Chapter 1 – Introduction
Doing its part to help move Olympia towards its vision of “Sustainable Community,” the Waste ReSources Utility (Utility) provides municipally operated solid waste collection and disposal and diversion services, including education and outreach to residents, businesses, and visitors.
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Mission “To lead and inspire our community toward a waste-free future.” Strategic Role “To create opportunities to eliminate waste.” |
In June 2006, the Olympia City Council adopted a Zero Waste Resolution. The resolution set a new direction for the Utility and guided the development of the Toward Zero Waste: Olympia’s Waste ReSources Plan (Plan), 2008 2013 — a six-year strategic and operational plan. The 2008 2013 Plan created the framework for a more focused approach toward zero waste, with two primary goals: reduce waste generation and increase recovery.
The 2015 2020 Plan continued in this direction while aligning with key goals of the Olympia’s 2014 Comprehensive Plan to manage solid waste as a resource that provides environmental, economic, and social benefits (GU12) in a responsible and cost-effective manner (GU13) and minimize the environmental impacts caused by solid waste management (GU14).
Program Highlights Since 2015
Since 2015, the Waste ReSources Utility has continued to lead waste reduction and recycling programs as well as operational efficiency efforts. Program highlights since 2015 include:
• Reducing contamination in recycling and compost by conducting award-winning customer feedback campaigns.
• Increasing collection efficiency and supporting contamination reduction efforts by using GIS routing, onboard tablets, and additional customer information.
• Increasing organics recovery through expanding the commercial organics collection program to more customers.
• Improving the quality of commingled recycling by removing glass and setting up separate glass collection infrastructure.
• Increasing the stability of recycling costs by signing new five-year contracts with Lemay/Waste Connections to transload/haul recyclable materials and with Pioneer Recycling Services, LLC, to sort them. Both contracts have been extended to 2025.
• Reducing litter and centralizing waste collection in downtown Olympia by adding two shared compactors that replace individual commercial dumpsters and carts.
However, Olympia did not meet its 2015 waste prevention or recovery targets, with garbage and total waste increasing as recycling decreased.
• From 2014 to 2021, citywide garbage tons increased by 14%. On a per-capita basis, citywide garbage increased by 3%.
• From 2014 to 2021, residential waste per capita increased by 5.5%, primarily due to an increase in garbage. Much of this increase occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, but even in 2019 residential waste per capita, particularly garbage, had increased.
• From 2014 to 2021, the single-family weight-based recycling and composting rate dropped from 57% to 51%, largely due to Olympia ending curbside glass recycling in 2020. Multifamily weight-based recycling fluctuated between 14% and 16%.
• Citywide organics tons increased by 6% from 2014 to 2021, mainly due to single-family residential composting. Commercial organics tons had increased by nearly 60% between 2014 and 2019 before falling back to 2013 levels as restaurants closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
The Waste ReSources Utility developed this seven-year Plan for the period 2023 2030 to honor prior commitments, build upon accomplishments since 2015, and address current challenges and opportunities. This plan expands with strategies and actions around three main themes: climate and environmental goals; diversity, equity, and inclusion; and operational safety and financial sustainability. With this Plan, the Waste ReSources Utility focuses on lowering the climate and environmental footprint of the Utility and the City and creating a more inclusive and equitable service for utility customers while ensuring that the Utility remains financially sustainable.
Climate change represents a serious threat to Olympia and its residents and businesses. Waste exacerbates environmental and climate change-related impacts, so the Utility plans to continue and refine efforts that promote waste prevention and recovery through education, outreach, and collection services. The Utility also has a role in reducing climate emissions by working toward electrifying its fleet, which uses nearly 74,000 gallons of fuel each year.
To support Olympia’s diversity, equity, and inclusivity initiatives, the 2023 2030 Plan includes strategies to provide information and outreach materials in languages most commonly spoken by the Utility’s customers; increase engagement to reach customers, including multifamily residents, more effectively; begin embedding racial equity principles in Utility operations; and explore opportunities around rate equity and the utility rate discount program to reach more customers in need.
For operational safety and financial sustainability, the 2023 2030 Plan includes strategies to minimize rear-load collection, improve data management for operational and financial planning, and develop an updated customer rate schedule that will balance current costs with program goals and simplify tracking.
