Santa Ana AB 341 Compliance

In 2017, EcoNomics was retained to assist the City of Santa Ana in troubleshooting compliance issues with CalRecycle after the City was referred to CalRecycle’s Jurisdictional Compliance Unit (JCU) for AB 341 non-attainment. After approximately 6 months of intensive outreach efforts, EcoNomics was able to increase the AB 341 compliance rate from 16% to 44% from December 2017 to December 2018. This nearly three-fold increase in the City’s AB 341 compliance rate was achieved by expanding the number of accounts that participated in hauler-provided recycling programs and by documenting nearly 600 internal, non-hauler recycling programs. This increase in the City’s compliance rate, along with assurances of continued outreach and monitoring, was sufficient to end the City’s compliance referral status and avoid a compliance order. 

Anaheim AB 1826 Compliance and Rates

EcoNomics worked directly with over forty (40) Anaheim Tier 1 generators, including Angel Stadium, the Garden Walk, and the Packing House, to implement a food scrap program that began on June 1, 2016. In implementing the program, EcoNomics emphasized staff training as a key component of a successful food scrap recycling program. To this end, EcoNomics worked closely with program participants to provide interactive and bilingual (English and Spanish) training sessions for multiple shifts of kitchen staff and servers before food scrap collection service initiated. The emphasis on training was effective and the pilot program diverted over 60 tons of food scrap materials per month from 44 restaurants with minimal contamination during the five-month operational pilot period. The pilot phase of the program was concluded on November 30, 2016. During the pilot, EcoNomics used productivity data collected from the program to (1) develop a food scrap rate that provides program participants with an incentive to enroll in the program, and (2) to ensure that the hauler is adequately compensated for services rendered. In EcoNomics’ experience, striking this balance with a food scrap rate is paramount to ensuring a sustainable program that continues to draw participants through rate incentives. In 2018, EcoNomics assisted the City of Anaheim with securing grant funding from OC Waste and Recycling to fund a staff position that solely focuses on implementing AB 1826 programs. The grant also funded the development of a branded public outreach campaign that will encourage participation in AB 1826 programs and the provision of internal organics recycling receptacles.

Mission Viejo AB 341 Implementation

In Mission Viejo, EcoNomics was retained as a third-party consulting firm to increase the City’s diversion rate and to work with businesses and multi-family properties to implement recycling programs. EcoNomics has accomplished the following programmatic milestones:

• Achieved 100% participation in single-stream recycling programs at multi-family properties, providing over 4,500 multi-family homes access to single-stream recycling. Mission Viejo is the first city in Orange County to achieve this milestone. 

• Tripled the City’s commercial diversion rate in less than 6 years and implemented over 90 commercial recycling programs by targeting the largest commercial generators of waste to implement cost-saving recycling programs,

• Worked with the City’s franchise hauler to develop and deploy specialized equipment to accommodate space constrained properties. Examples include split trash and recycling bins that can fit into a single-bin enclosure and locking trapdoor lids to reduce contamination and scavenging at multi-family properties. 

• Developed a CalRecycle-approved in-house Excel model AB 341 diversion plan to guide outreach and monitoring efforts as well as to demonstrate compliance with state law.

Newport Beach AB 341 and AB 1826 Compliance

EcoNomics is assisting the City of Newport Beach with AB 341 implementation and CalRecycle compliance reporting. Newport Beach has an open market-commercial franchise system which allows over 30 haulers to operate in the City. Historically, the open-market franchise arrangement has created difficulty for the City in receiving timely and accurate reports and has led to CalRecycle compliance issues with AB 341 and AB 1826 attainment. In response, EcoNomics developed enhanced reporting requirements that give the City monthly compliance status updates for all AB 341 and AB 1826 businesses. The timeliness and enhanced accuracy of these updates have been instrumental in deescalating CalRecycle oversight and enforcement. Moreover, as a means to achieve 100% compliance with AB 341 and AB 1826, EcoNomics coordinated with a City Council subcommittee and the city’s senior management staff to draft a mandatory recycling ordinance that will compel all covered generators to implement state-mandated diversion programs or face City enforcement action. The City Council adopted this ordinance in 2019 and it serves as a model template to be used in other jurisdictions to increase compliance rates.