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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1.22.26 Solid Waste Program Report1 JANUARY 22, 2026 SOLID WASTE ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING: SOLID WASTE PROGRAM UPDATE Management Makeover The Solid Waste Division of Public Works has made some organizational changes in order to manage transfer station capital improvements needed to meet ever growing customer demand while simultaneously planning for a replacement transfer station. We are pleased to announce that Justin Miskell, our very capable Operations Coordinator, has accepted an offer to co-manage the Solid Waste Division. Justin will bring his deep project and people management skills to his new role as the Solid Waste Operations Manager and will work in close coordination with Al Cairns who will continue to steward the enterprise fund as the Solid Waste Program Manager. See also attached press release. Transfer Station Replacement Planning Process Public Works will meet with the Board of County Commissioners and the Solid Waste Facilities Task Force on January 26 at 6 PM at the Tri Area Community Center to review the planning process for a replacement transfer station. A draft conceptual design will be presented which will show traffic circulation and major elements of the site layout. Members of the SWAC who aren’t also serving on the Task Force are warmly invited to attend. Note that this meeting is intended to be more akin to the BoCC’s series of community meetings. The emphasis will be on direct feedback and communication between staff and the public. Regional Food Hub Please recall that in 2024 and at the request of one of the Board of County Commissioners, staff met with the WSU Extension agents from Clallam and Jefferson Counties and the Port Angeles food bank manager and staff from the City of Sequim to look at the feasibility of a regional food storage and distribution center and the possibility for it to be co-located with a new transfer station. The conceptual design of the new transfer station will not show a regional food hub; however, the design includes large areas in reserve which are outside of the solid waste customer traffic patterns and our potential food hub partners have been notified that should they wish to pursue this capital project the reserved areas are available for consideration. Note that Public Works will not be the lead agency on such a project but stands by as a potential host and “silent partner”. Lease Agreement with StrongerTowns, dba Return to Earth Return to Earth is the brainchild of local entrepreneur Kieth Dixon. As the sole proprietor, Mr. Dixon requested a lease of unused County property adjacent to the County transfer station operation for the development of a small-scale food waste composting operation. Public Works found the request to be consistent with the goal of the Solid Waste Management Plan (SWMP) of using the private sector to deliver elements of the solid waste program when feasible and, if successful, this start-up would assist with meeting SWMP waste diversion goals, particularly in meeting the organics diversion rate of 75% found in the 2023 Organics Management Act. Return to Earth would offer subscription service for collection of food waste off-site which he will deliver to the facility as feedstock for a thermophilic composting operation. In this way the operation would not add more customers to the scale queue. 2 Public Works developed a lease agreement and has submitted it to the Board of County Commissioners for their consideration at their January 20 meeting. Washington’s Comprehensive Climate Action Plan And speaking of food waste diversion, the Department of Ecology is assembling a Comprehensive Climate Action Plan to assist Cities and Counties with planning for climate change adaptation. This will include a number of brief bios of already proven strategies and Jefferson County was asked to provide a bio of the decentralized food waste diversion program that began in 2009. Attached is the description that was sent to Ecology. Transfer Station Service Interruptions /Live Camera The transfer station was plagued with network issues that began with a power and internet loss on December 17, 2025, and which persisted on and off for several days leading to temporary closures. County IT staff worked hard at identifying and rectifying the network issues. The next IT project is the installation of Starlink which will, along with backup power, provide uninterrupted customer service in the event of a network outage. Just ahead of the network outages, IT was able to install a camera at the transfer station which provides a live feed of the transfer station scales so that customers can check ahead of a trip to the facility to avoid a long wait. Recycling Program Revisions and Public Outreach The BoCC adopted a Level of Service Ordinance for curbside recycling on November 3, 2025, the first step in our recycling modernization efforts. The details of an Operating Agreement for the Recycling Center with Waste Connections are being worked out between the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office and Waste Connections. Timeline for Public Outreach: By January 15: - Flyer sent to PUD for February bill that explains changes - Flyer available at transfer stations, front desk, on web page By January 31: - Web page updates - Info on County Facebook/Instagram/Twitter; additional info for each week or two through June, 2026 - Press release to Liz (Laura writes; Al revises, then to Liz) - Articles in the Leader/PDN/Beacon - Info sent to local newsletters: L2020, PT Marine Science Center, Jefferson Land Trust, Coffee News, Next Door, Cape George, Kala Point, Port Ludlow By February 28: - at least 3 community presentations held - Interview on KPTZ By March 31: - Revisions made to web page and flyer - Revisions made to recycling flyer and posted on web page - individual flyers of what happens to our recycling; why can’t I recycle this? What should I do instead? 