RECYCLING SYSTEMGAP ANALYSISM E M P H I S R EG I O N

PREPARED BY RRS FOR THE COALITION TO ADVANCE RECOVERY IN TENNESSEE (CART)

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MORE RECYCLING THROUGH COLLABORATIONTetra Pak is committed to supporting local partnerships and projects to help increase recycling rates. This report provides an overview of a recent collaborative effort called CART - the Coalition to Advance Recovery in Tennessee. It also shares the results of a recycling system gap analysis performed in one key region of the state - the Memphis Area.

HOW THE CART COLLABORATION BEGANRRS created an inventory of key stakeholders in the region, mapped their shared interests in recycling, held consultative sessions with the stakeholders and prospective sponsors to collectively define the CART Mission and Action Plan, and recruited sponsors to join CART and help fund the project.

WHY TENNESSEE?There was significant opportunity to improve recycling rates and, in turn, the economic vibrancy of Tennessee’s local communities. RRS estimated that residents dispose of more than $180,000,000 of valuable recycled materials every year in Tennessee. Many manufacturers in the region have aggressive zero waste policies that drive a need for better recycling infrastucture. The state also has new requirements for regional recycling planning.

CART A private-public partnership of organizations working together to:

• Build local supply of quality recycled materials• Reduce dependence on imported sources of raw feedstock

The expected benefit: build competitive advantage for manufacturing and recycling industries in Tennessee. MISSION Accelerate recovery of high value recyclable materials through collective voluntary industry action. OBJECTIVES

1. Increase recycling access in key metropolitan areas in the state.

2. Raise awareness of the economic value of strong recycling programs among state and local leaders: elected officials, community leaders, and local governments.

CART PROJECT TIMELINE

SPRING 2014

Tetra Pak project development

MAY 2015

Memphis optimization workshop

FALL 2015

Regional action planning

OCTOBER 2016

Overview and results

2014/EARLY 2015

ID funding partners

MARCH/APRIL 2015

Workshop planning & logistics

OCT 2014

Initial partner informational meeting

MARCH-MAY 2016

Memphis region gap analysis and opportunity assessments

JULY 2015

Nashville optimization workshop

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RECYCLING OPTIMIZATION WORKSHOPS: HUB AND SPOKEThe above CART sponsor companies participated in recycling workshops for local elected officials, recycling and solid waste staff in Memphis and Nashville in 2015. Experts shared best practices and facilitated dialogue on how to optimize recovery programs through building hub and spoke models. Hub and spoke consists of a centralized processing center or ‘hub’ where material is sorted, baled and sold to market. The spokes are surrounding communities that feed collected recyclables to the hub.

DEVELOPING LOCAL CHAMPIONS AND NETWORKSDuring each CART workshop, recycling champions for the regional network were identified to begin exchanging data and information on their programs. In Memphis, the city/county Office of Sustainability and the regional solid waste planning board chair are leading efforts. In Nashville, the Tennessee Environmental Council and Tennessee Municipal League came forward.

THE REGIONAL GAP ANALYSISThe next step was to conduct a recycling gap analysis of the Memphis region. A customized best practices survey was developed to collect data across the municipalities in the region, and provide an assessment of the opportunities for each individual community as well as a regional hub and spoke system.

• RRS benchmarked current programs against national best practices and state’s 2025 solid waste planning objectives

• Each municipality in the region was invited to participate

Results: Recycling best practice gaps identified that are opportunities for targeted investment to increase recycling.

HOW SECTORS WORK TOGETHERPublic and private sector leaders need to continue working with their local networks to make measurable improvements on recycling gaps. This includes the recycling champions, local governments, businesses leaders, elected officials, recycling industry and corporate partners.

• Local governments – Complete the best practices survey for their county or municipality. Good data leads to optimizing recycling efficiencies.

• Business leaders – Continue to advocate for strong community recycling, and provide program support as needed.

• Elected officials – Support building individual recycling program capacity in your communities and becoming part of hub and spoke.

• Recycling industry partners (public and private sector) – Continue to assist with information exchange, relationship building, providing market data, and supporting policy incentives.

• Corporate partners – Continue to be engaged on shared goals with new partners that have emerged such as The Recycling Partnership and Closed Loop Fund.

Program Optimization

The Economics of Recycling Where is value added?

Providing More Access Collection and common suite of materials

The Processing Puzzle Am I a hub or spoke?

Best Practices: Education, Policy & Incentives What’s the impact? Who’s involved?

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METHODOLOGYConduct recycling best practice analysis to obtain a data driven snapshot and identify biggest opportunities.

