04 - Alkaline Battery Recycling Program
Protecting our community's health and the environment by providing solid waste and sewer collection services.
www.cmsdca.gov
Costa Mesa Sanitary District
….an Independent Special District
Memorandum
To: Board of Directors
Via: Scott Carroll, General Manager
From: Javier Ochiqui, Management Analyst
Date: August 18, 2014
Subject: Alkaline Battery Recycling Program
Summary
On June 26, 2014, the Board of Directors directed staff to slightly revise the Alkaline
Battery Recycling Program. The Battery Recycling Program will begin in September 2014 and end in April 2015. Staff is providing the Board of Directors with a revised
program proposal.
Staff Recommendation That the Board of Directors direct staff to report back on August 28, 2014 with the
recommendation to approve implementing the Program District wide.
Analysis The Alkaline Battery Recycling Program will work as follows:
1. Mercury Disposal Systems, Inc. (MDS), a CR&R vendor, will deliver a few 5-
gallon battery recycling buckets to the schools. Additional buckets will be
available upon request.
2. MDS staff will pick up the batteries the first Friday of every month. Schools can also skip a month if not enough batteries are collected. If implemented, the first
collection will be on Friday, October 3, 2014.
3. MDS will tag the buckets per school, weigh them, and send CMSD the totals
per school.
4. MDS will bill CR&R and CR&R will bill us for this service. This allows us to take advantage of CR&R’s low battery disposal costs which is $0.76 per pound.
Board of Directors August 18, 2014
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5. At the conclusion of the program, a CMSD Director will present the checks to
the schools.
A minimum of 50 lbs. will be required to receive the minimum award of $300.00.
On average, a 5-gallon bucket of alkaline batteries weighs about 50-60 pounds.
This program allows children of all ages to continue to learn about recycling and conservation efforts in school. CMSD hopes that they will apply these principals at home, teach their families, and become good stewards of the environment.
Strategic Plan Element & Goal
This item complies with the objective and strategy of Strategic Element 2.0, Solid
Waste, which states:
“Objective: Our objective is to manage the collection and recycling of residential trash
in the most economical and environmentally friendly way.”
“Strategy: We will do this by looking for ways to improve efficiencies, achieve high
customer satisfaction, and considering prudent new recycling methods.”
Legal Review Not applicable at this time.
Environmental Review
Having the District establish a convenient method for school children and families to dispose of batteries is an approximate equivalent alternative to having the battery
users find another disposal location. If anything, the collection by the District prevents
batteries from being illegally placed in the trash and making their way to landfills. As
presented, the District’s battery recycling program is not a disturbance of the
environment directly or indirectly similar to grading or construction and is not a project under CEQA or the District’s CEQA Guidelines.
Financial Review
For Fiscal Year 2014-2015, the Battery Recycling program budget is $10,000. There are approximately 28 schools in Costa Mesa. Staff estimates that only 17 schools will
participate in the new Battery Recycling Program.
If all 17 schools participate, and they each collect 50 pounds of betteries per month for
seven months, the total would be 5,950 pounds. It costs $0.76 per pound for battery disposal services (this price includes pick-up services). Therefore, the total disposal
costs would be $4,522.
The budget will be used as follows:
Fundraiser Rewards $6,200
Materials and Supplies (flyers, decals, scale, etc.). $1,000
Board of Directors August 18, 2014
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Disposal Costs* $4,500
Total Program Costs $9,000
Categories Rewards
1st Place $1,000
2nd Place $600
3rd Place $400
4th Place (minimum award $300 award) x 14 schools $4,200
Total $6,200
CMSD staff will monitor the Battery Recycling Program on a monthly basis to ensure
that the program is within budget. CMSD staff will inform the Board of Directors as
soon as possible if budget adjustments are needed.
Public Notice Process
Copies of this report are on file and will be included with the complete agenda packet for the August 18, 2014 Board of Directors Study Session meeting at District
Headquarters and posted on the District’s website.
Reviewed by:
Wendy H. Davis
Interim Finance Manager