Nicole M Crummett Multifamily Dwelling Composting Programs in Alameda County Spring 2010 The Effectiveness of Multifamily Dwelling Composting Programs in Alameda County Nicole M Crummett ABSTRACT Alameda County s Measure D mandates a 75 landfill diversion by 2010 Compostable waste comprised 34 5 of all waste landfilled from Alameda County during the year 2008 Within the Multifamily Dwelling Waste Stream 46 7 of waste was compostable Compostable waste can easily be diverted from the landfill and has the potential to aide in Alameda County s diversion goals This study investigates which cities of Alameda Berkeley and Fremont have reduced the amount food and yard waste sent to the landfills from the MFD sector between 1995 and 2008 and the reasons for these trends I hypothesized that cities offering food scrap inclusion in their compost collection service and those programs that have been operating longest will experience the greatest decreases in food and yard waste sent to landfills To correlate historical waste stream values with compost collection services I examined Waste Characterization Reports and interviewed persons involved in each jurisdictions MFD compost collection programs All three cities experienced over 50 reduction in yard waste from the MFD sector since 1995 Alameda and Berkeley decreased their landfilled food waste between 2000 and 2008 by over 30 Fremont sent over 60 more food waste to landfills during this same period Alameda began collecting food waste mixed in with yard waste from their MFD residents in 2003 Fremont and Berkeley have no universal compost collection service offered to Multifamily Dwellings All three cities offer compost collection services with food scrap inclusion to Single Family Dwellings while MFD residents remain underserved in Alameda County KEYWORDS Organics Programs Waste Diversion Waste Management Apartment Complexes Collection Services 1 Nicole M Crummett Multifamily Dwelling Composting Programs in Alameda County Spring 2010 INTRODUCTION Around the world the composting industry is growing due to technological innovations and governmental mandates to decrease landfilled waste Green 2003 For example the state of California set a goal of a 50 diversion rate of all disposed materials in the state by 2010 California Integrated Waste Management Board 1998 Within California an even more ambitious jurisdiction Alameda County created a waste management plan that set a goal of 75 reduction of landfilled waste from the county Alameda County Waste Management Authority 1987 Alameda County has been nationally recognized for their progressive waste management techniques and often serves as a model for local governments that wish to follow suit Institute for Local Self Reliance 2002 However many residents of Alameda County remain unable to access this environmental good In Alameda County only 11 of 17 jurisdictions and sanitary districts offer compost pickup to MFDs and of these only 3 allow food scraps and food soiled paper to be included in the pickup StopWaste Org 2009 Food waste is one of the largest contributors to the Alameda County waste stream comprising 18 7 by weight of all the materials disposed of in the county in 2008 R W Beck 2008 Since the inception of Measure D in 1990 Alameda County s waste management plan that sets a goal of reducing tonnage sent to landfills by 75 by the year 2010 most material groups disposed of have either maintained or reduced historical tonnages levels Yet food waste disposal in the county has increased by over 39 between 1995 and 2008 while the county s population increased by only 6 1 in the same period R W Beck 2008 More specifically the food waste from the Multifamily Dwelling MFD sector has increased by more than 82 while multifamily dwelling residences have increased by only 4 5 R W Beck 2008 Food waste comprised 25 9 of all materials disposed of from the Multifamily Dwelling sector 2008 however in the Multifamily Dwelling Recycling Programs Evaluation Report organics are mentioned only as a potential waste diversion tactic for MFDs The report mentions the difficulty of collecting organics materials and suggests only those buildings that have high levels of participation and diversion along with low levels of contamination of traditional recycling could be targeted SAIC 2008 There are many MFDs in the county that do not receive organics pickup and even jurisdictions with organics programs currently in place have not been evaluated as recycling programs have been 2 Nicole M Crummett Multifamily Dwelling Composting Programs in Alameda County Spring 2010 This study will determine which jurisdictions in Alameda County have reduced the amount of food and yard waste sent to landfills from Multifamily Dwellings and which of these categories meet the 75 reduction rates of landfilled material Additionally major events in the various jurisdictions program histories will be evaluated in conjunction with the historic food and yard waste stream data to determine if the program type has a direct impact on the amount of waste sent to the landfill These research questions will provide information concerning the success of implementing Multifamily Dwelling composting programs and illuminate positive aspects and areas needing improvement METHODS To evaluate the effectiveness of composting services provided to Multifamily Dwellings in Alameda County I compared three jurisdictions and assessed their rates of sending yard and food waste to landfills The three jurisdictions investigated all cities with over 10 000 MFD units included Alameda Berkeley and Fremont The County published Waste Characterization Reports in 1995 2000 and 2008 To assess the affect these programs have on reducing waste sent to landfills rather than compost generation I used these reports to collect the tonnage values of both food and yard waste sent to landfills from Multifamily Dwellings in each jurisdiction After extrapolating these values I identified trends in waste reduction To correlate the compost material disposal rates with the programs in each jurisdiction I conducted interviews with either the employees of the cities Public Works Department or the cities specific contracted hauler to obtain the histories of these services I asked about the program s history including start dates collection methods and frequency of collection participation rates by MFDs and program challenges solutions and successes This information was examined in
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