1. Build from AMERIPEN best practices work

2. Customize and adapt survey tool to align with TN 2025 Plan Objectives

3. Communicate with regional champions and other municipal contacts

4. Compile and analyze data

5. Develop Recycling Opportunity Assessment Summary based on data analysis

Six best practice areas analyzed | Aligned w/ TDEC 2025 Plan Objectives

OBJECTIVEQuantify the impact of recycling programs in the region, and provide a fact-based analysis that serves as a baseline to achieve greater adoption of recycling best practices.

Provide mentorship and education to form a network of municipal champions and develop strategic partnerships.

MEMPHIS REGION RECYCLING SYSTEM GAP ANALYSIS OVERVIEW

Increase recycling access to improve materials recovery in key metropolitan areas in the state.

Conduct recycling best practice gap analysis to identify priority projects for optimizing efficiency.

Provide a regional system blueprint for how more materials can be recovered efficiently and sustainably.

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4FINANCING

PROCESSINGCOLLECTION

POLICY PARTNERSHIPS

COMMUNICATION

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SCOPE Memphis, greater Shelby County, plus municipalities and counties in the surrounding region.

FOCUS ON RESULTS”The gap analysis process was very useful to help identify opportunities for improvement in our recycling program

through benchmarking best practices in other municipalities, and provided insight into the success of our program on key

performance metrics”.

-Joe Nunes, Neighborhood Services Manager, City of Germantown and Shelby County regional solid waste planning board chair

Key partnerships developed during Memphis region gap analysis project

Range of counties responding to best practices survey:

Response: Madison, Gibson, Fayette, Chester, & Shelby Counties in TN; Desoto County, MS

Including the cities of Memphis, Germantown, Collierville, Millington, Bartlett, and Henderson, TN.

#of Households: 370,353 Population: 1.1 million

Public and private sector recyclers, business leaders (recycling network developed during optimization workshops).

Memphis Materials Marketplace - US Business Council for Sustainable Development

Regional Solid Waste Planning Board chair (Joe Nunes, Germantown, TN)

Southwest TN Development District - SWTDD

Shelby Co. Sustainability Office

Memphis Area Association of Governments - MAAG

State - TN Dept. of Environment and Conservation (TDEC)

Northwest TN Development District - NWTDD

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POLICY

BEST PRACTICESLEAD TORECOVERY

A KEY FINDING OF

OUR RESEARCH

IS THAT HIGHER

ADOPTION OF BEST

PRACTICES AND

POLICIES LEADS TO

GREATER RECOVERY

OF MATERIALS.

LB

PE

R H

H R

EC

YC

LE

D

ADOPTION OF BEST PRACTICES

LB

PE

R H

H R

EC

YC

LE

D

ADOPTION OF BEST PRACTICES

M E M P H I S

164

49% EFFECTIVENESS

RATING

174k

POUNDS PER HOUSEHOLD

HOUSEHOLDS SERVED

COLLECTION PROCESSING COMMUNICATION FINANCING PARTNERSHIPS

OPPORTUNITY

PARTNERSHIPS

FINANCING

POLICY

COMMUNICATION

PROCESSING

COLLECTION

COMMUNICATION

POLICY

FINANCING

PARTNERSHIPS

CART REGIONAL RECYCLING SYSTEM GAP ANALYSIS

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Similar templates are available for all the Cities and Counties that participated in the Memphis region best practices survey.

MATERIALS COLLECTED

Multifamily

Commercial

Away from Home Collection

Carts

Single Stream

Curbside

MRF/Transfer Station Access

Recycle Rewards/Recycle Bank

Mandatory recycling ordinance

Enforcement

Mandatory recycling legislation

Landfill ban

Pay As You Throw program

Other diversion initiatives

Revenue sharing

Franchise agreement

Tax based funding

Fee based funding

Extra recycling charge for citizens

State grant funding available

Awarded grant funding within past 3 years

Grant funds cover recurring costs

Partnered with other municipalities on grant projects

Utilizes private sector partnerships

Utilizes TRP grant program

Utilizes Closed Loop Fund resources

PARTNERSHIPS

PROCESSINGCOLLECTION

COMMUNICATION PARTICIPATIONPOLICY FINANCING

$90k Annual education & outreach budget

Household participation rate

Website with educational materials

Keep America Beautiful programs

The Recycling Partnership programs

Listed in Earth911 Directory

Glass Bottles and Jars, Plastic containers 1-7 (no Styrofoam),

Paper/Cardboard, Aluminum foil, aluminum cans, Steel cans

336,723TONS LANDFILLED

14,279TONS COMPOSTED

$1.25MSW TIPPING FEE

49,297TONS RECYCLED

MSW Transferred to landfill

MSW direct hauled to landfill

MRF can process additional materials

MRF/Transfer Station within 10 miles

MRF runs one shift

MRF Residue below 10%

Processing contract

Multiple MRFs available

Weekly Collection

High Capacity Vehicles Used

Automated Vehicles

Core Materials

Yard Waste

Food Waste

Commercial Food Waste

35%

MEMPHIS OPPORTUNITIES

COMMUNICATION Provide increased funding on a per household basis to recycling education

