Public Works Administration

Solid Waste Study2006

February 21, 2006

By

Michael J. Cherry, P.E.Public Works Director

Table of ContentsPage

Solid Waste Study 1• Background and Purpose of Study• Historical Operations• Present Operations• Future Operations• Summary

Solid Waste Operations 4• Introduction• Garbage Collection Operations• Yard Waste Operations• Recycling Operations• Transfers, Allocations and Interdepartmental Charges• Summary

Garbage Collection Operations 7• Introduction• Residential Collection• Commercial and Temporary Dumpsters and Special Collections• Summary

Yard Waste Operations 9• Introduction• Wood Mulch• Composting• Special Collections (Fall Leaf and Christmas Trees)• Summary

Recycling Operations 11• Introduction• Curbside Recycling• Drop-off Recycling Center• Appliances• Summary

Conclusion 13

Appendix

FY 06-07 Proposed Solid Waste Budget A

FY 04-05 Solid Waste Annual Report B

Internal Breakdown of Solid Waste Revenues and Expenses C

PowerPoint Presentation D

Solid Waste Study

Background and Purpose of Study

The City Council, at their January 13, 2006, Strategic Planning Session, requested athorough review and discussion of the solid waste operation in light of the pendingclosure of the Bremer County Landfill on September 30, 2007. In order to have acomplete understanding of the current and future solid waste operations, it is alsoimportant to know the history, trends and legislative requirements imposed on disposingof waste in Iowa.

Historical Operations

When Waverly was founded in the mid-1800s, garbage waslikely disposed of by burying or burning. As the communitybegan to grow, nearby landfill sights were designated forpeople to bring and dispose of their garbage.

By the 1940s the City was collecting and disposing of thegarbage at the old City landfill (current Yard Waste Site).Upon opening of the Bremer County Landfill in 1971, the City’s landfill was closed forenvironmental concerns due to it’s proximity to the Cedar River.

In 1990 the City was collecting residential garbage twice weekly until the EnvironmentalProtection Agency (EPA) and Iowa Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) mandatedsignificant reforms. The mandates included waste reduction by the diversion of yardwaste, developing recycling programs and creating drop-off sites for hazardoushousehold materials.

By 1992 the City of Waverly had initiated a recycling program with adrop-off facility and semi-monthly curbside collection. The old Citylandfill was now the designated drop-off site for yard waste andresidential garbage collection was reduced to once weekly.

Yard waste operations now consisted of a special spring collection and receiving woodmaterial, leaves and grass clippings at the old City landfill site near the river on 8 th

Street SE. The wood material was burned and the leaves and grass clippings werepiled and occasionally taken by a farmer for land application.

After 1998 the burning of wood material at the yard wastesite was halted and a tub grinder was contracted to mulchthe material. Additionally, leaves and grass clippings wereplaced in rows for composting. The processing of mulchand compost has resulted in zero waste; 100% of thematerial is returned to the community.

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Present Operations

The City is collecting residential garbage once per week utilizing a rear-loading garbagetruck with two or three employees. The daily route consists of approximately 500-600potential customers with about 350-400 actual stops.

There are about 175 commercial accounts at approximately 200 locations. Commercialcustomers utilize two, four and six cubic yard dumpsters that are emptied one to fivetimes per week. A rear-loading garbage truck is used and two employees are requiredto position the dumpsters for emptying.

Curbside recycling is accomplished with aspecial five-bin truck operated by oneemployee. Material is collected on the firstand third full week of each month.Recycling bins are provided by the City toeach customer at no charge.

The drop-off Recycling Center is located at the Public Services Facility at 412 1 st

Avenue SE and is open year-round on weekdays (except on holidays) from 7:00 a.m. to5:30 p.m. and the first Saturday of each month from 8:00 a.m. to noon. The facility isstaffed with permanent part-time employees and a full-time employee assists for twohours daily and four hours on Saturday. Volunteer groups help on Saturdays.

The Yard Waste Site is open from April through mid-November.

Future Operations

Without change the closure of the Bremer County Landfill onSeptember 30, 2007, will significantly impact the City’s ability tomeet the community’s currentneeds and impossible to meetfuture needs. A logical location

for Waverly’s garbage to be hauled to is the BlackHawk County Landfill. However, the location of thislandfill will result in an additional one hour of drive timewhich will impact the available amount of time there willbe to collect garbage.

