HAMILTON COUNTY
DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES
SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT DISTRICT
MANAGER'S MEMORANDUM

DATE: February 28, 2001

TO: District Policy Committee Members

FROM: Jeffrey W. Aluotto, Solid Waste Manager
Cory R. Chadwick, Director

I. Introduction/Opening Comments

NOTICE: This memo is for the meeting to be held on September 20 , 2001. This meeting will be held at 2:00 p.m. in the conference room of the Hamilton County Department of Environmental Services, 250 William Howard Taft.

Policy Committee Information (Agendas, Manager's Memos, Minutes, etc.) now available on the District's Website at www.hcdoes.org.

II. Clerk's Report/Additions to the Agenda

A. Approval of Minutes - July 12, 2001
Minutes from the July 12, 2001 Policy Committee Meeting are included as Attachment A for the Policy Committee's review and approval.

B. Additions to the Agenda
Please contact Susan Schumacher at 946-7734 if you have items to add to the agenda.

III. Finance Subcommittee Report

A. Finance Subcommittee Briefings for August 9 and September 20, 2001
Mr. Graham will provide a brief report regarding the items discussed and reviewed at the Finance Subcommittee meetings of August 9 and September 20, 2001

B. Recommendation Regarding District Disbursements - SWR 05/2001
The Finance Subcommittee reviewed the expenditures at their meeting held prior to this meeting.

STAFF RECOMMENDATION: With any alterations or corrections noted by the Finance Subcommittee members or Policy Committee members, the Staff recommends approval of SWR 05/2001.

A. Nu-Blend Paint

As detailed in a Staff Report sent to Policy Committee members (Attachment B), Nu-Blend Paints has approached the District to obtain financial assistance until such time as the non-profit organization is able to access $260,000 in recently approved Empowerment Zone funding.

The Staff Report sent to Policy Committee members detailed the many benefits provided by Nu-Blend including: Financial benefits of diverting latex paint from District sponsored collection events, environmental benefits of diverting paint from landfill and improper disposal, maintenance of an infrastructure for handling a major component of the HHM stream.

STAFF RECOMMENDATION: District Staff will recommend approving an assistance package for Nu-Blend. However, the specifics of this assistance will be fully detailed at the Policy Committee meeting on the 20^th. At this point, District Staff are still consulting with County Administration and the Prosecutor's Office concerning the forms of assistance which are legally viable.

• Community RRI Surpluses
  
  

The District has recently spoken to a political subdivision with a unique issue regarding spending of RRI funds. This community receives large RRI payments because they recycle a substantial amount of material annually. This community spends a significant amount of funds on activities which would be considered allowable core RRI uses (Core allowable uses for RRI payments include: Purchase of recycled content materials, recycling contract payments, and recycling education). However, because of the amount of this community's RRI payments, it finds it difficult to spend its allocated amount every year, and thus has built up a surplus in RRI funds. Based upon a cursory analysis of other political subdivisions, it appears there may be other communities in this situation as well.

Staff is currently considering several options to address this situation.

• The District could set a policy of mandating that communities which have RRI surpluses enact policies or programs consistent with allowable uses not yet used by the community. For example, a township which currently uses RRI funds for buy-recycled activities and for community recycling events, would need to spend surplus RRI funds on contracting or franchising for recycling services.
  
  
• The District may wish to require communities with RRI surpluses to submit proposals for additional uses of these funds which, while not currently recognized as an allowable use, could further the recycling infrastructure in that community.
  
  
• The District may wish to require that political subdivisions return unused RRI funds following each year.
  
  
• Some combination of the above options.
  
  

STAFF RECOMMENDATION: District Staff will submit a recommendation on this issue for the November meeting, however, the Policy Committee may wish to provide guidance on this issue at the meeting on the 20^th.

V. Informational Items

A. Cinergy Field Recycling Pilot Project

The District partnered with the Cincinnati Reds and NAPCOR to implement a stadium recycling pilot project for PET containers in CINERGY Field. The pilot program took place on August 22 and resulted in the collection of over 300 pounds of individually served PET bottles (iPET). These bottles are one of the newest problems in the recycling industry as they have replaced easily recycled glass and aluminum containers in many venues. It is difficult to recycle the iPET bottles due to their low weight to volume ratio and due to the fact that approximately 40% of this material may be amber beer bottles with chemical properties making the containers difficult to recycle.

The District will be working over the off-season to locate closer markets for this recycling program and to determine the best way of ensuring that this program carries over into the Great American Ballpark.

B. SAW America

The District recently was provided with information from a non-profit organization, SAW America. This organization attempts to establish community partnerships to deal with waste produced during urban forestry operations. The District Policy Committee recently approved a grant application to the Cincinnati Park Board which will allow them to work with SAW America to use urban forestry material in community wood working classes and for sale as commercial lumber. These uses will save the City money while ensuring that much of the wood produced through urban forestry operations in the City is sent for reuse applications (This application results in carbon sequestration benefits in addition to reuse). The District has received input from several communities wishing to be kept updated on how this grant project progresses. The District will evaluate this program, through the Cincinnati grant program, and from there will evaluate other opportunities for the program in Hamilton County.

The District recently received two grants of note. First, the District received a grant of approximately $30,000 from the Ohio Office of Energy Efficiency to hold a series of Green Building workshops in Hamilton County. Second, the District received $125,000 through the Ohio Market Development Grant program to allocate to On-Spec Materials. On-Spec is a local business which uses secondary plastics to produce plastic lumber and other products. The grant will allow On-Spec to increase the amount of post-consumer plastics being used in its operations. The grant may also allow On-Spec to process the amber iPET bottles from the CINERGY pilot program. This is the first time the District has been awarded a Recycling Market Development Grant.

• 2002 Programming
  
  

The following is a list of programs the District is preparing to implement in 2002 in addition to its core programming:

1. Mercury Collection - In cooperation with the Metropolitan Sewer District, OEPA and the General Health District, the District is preparing to implement a low-cost mercury collection/disposal program to raise residents awareness of the toxicity associated with mercury and mercury containing products. The District has approached MSD with the request of assisting with the funding of this program.

• Expansion of HHM Awareness - Over the past several years, the District has relied upon the advertising of private sector outlets to handle much of the HHM need in Hamilton County. In 2002, the District will be making an increased effort to reach out to these private sector partners and provide them with more information and resources to advertise their recycling services.

• RRI
  
  

Attachment C outlines information on the USEPA's Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines. Beginning in 2002, the District will begin using these standards as a flexible guide for approving RRI Buy-Recycled expenditures. Based upon the results of this experiment, District Staff may recommend, to the Policy Committee, that these standards become mandatory for buy-recycled activities.

Also included as Attachment D is a list of community RRI expenditures in 2000.

VI. Tentative Future Agenda Items

VII. Policy Committee Members' Comments

VIII. Public Comments

IX. Upcoming District Meetings

The date and time of the next regularly scheduled Policy Committee meeting will be Thursday, November 8, 2001, at 2:00 pm at the Hamilton County Department of Environmental Services, 250 William Howard Taft Road, Cincinnati, Ohio 45219.

X. Adjournment (Target Time: 3:30 p.m.)