Councilmembers Clerk of the Council Phil Bacerra Daisy Gomez Johnathan Ryan Hernandez Jessie Lopez Nelida Mendoza Thai

In nine of the ten cities investigated, the waste hauler has been the sole source provider to their respective city(s) anywhere from 39 to 72 years. Where there is an opportunity for service providers to compete, there is an opportunity for competitive bidding, which may result in improvements in cost and performance. Response: The City of Santa Ana agrees with this finding. The City has retained the services of its current franchise hauler, Waste Management (WM) since 1993, resulting from a competitive Request for Proposals process. This agreement has been in place for 27 years. On March 24, 2020, the City issued a competitive Request for Proposals for solid waste services. Proposals have been received, and are in the evaluation stage. The timeline for this process includes council action to approve a new agreement in July 2021, with a service start date of July 1, 2022.

The labeling on residential bins are not always legible or have comprehensive enough instructions laminated or otherwise made a part of the lid, especially with regards to single use plastic shopping bags. Education and outreach efforts need to be reinforced as often as possible and a visual reminder on the recycle container will help alleviate confusion. Response: The City of Santa Ana agrees with this finding. Labeling for both residential bins and carts is hot-stamped into the lids as part of the manufacturing process. Historically, WM has recycled plastic bags and so included them in the allowable recycling waste stream. The City is finalizing this year’s Program Brochure for residents, which is to be mailed before year-end. The brochure specifies that plastic bags are to be disposed of as trash, and not recycling. Section 4.2.4.1 G. Cart Labeling and Hot Stamping in the contract that will be effective July 1, 2022, requires labels on the inside of lids, and hot stamping on the top of the lid and/or body of the cart. Information in English and Spanish will include what materials should and should not be placed in each, and requires City approval. Additionally, all carts shall be labeled in accordance with CalRecycle requirements under SB 1383 throughout the term of the agreement.

Orange County Waste and Recycling as well as the waste haulers provide helpful recycling education to the public where contractually required to do so. It is the Grand Jury’s view that most cities delegate much of the customers/public education efforts to the waste haulers. Contracts indicate both parties are responsible for educating the public. Response: The City of Santa Ana agrees with this finding. The City has several education and outreach programs, such as the Santa Ana Green quarterly newsletter, mailed to all residents, including multi-family. The newsletter provides program information, resources, and recycling education. The City contracts with the Discovery Science Center of Orange County to provide Santa Ana families no cost entry on the first Tuesday of each month on Santa Ana Waste Free Days. Residents have access to a range of programs, activities, and guest incentives focused on the promotion of positive recycling and waste disposal habits. City-led programs are enhanced through work with WM, which is contractually required. In addition to the annual Service Guides mailed to all customers, the City and WM participate in the Party for the Planet at the Santa Ana Zoo to educate residents and visitors about recycling. WM participates in a variety of community events such as: National Night Out, Fiestas Patrias, Com-Link, and neighborhood association meetings, and provides presentations to educate residents about recycling, In 2018, the City amended its agreement with WM to add an expanded education program. On behalf of the City, WM contracts with EcoNomics, Inc., (EcoNomics) an environmental consulting company, to provide education, outreach, and implementation for AB 341 and AB 1826 applicable customers in English, Spanish, and Vietnamese. Each year a letter and compliance reporting form are mailed to non-compliant customers. The Compliance Reporting Form is to be completed by the customer by a date certain, and returned to the City via mail, email or fillable form located on the City’s website. EcoNomics reviews the responses, verifies compliance if applicable, and follows up with customers to provide free program implementation services, including; waste audits, education and training, signage, and assistance with scheduling bin/cart delivery with WM. As a result, compliance, 3rd party recycling program verification, and new program implementation have increased significantly.

Cities are not in compliance with AB 341 mandates with respect to providing recycling containers for multi-family units. Response: The City of Santa Ana disagrees with this finding. The City is in compliance with AB 341. As detailed in the response to Finding 3 above, the City continues its recycling education, outreach, and implementation program for multi-family units. To date, CalRecycle has expressed their satisfaction with the City’s strategy, and our implementation progress. The City does face challenges in program implementation due to space constraints, which have led to implementing split-bin collection, smaller bin size availability, and the allowance for customers to share bins.