Utilize existing educational resources such as KAB and/or TRP to increase education & participation

POLICY Guide local/state legislators to adopt environmentally sound, cost effective, and regionally appropriate policies

Lobby for additional policy support including landfill ban on packaging materials

Lobby for local policy support such as a mandatory recycling ordinance

FINANCING Look to available recycling industry finance tools to assist in program funding

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Low Recycling Performers

COMMUNITY % UPTAKE OF BEST PRACTICES

Desoto County, MS 31%

Madison County/Jackson, TN 18%

Gibson County, TN 7%

GAP ANALYSIS DETAILS High Recycling Performers

COMMUNITY % UPTAKE OF BEST PRACTICES #’S/HH

Germantown, TN 34% 356

Collierville, TN 35% 406

Memphis, TN 49% 164

Chester County/Henderson, TN 45% 379

COMMON STRENGTHS:• Curbside collection• Some recycling education• Processing

COMMON OPPORTUNITIES • Explore program financing options• Increase education funding and messaging• Policy provisions

COMMON OPPORTUNITIES • Infrastructure access – better utilize existing

infrastructure

• Education – Little to no investment in messaging and resident communication. Develop outreach channels.

• Partnerships – Improve regional communication to take advantage of existing system opportunities.

PATH FORWARDWith baseline data and a stockpile of actionable opportunities in hand, regional planning conversations are underway.

The data gathered during the Memphis Region Gap Analysis presents a way to measure uptake of recycling best practices, provides recycling program details and benchmarks performance for municipalities and counties in the region. It also provides clear opportunities to develop hub and spoke recycling systems in this city region.

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COMMUNITY POPULATION HOUSEHOLDSDISPOSAL

(LBS./HH/YR.)

Chester Co. 17,379 5,943 1,743

Collierville 49,487 15,100 3,829

Germantown 40,123 13,500 1,879

Memphis 655,770 248,320 2,712

TOTAL 762,759 282,863 2,541

COMMUNITY POPULATION HOUSEHOLDSDISPOSAL

(LBS./HH/YR.)

Bartlett 58,500 20,143 3,008

Fayette Co. 39,165 14,680 4,147

Gibson Co. 49,000 12,200 6,185

Millington 11,080 4,609 4,159

TOTAL 157,745 51,632 4,375

Communities with access to curbside Communities without access to curbside

Memphis region communities w/ curbside access average 2,540 lbs/HH/yr of disposal

Communities w/out curbside access average 4,374 lbs/HH/yr of disposal

Difference of 1,834 lbs/HH/yr

Tipping fee of $25/ton = an average of $22.92/HH/yr in additional trash disposal costs for communities without access to curbside recycling.

PATH FORWARDTwo key performance metrics collected during the gap analysis were tipping fees and total tons disposed. Communities surveyed that had some sort of access to curbside recycling programs on average disposed of about 1,800 lbs per capita per year less vs. communities that did not have curbside recycling access. Based on the average tipping fee of $25/ton, this represents about $23 per household per year that could be an opportunity cost for investment into a recycling program. This is one way to look at opportunity, and performing more recycling system gap analyses of city region waste sheds will have a real impact on recycling rates.

Those program costs play a huge role in the decision by municipalities to invest in recycling and material recovery. With recent tools developed by US EPA Region 4 along with economic studies done by SERDC, best practice toolkits provided by The Recycling Partnership, and funding available through state grant programs and funding partners like the Closed Loop Fund, a pathway of resources to fill these gaps and advance the investment in recycling access and community impact is being built. CART has helped to inform the network, identify recycling best practice uptake and performance, and delivered the analysis to accelerate conversations related to investing in material management opportunities in the Memphis region and beyond.

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PATH FORWARDIncreasing material recovery in Tennessee to the national average and beyond will further the interests of the public and private sectors. It will produce thousands of processing and manufacturing jobs and build upon an existing, steady base of infrastructure in the state. Local industries are hungry for the additional feedstock and it makes sound business sense to use local materials.

No single initiative or entity can increase recovery in a significant way, but partnering around this 6-prong approach will effectively and efficiently drive recovery.

COLLECTION

POLICY FINANCING PARTNERSHIPS

PROCESSING COMMUNICATION

Memphis City–Region Approach2 hub regions: Jackson, TN and Memphis, TN Jackson hub feeds Memphis • Potential impact 600,000+ HH

Memphis

Jackson

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