in Pembroke Pines. Cost could be price per ton or per ton plus a revenue share. Collier County has increased 20% tons recycled since switching to single stream.

Gimenez: I think that’s something that is attractive, an option.

Sorenson: We could use our current garbage trucks, our employees could do that, and it could be processed in Pembroke Pines. Wouldn’t need one armed bandits.

Jordan: I’m concerned that the RFP doesn’t give us the option of having multiple haulers. Is there anything we can do…addendum?

Asst. Manager: Comm. Jordan’s issue is understood and will be considered in this whole process.

Diaz: I was disappointed that this went out before we got to have this conversation.

Sejias: We never said it wouldn’t go out until this workshop.

World Waste Services: Also building a facility in Okeechobee & the Turnpike, and we are a local company. Would like to see more local participation.

Jean Marie Masa BFI?: Our MERF is possible to become a single stream MERF.

Sorenson: Is performance part of the material for the RFP?

Asst Manager: Yes, they have to show that they have done this before, at least 50,000. Will have background checks, etc.

Diaz: If it’s done in another part of the country and isn’t being done here, we’ll still consider that, right?

Asst Manager: I can’t affirm enough that this RFP is very open for suggestions.

Diaz: The markets vary, they do, because that’s the way the market is. What I’m looking for is that whatever we do, is that the companies be efficient. I will be looking for outside the box, quality of company, quality of efficiency, ideas.

Asst Manager: We’ve removed ourselves from the market pricing. Whatever they can get, they keep.

Recycle America guy: Collectors and processors should be separate processes.

Asst. Manager: Current RFP doesn’t allow for separation, however if the collector wants to subcontract the processing. We need a total service, and to have separate bids is not advisable.

Diaz: I want you to sit with me because I believe differently and I want you to convince me.

Sejias: This was meant to be an all day workshop and we are now just two commissioners. Sometimes I’m here all by myself.

THE END.