Feb 28, 2012 - Councilmember Susan Wengraf. Councilmember Gordon Wozniak. Subject: Referral: Feasibility of Expanded Pla
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Gordon Wozniak Councilmember District 8
ACTION CALENDAR February 28, 2012 To:
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From:
Mayor Tom Bates Councilmember Susan Wengraf Councilmember Gordon Wozniak
Subject:
Referral: Feasibility of Expanded Plastic Recycling in Berkeley
RECOMMENDATION Refer to the Zero Waste Commission (ZWC) to investigate the feasibility of expanding the types of plastics that the City collects and recycles, and report findings and recommendations back to the City Council. CURRENT SITUATION AND ITS EFFECTS The City currently only accepts plastic narrow necked bottles, such as water, soda, milk, juice, and detergent bottles marked with a #1 (PET) or #2 (HDPE) on the bottom. All other non-bottle plastics that are collected are currently sent to the landfill. BACKGROUND According to the 2008 Alameda County Waste Characterization Study (http://stopwaste.org/docs/acwcs-2008r.pdf) plastics make up 9.9% of waste that is disposed of in Berkeley, or put differently plastics make up 9.9% of materials that remain in the waste stream; HDPE Bottles (#2) and PETE bottles (#1), currently the only plastics that the City recycles, make up 0.5% of that remaining plastic stream. Two large plastic categories that Berkeley does not currently recycle include “mixed rigid plastics” (examples include food “clam shells,” rigid packaging plastics, and toys) make up 3.3% of the remaining plastics in the waste stream and “other plastic containers” (like #5 yogurt tubs, #3-7 bottles, and #1-7 containers) make up an additional 0.5% of plastics remaining in the waste stream in Berkeley. It has been suggested that the ideal way of preventing plastic waste is to encourage people to avoid buying plastics whenever possible, however the persistence of plastic in Berkeley’s waste stream over the last decade demonstrates the need to explore other options than sending these recyclable materials to landfills.
2180 Milvia Street, Berkeley, CA 94704 ● Tel: (510) 981-7180 ● TDD: (510) 981-6903 ● Fax: (510) 981-7188 E-mail:
[email protected]
Referral: Feasibility of Expanded Plastic Recycling in Berkeley
ACTION CALENDAR February 28, 2012
RATIONALE FOR RECOMMENDATION The City started collecting #1 and #2 bottles in 2000, and now 12 years later, it is time to reevaluate feasibility of collecting and recycling of other plastics. We ask that the Zero Waste Commission work with City staff, the Ecology Center, and CCC to assess the operational, cost, and environmental factors of accepting and recycling other plastic types in Berkeley. CONTACT PERSON Mayor Tom Bates Councilmember Susan Wengraf Councilmember Gordon Wozniak
Mayor’s Office Council District 6 Council District 8
981-7100 981-7160 981-7180