3 Mercury Lamp Collection Program From a notification from the Department of Ecology on 12/17/25: “On September 30, 2025, Product Care Recycling (PCA), the stewardship organization that has operated the LightRecycle Washington program for ten years, officially notified Ecology that they would cease administration of the program at the end of the year. The program’s uncertain financial future was cited as the primary reason for PCA’s decision. LightRecycle is funded by an environmental handling charge (EHC) applied to each retail sale of a mercury-containing light. With the dramatic decline in the sale of those lights, the program’s funding is unsustainable. Further, revenue from the EHC will stop when the complete sales ban for these lights goes into effect in 2029. PCA’s financial analysis predicts the EHC revenue will no longer be sufficient to support the program in early 2026. The law requires producers to fully fund the program beginning in January 2029. It also requires producers, through the product stewardship organization, to make up any funding gap should the EHC be insufficient (RCW 70A.505.030). But with PCA’s exit, there needs to be a new stewardship organization to operate the program and collect funds from producers.” After receiving this notice, the Solid Waste Division stockpiled as much of the special packaging materials that LightCycle could deliver in order to continue providing a collection point at both solid waste facilities while a solution is found. Public Works has suggested that the Legislature ban sales of these products effective on the passage of a bill in the current short session. As of 1/13, we have approximately 8 weeks before we are out of holding capacity and will need to discontinue mercury lamp collection and direct customers to dispose of them as garbage. Legislative Update The Solid Waste Managers workgroup of the Washington Association of Counties (WACSWM) has been told that we will be getting updates on proposed legislation for a household hazardous waste (HHW) extended producer responsibility (EPR) program. The high costs of operating HHW collection and disposal programs places a large burden on solid waste tipping fees for financing. A HHW EPR Bill is a welcome development. A first draft aligns well with the WACSWM guiding principles for such legislative efforts. Staff will keep SWAC informed of the bill’s status and will provide bill sponsor contacts as well as those of opposing legislators so that you may submit comments as individuals if so inclined. Household Hazardous Waste Collection Events/Kitsap County Interlocal Agreement Below are the 2026 HHW collection event times, dates, and locations. These have been posted on the Solid Waste webpage and a flyer will be included in the March PUD billing. Instagram, Facebook and KPTZ community calendar reminders will go out ahead of each event. Saturdays 10:00 am – 2:00 pm April 1 June 6 Quilcene Roads Shop Chimacum High School 295316 Hwy 101, Quilcene, WA 91 W Valley Rd, Chimacum, WA May 9 September 12 Jefferson Transit Haines Park & Ride Chimacum High School 440 12th St, Port Townsend, WA 91 W Valley Rd, Chimacum, WA 4 The rate of participation for Jefferson County residents at the Kitsap Moderate Risk Waste Facility since the interlocal agreement began is shown in the table below. Employment Program for Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities The County entered into a new 3-year agreement with Cascade Community Connections for the provision of a job training program for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) at the transfer station. Cascade was selected after a review of Statements of Qualifications from the Municipal Research and Services Center consultant roster. Public Works is pleased to continue to support the program and a description of it will be included in the Social Responsibility element of the updated Solid Waste Management Plan. Illegal Dumping vs Tipping Fees Public comments were submitted as part of the November 3, 2025, Public Hearing on the Level of Service Ordinance for curbside recycling that suggested that the program revisions would lead to more illegal dumping. Similar comments have been made at all meetings of the BoCC where fee or program revisions have been proposed by Public Works. Using the illegal dumping complaint log maintained by Public Health as the department responsible for responses to illegal dumping, the below graph illustrates that there is neither correlation nor causation between Solid Waste Division fee revisions and the rate of illegal dumping. Note that these complaints included a horse carcass, buckets of human waste, and a car which are not accepted materials at solid waste facilities but were left in the data set anyway. Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Brinnon 1 1 2 Chimacum 1 1 2 1 1 1 7 Nordland 1 1 2 Port Hadlock 1 1 1 2 1 2 1 9 Port Ludlow 2 3 1 3 2 2 3 4 7 1 3 6 5 3 45 Port Townsend 2 4 2 2 2 3 3 2 1 3 1 5 30 Quilcene 2 2 1 1 1 1 8 Total Count 5 9 5 4 4 5 5 8 8 13 3 5 12 7 10 103 2024 2025Customer Location All Months 5 Data Collection and Program Analysis The 2025 workload for staff was such that program analysis was necessarily limited to that needed to support budget development and recommended program revisions. With the staff revisions made toward managing the solid waste program more efficiently there is now more bandwidth for a wider scope of analysis. The first two areas staff will focus on are creating a Profit & Loss sheet for the Quilcene Drop Box facility and labor allocations at both facilities by activity (MSW processing, waste diversion activities, transactions, traffic control, etc.). Data collection and analysis in a manner like a private sector business would conduct is necessary for developing the Financial Health element of the SWMP that will be part of the SWMP update process. Transfer Station Capital Improvements Staff are currently working on the development of bid specifications for two capital projects at the transfer station: replacement of the customer scales and structural modifications to the transfer station tipping floor building and associated infrastructure. Scale replacement is the primary objective for 2026 and will necessitate the closure of the transfer station for an extended period to self-haul customers, much like Snohomish and Kitsap Counties did in 2025 to allow for major improvements at their transfer stations. Financing for both projects which are estimated at close to $2M will be sought from the Public Works Trust Board in the form of grants and loans which will be paid down from the Capital Surcharge fund established in 2025 by BoCC Resolution.