Western Lake Superior Sanitary District (WLSSD) Food Waste Drop

Western Lake Superior Sanitary District (WLSSD)
Food Waste Drop Site Program
2004 - 2010
Susan Darley-Hill
Environmental Program Coordinator
Western Lake Superior Sanitary District
Duluth, Minnesota
www.wlsssd.com
8 December 2010
Community characteristics
Population:
95,000 in greater Duluth (43,895 households)
133,000 area population (55,410 households MN + WI)
Open market hauling system
WLSSD Organics Program: basic facts
MN State capital grant for site
construction
Opened September 2001
Compost source-separated organics
and yard waste
MPCA Permit: 3950 tons yard waste
+ 3950 tons food waste/year
Garden Green® Compost (USCC/STA)
production: 2500 yds/year
Nine years of growth and change (2001-2010)
Voluntary organics recovery program for businesses &
institutions (2001 – 2006)
• 30-50 regular participants
• 1 hauler
• Organics acquisition contractor (part-time)
Residential curbside pilot (2003)
Stakeholder meetings: haulers & generators (2004)
Established food waste drop sites for residents and small
business use (2004-2009) Seven sites in operation today
WLSSD Solid Waste Ordinance mandates business
diversion of pre-consumer organic waste. (Oct 2006)
Phased roll-out of mandate covering ~150 businesses &
institutions (2007-2010)
WLSSD established a trial drop site program in 2004
Why:
• No curbside collection by private haulers (density!)
• Residents wanted an organics recycling option
• Compromise: establish sites for centralized collection
How:
• Grant from State of MN
• bio-compostable bags & Norseman curbside bins
• hauling costs
• Phased implementation
• 3 residential/small business sites in 2004 (2 staffed by WLSSD)
• 7 sites in 2010 (6 residential, 1 business-only drop site)
Objectives
Provide greatest access at minimal distance to users
Maximize capture of residential and small business
food residuals + intermittent special events
Explore and address challenges:
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Odors/pests?
Contamination/dump and run?
Adequate size/type of container?
Frequency of collection?
How best to educate/recruit users?
Viable alternative to curbside collection?
Started small with 3 sites and 1 hauler
Five businesses host drop sites now
Businesses provide oversight at non-WLSSD drop sites
Customer traffic (positive impact)
Community partnership/common vision
Shared or covered costs of disposal
Bins are sized to need & most are locked after hours
Today, 6 years later…
WLSSD still supplies bags at most sites (reduces slop factor for users)
WLSSD covers hauling costs at all but one large restaurant site (shared)
Reduced pick-up schedule November – May (cold) reduces hauling costs
Users make the best site monitors and program cheerleaders
Contamination remains extremely low; 2 sites no longer lock their bins
Tonnage has increased steadily since start-up (hard data for years 1-4)
Annual Totals
60000
50000
40000
30000
Annual Totals
20000
10000
0
1
2
3
4
Each site has its own character(s!)
Waste-Free Event kit: Loaned at no cost
Getting the word out
WLSSD’s Drop Site Program
In a perfect world…
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Cheaper hauling costs
More drop site locations
Better bins & trucks
Frequent cleaning
No maggots in July
But it works…
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Human scale that folks appreciate
Fulfills need – manageable size
Room to grow – we determine the rate
Many requests to add sites
Loop is closed locally