The 2023 2030 Plan is built around four goals that have been updated since the 2015 Plan to incorporate the previous themes:
• Reduce the quantity and environmental impact of waste (garbage, recyclables, and organic materials) generated in Olympia
• Increase the quantity and quality of recyclable and compostable materials diverted from the landfill
• Operate safely, equitably, and efficiently
• Manage the Utility’s finances responsibly and equitably
The goals, strategies, and actions presented in Table 1 offer a roadmap for Waste ReSources over the next seven years. Further information and discussion regarding the goals, strategies, and actions are in Chapter 6.
Table 1 Summary of Goals, Strategies, and Actions
Reduce the quantity and environmental impact of waste (garbage, recyclables, and organic material) generated and disposed in Olympia
Strategy 1A Reduce the overall waste generated
Action 1.1 Expand waste prevention messaging to reduce waste generation
Action 1.2 Work toward a waste prevention strategy to comprehensively reduce waste generation
Strategy 1B Reduce the amount of waste landfilled
Action 1.3 Support city, county, regional, and state policy efforts to prevent waste and improve recycling and composting
Strategy 1C Reduce the climate and other environmental impacts of waste and our operations
Action 1.4 Prevent leaking dumpsters to support Olympia’s stormwater permit requirements
Action 1.5 Monitor and plan for future fleet electrification to support City climate goals
Increase the quantity and quality of recyclable and compostable materials diverted from the landfill
Strategy 2A Increase capture rates and reduce contamination rates for recycling and organics
Action 2.1 Update development standards and commercial building codes to increase recycling, composting, and diversion in multifamily, mixed-use, and commercial buildings and projects
Action 2.2 Expand multifamily recycling outreach to increase recycling and reduce contamination
Action 2.3 Change school education to create resources for expanding multifamily outreach
Action 2.4 Refine commercial assistance outreach program for efficiency and expanded service
Action 2.5 Refine single-family contamination reduction efforts for efficiency and improved communication
Action 2.6 Explore offering commercial recycling service to serve customers without private collection, after conducting a need and feasibility assessment of recycle transloading at the Carpenter Road site
Action 2.7 Implement programs and policies in support of HB 1799 and its new and amended laws in the Revised Code of Washington
Strategy 3A Minimize incidents/accidents and meet or exceed safety standards, certifications, or permit requirements
Action 3.1 Ensure safety through training, standards, continuous improvement, and minimizing rear-load collection
Action 3.2 Update development standards for safety, efficiency, and increased diversion
Strategy 3B Implement racial equity principles and practices
Action 3.3 Translate and transcreate outreach materials to reach more customers
Action 3.4 Expand community engagement to reach more customers more effectively
Action 3.5 Implement established city policies regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion and contribute to citywide equity opportunities
Strategy 3C Operate efficiently
Action 3.6 Improve data collection, management, and reporting to support planning and evaluation to meet goals
Action 3.7 Continue working to build a new operations and maintenance facility (Carpenter Road or elsewhere) to improve capacity, efficiency, and safety
Action 3.8 Continue improving efficiency by minimizing rear-load collection and balancing routes
Action 3.9 Expand usage of downtown shared compactors to improve collection safety, collection efficiency, and downtown cleanliness
Strategy 4A Plan, evaluate, and adaptively manage performance against goals and priorities
Action 4.1 Develop annual work plan and review progress annually to align efforts with goals and adaptively manage performance
Action 4.2 Conduct a waste characterization study to assess progress and identify opportunities for improvement
Action 4.3 Develop and implement regular asset inventories to plan for growth and replacements
Action 4.4 Update Olympia’s municipal solid waste code to reflect current services and policies
Action 4.5 Explore licensing and reporting for private recycling, organics, and C&D recycling collectors to track progress on recycling and composting rates for commercial and C&D waste
Action 4.6 Continue offering a Utility Rate Discount Program and work with other City utilities to ensure economic support meets the need
Action 4.7 Update customer rate schedule and adopt multi-year rate path to reflect current services and costs, simplify tracking, support goals, and reduce customer rate impacts
Action 4.8 Maintain adequate reserves to smooth economic impacts and maintain a predictable rate path
This plan is organized as follows:
• Chapter 1 summarizes the Plan goals and strategies.
• Chapter 2 explains Plan development and alignment with zero waste concepts, organizational structures, and legal and policy relationships.
• Chapter 3 outlines trends in Olympia’s population, employment, and waste generation.
• Chapter 4 describes Waste ReSources’ collection services and related operations.
• Chapter 5 summarizes education and outreach programs.
• Chapter 6 describes the goals, strategies, and actions that the Utility will implement over the next seven years.
• Chapter 7 summarizes Utility funding for providing waste-related services.
• Appendices contain research memos that informed the Plan’s strategies and actions.