12 - TELEPHONE BOOK RECYCLING PROGRAMCOSTA MESA SANITARY DISTRICT
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: Operations Committee Members Via: Scott Carroll, General Manager From: Javier Ochiqui, Management Analyst Date: September 18, 2012 Subject: Telephone Book Recycling
Program Summary The Costa Mesa Sanitary District (CMSD) created Orange County’s first Telephone Book Recycling Program in 1989 (over 20 years ago). The program was established in response
to the State of California’s Assembly Bill 939 (AB 939), which required agencies to meet the 50 percent diversion rate by the year 2000. Since the program’s inception, CMSD has collected
195,858 telephone directories, recycled 379.04 tons of paper, and presented schools with checks totaling $133,559. The Telephone Book Recycling Program is highly visible in the community
and the CMSD has received praises from teachers and students acknowledging the positive impact of this project. The program usually runs for about 4-weeks from mid-November to mid-December.
Given the current state of the economy and the budget cuts affecting education, it has become necessary for schools to finds ways to increase revenue. The CMSD’s Telephone Book Recycling
Program accomplishes that goal. The CMSD was awarded the Bronze Education Excellence Award by the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) for the District’s Telephone Book Recycling
Program. Staff Recommendation That the Operations Committee recommends the Board of Directors direct the General Manager to replace the Telephone Book Recycling Program with an ongoing
Plastic Bottles and Cans Recycling Program.
Operations Committee September 18, 2012 Page 2 of 6 Analysis The Telephone Book Recycling Program works like this: 1. All schools in Costa Mesa are invited and encouraged to participate.
2. CMSD collaborates with CR&R and the Orange Coast College to provide this program. 3. CMSD provides posters and informative flyers to schools in order to promote the program. 4. CR&R
delivers 3-yard commercial bins to all the schools, each bin display a large “Telephone Book Recycling Program” sign. 5. Students are asked to bring in outdated or unused telephone books
over the course of a four-week period. 6. CR&R collects each bin and counts the number of telephone books each week for every school. 7. CR&R sends a summary report of the collection
data to the CMSD every Monday. 8. At the conclusion of the program, a CMSD Director presents a $300 check to all schools that collected 1.5 books per student. In addition, a grand prize
award of $400 is given to the Elementary, Middle and High School, that collected the most telephone books per student. 9. A $500 award is given to schools that collected between 10-20
pounds per student and $800 to schools that collected over 20 pounds per student. 10. A grand prize award is given to one school in each category: elementary, middle and high school,
collecting the greatest number of pounds per student. This program allows children of all ages to learn about recycling and conservation efforts in school and CMSD hopes that they will
apply these principals at home, teach their families, and become good stewards of the environment. This program is four-weeks long and is just one way to care for our environment. However,
research shows that less and less companies are printing fewer telephone books and switching to on-line marketing. Historically, it was prudent for business owners to advertise in their
local Yellow Page Phone Book, however, times have changed. Business owners now have more choices using local on-line marketing instead. According to on-line research, many yellow pages
companies have experienced huge losses in revenues and profits as local searching has shifted to internet local search. According to USA Today, “…regulators have begun granting telecommunications
companies the go-ahead to stop mass-printing residential phone books…Telephone companies argue that most consumers now check the Internet rather than flip through pages when they want
to reach out and touch someone.” Below is a print revenue chart for SuperMedia/Verizon Yellow Pages:
Operations Committee September 18, 2012 Page 3 of 6 $0.00 $0.50 $1.00 $1.50 $2.00 $2.50 $3.00 $3.50 2004 2006 2008 2009 2010 Projected 2013 In Billions Below is a chart of their online
revenues: $0 $100 $200 $300 $400 $500 $600 2006 2008 Projected 2013 In Billions As you can see, print revenues are slowly declining while online revenues are increasing rapidly. Other
companies are preparing for the shift as well. On April 9, 2012, the New York Times published an article entitled, “AT&T Sells Majority Stake in Yellow Pages to Cerberus,” the article
stated that, “AT&T has increasingly focused on its higher-growth wireless and Internet operations.” Bottles and Cans Recycling Program A switch it to a more modern recycling program
such as the “Bottles and Cans Recycling Program” where schools compete against each other and receive their
Operations Committee September 18, 2012 Page 4 of 6 entire recycling revenues will better serve our community. The program will run year round and the revenues they generate can help
pay for new school equipment, supplies, etc. and will continue to increase awareness and the importance of recycling. Instead of giving $300.00 for each school that participates, CMSD
will “revenue match” the school, per category, that fills up the most storage containers and generates the most recycling revenue each quarter. The schools will be categorized as follows:
elementary (10), junior high (2), and high schools (2). CR&R has submitted a flyer for the new Bottles and Cans Recycling Program (Attachment A). The new program will work like this:
1. All schools in Costa Mesa will be invited and encouraged to participate. 2. CMSD will collaborate with CR&R to provide this program at no charge to the schools. 3. Schools schedule
a meeting with CR&R to establish a location for the storage container and provide name and tax ID number for check processing. 4. CR&R delivers the secure, lockable storage containers
to all the schools, each container will display a large “Bottles and Cans Recycling Program” sign. 5. CR&R will provide a lock with two sets of keys. 6. CMSD provides posters and informative
flyers to schools in order to promote the program. 7. Students are asked to bring plastic bottles and aluminum cans that have the CA CRV logo. 8. Once the container is full, the schools
call CR&R at (800) 573-8806 to schedule an exchange/pick-up 9. CR&R will collect and issue the school a check within three days for the full CRV value based on weight. 10. CR&R sends
a summary report of the collection data to the CMSD every month. 11. Every quarter, a CMSD Director will present a “matching” check to the school that generated the most revenue within
that period. Unlike the Telephone Book Recycling Program, the Bottles and Cans Recycling Program will be ongoing and has the capability to generate more money for the schools. Some schools
(not in Costa Mesa) are so aggressive that they fill a storage container every month and generate about $850.00 per container, others fill a container once a quarter. 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.”
Operations Committee September 18, 2012 Page 5 of 6 “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. Financial Review For Fiscal Year 2012-2013, the Telephone Book Recycling Program budget is $10,000. Changing to the
Bottles and Cans Recycling Program will require a budget increase of $13,000 for a total program budget of $23,000 (Table 1). However, staff does not anticipate that each school will
fill up three containers per quarter. Therefore, savings in this program is expected. Table 1 Current budget: $10,000 1 full container (revenue) $ 850 3 containers per quarter $ 2,550
Potential match per quarter per category $ 2,550 Categories Elementary Junior High High Schools Q1 Sept -Nov $ 2,550 $ 2,550 $ 2,550 Q2 Dec -Feb $ 2,550 $ 2,550 $ 2,550 Q3 Mar -May $
2,550 $ 2,550 $ 2,550 Q4 School not in session $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Potential "revenue match" $ 7,650 $ 7,650 $ 7,650 Public Notice Process Copies of this report are on file and will be included
with the entire agenda packet for the September 18, 2012 Operations Committee meeting at District Headquarters and on District website. Alternative Actions 1. Do nothing and refer the
matter back to staff for additional information and/or analysis. Reviewed by:
Operations Committee September 18, 2012 Page 6 of 6 Teresa Gonzalez, Accounting Manager Attachments A: CR&R’s Bottle and Cans Program