HomeMy WebLinkAbout04. PaintCare Reuse Reimbursement Program UpdateM
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Central Contra Costa Sanitary District
April 2, 2014
TO: REAL ESTATE, ENVIRONMENTAL AND PLANNING COMMITTEE
VIA: ROGER BAILEY, GENERAL MANAGE
DANEA GEMMELL, ENVIRONMENTAL VI S DIVISION MANAGER
FROM: DAVID WYATT, HOUSEHOLD HAZARDOUS WASTE SUPERVISOR
SUBJECT: PAINTCARE REUSE REIMBURSEMENT PROGRAM
BACKGROUND
In March of 2013, the District amended its waste services contract with PSC, Inc. to
allow PSC to use PaintCare, Inc. the product stewardship agency responsible for the
California Architectural Paint Recycling Program (PaintCare). Through a point of sale
recycling fee paid by consumers, PaintCare pays for all costs related to education,
transportation, recycling and disposal of paints collected from over 500 collection sites
in California.
From March through December 2013, the District's household hazardous waste (HHW)
program collected and managed over 600,000 pounds of latex and oil based paints at
no cost by using the PaintCare Program through PSC. This saved the District over
$200,000 in transportation and disposal costs.
PaintCare's waste management hierarchy, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle mimics that of the
California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) and the
District's HHW Facility. PaintCare is managing the "Reduce" portion through education
to paint- buyers. PaintCare helps minimize waste caused by consumers over - purchasing
paint and by educating on recycling paint.
The District is part of the paint "Recycling" mechanism, which leaves "Reuse" as the
remaining piece of paint waste hierarchy. Reusing paint, or better described as "using
up" paint, completes the production and use cycle which reduces the amount of
resources needed to make new paint.
N: \ENVRSRV\Board Committees \Real Estate Environmental And Planning\2014 \PaintCare Reuse Program Memo - REEP 4 -8-
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REEP Committee
PaintCare Reuse Reimbursement Program
Page 2 of 2
ISSUE
The Reuse Program at the HHW Facility has given away more than 5.7 million pounds
of usable products since it opened 16 years ago. This saves the District approximately
$150,000 each year, in avoided transportation and disposal costs. A large part of what
is given away is paint, which equals roughly 60 percent of all products given away.
PaintCare has offered to pay the District for the PaintCare eligible products given away
on a per container basis. This could amount to $20,000 to $30,000 per year in added
savings /revenue.
The proposed agreement requires the District to fully indemnify PaintCare and all of its
members (Paint Manufacturers). The exposure for the District remains the same as it
has been for the last 16 years, since the program began; however, there will be
additional risk of liability if the District must defend PaintCare and all of its members.
Staff, with District Counsel direction, has tried to renegotiate the terms, but PaintCare is
not willing to negotiate the terms relative to the indemnification. Essentially, PaintCare's
position is that the District is providing a service as a contractor. Similar to what the
District requires of its contractors, PaintCare requires indemnification for claims against
the District related to consumers receiving free paint from the Reuse Program.
Whether or not the District chooses to enter into the PaintCare contract, the reuse
program will continue to give away paint. The decision is whether or not to take
payment for the amount of paint given away.
RISK
While measuring the District's risk related to the Reuse Program, an area where the
District is potentially exposed was discovered. In order to reduce this exposure,
protocols may need to be developed that will lessen the risk, such as having staff
manually inventory and checkout each reuse room participant before taking reusable
products. This was once the practice, but to improve efficiency, a self- checkout system
was developed and is currently used.
RECOMMENDATION
Staff believes that based on Reuse Program history, the District's exposure will be
unchanged, but the District's liability will increase in the event the District must defend
PaintCare and all parties. Staff seeks input from the Committee before bringing a
position paper to the full Board.
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N: \ENVRSRV\Board Committees \Real Estate Environmental And Planning\2014 \PaintCare Reuse Program Memo - REEP 4 -8-
14.docx