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Lid Flip Audit Update
Every year, TCSD contracts with a firm (Envirolutions Consulting) to perform the annual route reviews (lid flip audit) necessary under SB 1383 (State law). The route reviews surveyed four days of collection service (Tuesday through Friday) which includes four trash, four recycling, and four organics routes. TCSD serves approximately 2,200 solid waste accounts, with a range of 484 to 600 accounts per trash route.
SB 1383 regulations for performance-based audits suggest 25 lid flips for each route with less than 1,500 stops. As TCSD has less than 1,500 stops per route, Envirolutions staff audited 25 residential (RES) sites per route, or approximately 75 containers total each day (3 streams per stop). Additionally, Envirolutions included 2 commercial (COM) accounts per day or 8 accounts total for the week as the commercial sector is very small in the TCSD service area. A total of 130 sites, including residential and commercial accounts, consisting of 381 containers were surveyed from Oct 14-18, 2024.
How it works is that upon arriving at a site, Envirolutions staff opened each container lid to survey the contents of the container for prohibited materials and documented the contamination level without physical handling of the container. The prohibited contaminants designation was selected when any of the following was found:
- Material either organic or garbage was found in the recycling container
- Material either recyclable or garbage was found in the organics container
- Any otherwise divertible material (recyclable or organic) in the garbage
Envirolutions noted prohibited contaminates if any material was identified and left an “oops” tag (i.e., note on the cart) if it was more than 10% of the container. The highest contamination levels were found in the recycling carts. Overall, a total of 110 containers (approx. 29%) were found to contain 10% or more of prohibited contaminants. In 2023, approximately 22% of the containers were contaminated.
Envirolutions recommends a continued emphasis on educating the public about what is truly recyclable. There seems to be a misunderstanding of which plastics are recyclable. Contamination in the recycling cart can be for any number of reasons, from “wish-cycling,” to confusing labels and changing rules. Of the 130 sites audited, organic carts were not put-out in 29, which was the highest of all three streams. Continued education on the benefits of organic recycling would likely reduce that number.
In general, residents are doing a good job with their carts. However, this spring we will be implementing an education and outreach program to help residents better understand what goes in each cart.
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