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Concerns over air quality in recent years may result in a federal or state ban on theburning of yard waste within some or all Iowa municipalities. A full-burning ban inWaverly will logically result in additional use of the Yard Waste Site. This can be a goodthing because cleaner air is healthier and the demand for processed yard wasteexceeds current supplies.

Concerns over land use and water quality are contributing to a decline in the availableamount of existing landfill space and the high cost of creating new landfill sites makesrecycling more attractive. Additionally, the increased use of recycled and recyclablematerials is making it easier to find markets and divert material from landfills.

Summary

Solid waste operations within the City of Waverly are dynamic and need to be structuredto be flexible and adaptable. In just the last 20 years we have seen the mandatedaddition of recycling, yard waste and hazardous household chemical services. The next20 years could bring similar changes and we need to be alert and mindful of thecustomer’s desired services and mandated regulatory services so we can provide themas economically as possible. The City will continue to adapt by investing in newequipment and technology in order to bring the citizens of Waverly a wide range ofservices for a reasonable price.

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Solid Waste Operations

Introduction

Solid waste operations are divided into three different areas: garbage collection, yardwaste and recycling. There are five employees and a shared supervisor,superintendent and office manager for a total of six full-time employees. Additionally,permanent part-time and seasonal employees assist in all three areas to varyingdegrees.

The closure of the Bremer County Landfill necessitates that the City amend its garbagecollection operations. In general, where there was seven hours to collect garbage therewill only be six hours because of the additional drive time to the Black Hawk CountyLandfill. The only significant change proposed is to replace the one rear-loadingresidential truck with two side-loading trucks.

The following is a generalized breakdown of the three different areas of operation. Theexpenses reflect annualized operational costs and estimated equipment depreciation.Additionally, the proposed FY 07-08 revenues reflect a $0.50 increase to the monthlybase fee and a 10% increase in monthly dumpster fees.

Garbage Collection Operations

ExistingFY 05-06

Proposed FY07-08

Full-Time Employees 4.5 4.5Part-Time Employees 0.53 0.53Rear-Loading Trucks 2 12 cy Dumpsters 280 2804 cy Dumpsters 49 496 cy Dumpsters 13 131.5 cy Dumpsters 0 20Revenues $ 772,000 $ 829,520Expenses (461,065) (525,465)NET $ 310,935 $ 304,055

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Yard Waste Operations

ExistingFY 05-06

ProposedFY 07-08

Full-Time Employees 0.5 0.5Part-Time Employees 0.53 0.53Tractor ½ ½Compost Turner 1 1Wood Shredder ½ ½Revenues $ 0 $ 0Expenses (70,900) (74,080)NET $ (70,900) $ (74,080)

Recycling Operations

ExistingFY 05-06

ProposedFY 07-08

Full-Time Employees 1.0 1.0Part-Time Employees 1.28 1.28Recycling Truck 1 1Rear-Loading Truck 1 1Skid Loader 1 1Revenues $ 61,500 $ 62,100Expenses (123,839) (130,469)NET $ ( 62,339) $ ( 68,369)

Transfers, Allocations and Interdepartmental Charges

Existing ProposedFY 05-06 FY 07-08

Expenses $ (167,934) $ (178,727)

SOLID WASTE OPERATION TOTALS

Existing ProposedFY 05-06 FY 07-08

Revenues $ 833,500 $ 891,620Expenses (823,737) (908,740)NET $ 9,763 $ (17,120)

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Summary

The preceding breakdown of the revenues and expenses for the various areas withinthe solid waste operations very clearly shows that garbage collection revenuessubsidize yard waste and recycling operations. Additionally, the Solid Waste Division isproviding about $168,000 is support to other City departments or projects throughtransfers, allocations, and interdepartmental charges.

The net loss in the proposed FY 07-08 reflects a deficiency in the amount of funds thatneed to be set aside in the equipment reserve fund because of the second residentialtruck. With no other significant changes pending, it appears that modest inflationaryrate increases will fully fund all operations.

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Garbage Collection Operations

Introduction

Garbage collection operations are divided into threesubareas: residential, commercial and temporarydumpster and special collections. Typically, twoemployees run the commercial route and twoemployees run the residential route. Both routescurrently use rear-loading trucks. During thenoncurbside recycling weeks a third employee helpson the residential route. Double-route days arecreated when garbage is not picked up on a holiday.Seasonal and part-time employees assist ondouble-route days to ensure that the route can becompleted within seven hours.

The proposal to replace the rear-loading residential truck with two side-loading truckswill result in only one employee per truck per route. The side-loading truck is equippedwith both left and right side driving controls, allowing the operator to quickly and easilycollect the garbage. At this time we are uncertain how significant of an impact there willbe to the number of hours for seasonal and part-time employees. We believe the hourswill decrease, but assistance is still necessary to compensate for full-time employeetraining, sick leave and vacation.

The proposed side-loading trucks would also havetime and capacity to collect from commercialcustomers that agree to utilize a smaller 1.5 cubicyard dumpster that is compatible with the new trucks.The following is a generalized breakdown of the threedifferent areas of operation. Again, the expensesreflect annualized operational costs and estimatedequipment depreciation. The proposed FY 07-08revenues reflect a $0.50 increase to the monthly basefee and a 10% increase in monthly dumpster fees.

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Residential Collection

ExistingFY 05-06

ProposedFY 07-08

Full-Time Employees 2.5 2.0Part-Time Employees .48 .24Rear-Loading Trucks 1 0Side-Loading Trucks 0 1.5Revenues $ 463,000 $ 491,000Expenses (236,650) (241,425)NET $ 226,350 $ 249,575

Commercial and Temporary Dumpsters and Special Collections

ExistingFY 05-06

ProposedFY 07-08

Full-Time Employees 2.0 2.5Part-Time Employees 0.05 0.29Rear-Loading Truck 1 1Side-Loading Truck 0 0.52 cy Dumpsters 280 2804 cy Dumpsters 49 496 cy Dumpsters 13 131.5 cy Dumpsters 0 20Revenues $ 309,000 $ 338,520Expenses (224,415) (284,040)NET $ 84,585 $ 54,480

Summary

The garbage collection operations today are servicing weekly about 3,600 housing andbusiness units with the residential truck and about 175 dumpster accounts with thecommercial truck. The amount of garbage collected and hauled to the landfill is now upto 4,100 tons annually.

The fees that are paid for garbage collection are the financial means by which the yardwaste operations and recycling operations are funded. Additionally, there are sevenother departments/divisions within the City that receive approximately $128,000 infunding through the Solid Waste Division by means of transfers, allocations orinterdepartmental charges. There is also $50,000 transferred annually to support theconstruction of a future new Public Services Facility that would include a new RecyclingCenter and a new Yard Waste complex.

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Yard Waste Operations

Introduction

In recent years the City has seen a dramatic increase in theuse and popularity of the Yard Waste Site. The increasedpopularity is the result of increased public awareness andthe City processing yard waste into attractive commodities.Leaves, grass clippings and garden waste are processedinto compost; and trees, branches and woody material areshredded into wood mulch suitable for landscaping.

Wood Mulch

ExistingFY 05-06

ProposedFY 07-08

Full-Time Employees 0.15 0.15Part-Time Employees 0.25 0.25End Loader ¼ ¼Contract Wood Shredding 1 1Revenues $ 0 $ 0Expenses (28,800) (29,860)NET $ (28,800) $ (29,860)

Composting

ExistingFY 05-06

ProposedFY 07-08

Full-Time Employees 0.15 0.15Part-Time Employees 0.25 0.25End Loader ¼ ¼Compost Turner 1 1Tractor ½ ½Sweeper ½ ½Revenues $ 0 $ 0Expenses (28,800) (29,860)NET $ (28,800) $ (29,860)

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Special Collections (Fall Leaf and Christmas trees)

ExistingFY 05-06

ProposedFY 07-08

Full-Time Employees 0.20 0.20Part-Time Employees - -Trucks Street Div. Street Div.Revenues $ 0 $ 0Expenses (13,300)

$ (13,300)(14,360)

$ (14,360)NET

Summary

The yard waste operations generates zero waste byprocessing and returning back to the community 9,500 cubicyards of mulch and 2,500 cubic yards of finished compost.Over the last five years the annual vehicle count for theseven months the facility is open has steadily increased from11,953 vehicles to 17,699 vehicles.

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Recycling Operations

Introduction

The recycling program was developed in 1992 with semi-monthly curbside collection ofclear glass, newspaper, steel cans, milk jugs, and single-layered cardboard. A drop-offRecycling Center was also established where additional items were also accepted, suchas numbered plastics, magazines, corrugatedcardboard, aluminum, etc. A new recyclingtruck in 2002 allowed a sixth item (slick paper/ magazines) to be collected curbside. TheCity has a drop-off site for appliances whichare then picked up and recycled by acompany contracted by the City.

The City originally utilized services contracted by Bremer County to transport andmarket four of the recycled products (milk jugs, steel cans, clear glass and newspapers)upon which the sales proceeds were returned to the City once or twice a year. Over theyears the City has shifted to marketing its own recyclables and is now transportingmany of the materials directly to the purchaser. By taking over the marketing andtransportation, the City is realizing higher returns and a more uniform flow of revenues.

The introduction of a hook-lift truck, which will utilizeroll-off containers, is increasing the efficiency at theRecycling Center since there is less hand work sortingand bagging materials. The next challenge for the Cityto address is the large volume of cardboard receivedand matching the appropriate equipment for this issue.Currently a rear-loading garbage truck is utilized andspends about 80% of the time sitting at the RecyclingCenter and the other 20% collecting material from thecommercial cardboard dumpsters. Cardboard piles upat the Recycling Center when the truck is out collectingor transporting material to market.

Additionally, there is still a tremendous amount of clean lumber, gypsum board, andcardboard thrown away by building contractors. Currently the City has limited means tocollect this additional material and divert it from the landfill without adversely affectingthe current operation.

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Curbside Recycling

ExistingFY 05-06

ProposedFY 07-08

Full-Time Employees 0.5 0.5Recycling Truck 1 1Revenues $ 15,000 $ 15,000Expenses (46,000) (48,650)NET $ (31,000) $ (33,650)

Drop-Off Recycling Center

ExistingFY 05-06

ProposedFY 07-08

Full-Time Employees 0.5 0.5Part-Time Employees 1.28 1.28Skid Loader 1 1Rear-Loading Truck 0.8 0.8Revenues $ 45,000 $ 45,600Expenses (76,339) (80,319)NET $ (31,339) $ (34,719)

Appliances

ExistingFY 05-06

ProposedFY 07-08

Full-Time Employees 0.01 0.01Part-Time Employees 0.01 0.01Revenues $ 1,500 $ 1,500Expenses (1,500) (1,500)NET $ 0 $ 0

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Summary

The recycling program is successful in diverting about 950 tons of material per yearfrom the landfill which saves the City a $33.75 per ton tipping fee. Therefore, the netcost of the recycling operations is reduced from $62,000 to about $30,000 annually. Inrecent years the amount of material recycled is fairly stable; however, a publicawareness program may need to be initiated if recycling quantities are to increase.Additionally, staff continues to investigate and identify areas where we can increase theamount of material diverted from landfills, enhance recycling revenues and reducecosts.

Conclusion

The Waverly solid waste operations have evolved into substantially more than justcollecting garbage on a weekly basis. Solid waste operations today consist of:

1. Residential Garbage Collection2. Commercial Garbage Collection3. Temporary Dumpster Rental4. Special Curbside Collections5. Yard Waste Mulching6. Yard Waste Composting7. Special Fall Leaf and Christmas Tree Collections8. Curbside Recycling9. Drop-off Recycling Center

10. Commercial Cardboard Collection11. Appliance/Large Item Drop-Off and Recycling

The garbage collection operations today are servicing weekly about 3,600 housing andbusiness units with the residential truck and about 175 dumpster accounts with thecommercial truck. The amount of garbage collected and hauled to the landfill is now upto 4,100 tons annually.

The yard waste operations generates zero waste by processing and returning back tothe community 9,500 cubic yards of mulch and 2,500 cubic yards of finished compost.Over the last five years the annual vehicle count for the seven months the facility isopen has steadily increased from 11,953 vehicles to 17,699 vehicles.

The recycling operations are diverting about 20% of the total tons of waste from thelandfill. The annual vehicle count at the drop-off Recycling Center over the last fouryears has increased from about 30,555 vehicles to 34,319 vehicles. The City isrecovering about 75% of the operational costs when comparing expenses to thecombination of recycling revenues and saved-landfill costs.

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As the City considers “where-we-were”, “where-we-are” and “where-we’re-headed” it’sreadily apparent that the City’s solid waste operations are providing a valuable serviceto the community. The pending closure of the Bremer County Landfill undeniably willimpact the City of Waverly. However, the City is positioned to modify its solid wasteoperations now and in the future with only modest inflationary adjustments to user fees.

The cost sharing of versatile equipment between the Streets Division and the SolidWaste Division has kept expenses down. And the sharing of Solid Waste personnel forsnow removal or Streets personnel for special collections, such as fall leaf andChristmas trees, is allowing the City to provide excellent service with a minimal numberof full-time employees.

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