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0 Waste Sonoma reports household hazardous waste hub, solar panel recycling and a planned 65,000-ton compost facility
Summary
0 Waste Sonoma reported countywide programs including household hazardous waste collection and a solar panel recycling pilot that collected more than 1,000 panels; the agency also described grants supporting edible food recovery and a planned 65,000-ton compost facility at the county airport site.
0 Waste Sonoma presented its annual update to the Santa Rosa City Council, summarizing countywide programs for hazardous waste collection, compost distribution, edible-food rescue and plans for a larger composting facility.
Lehi Lukasz, executive director of 0 Waste Sonoma, told council the agency operates the county household hazardous waste (HHW) program, provides the online “what-does-this-go-in” recycling tool visited by thousands, and conducts community outreach including Spanish-language radio. 0 Waste Sonoma said it runs free HHW collection Thursday through Saturday for residents and operates a rover pick-up service for people who cannot get to collection sites.
Solar panels and reuse programs: 0 Waste Sonoma said a state grant allowed it to run 13 solar-panel collection events, gathering more than 1,000 panels for recycling; about 10% were tested for reuse and some were reused through partners such as Habitat for Humanity. The agency reported partnerships for repair fairs, clothing swaps and a reuse alliance that diverted thousands of pounds through second-use events.
Compost and edible-food recovery: Lukasz said the agency has secured about $3 million for edible food recovery grants and reported one grant rescued roughly 330,000 pounds of edible food for redistribution. 0 Waste Sonoma has multiple compost hubs that distribute free compost and is developing a new compost facility at the county airport that, when complete, would process 65,000 tons annually. The agency is at about 30% design for the airport facility and said permitting will take additional time.
A new central HHW facility: Lukasz said 0 Waste Sonoma acquired four acres near Shiloh for a consolidated household hazardous waste facility; design is nearly complete and permitting is underway with an expected timeline of about a year to 18 months depending on approvals.
Greenhouse gas accounting: Council member McDonald asked how the agency calculates greenhouse gas avoidance from waste diversion. Lukasz said 0 Waste Sonoma hired a consultant that used EPA WARM-model methodology and additional metrics including carbon sequestration from applying compost to land; the agency said a report will be shared with jurisdictions to help Climate Action Plans reflect diversion benefits.
Next steps: 0 Waste Sonoma will continue community events during “0 Waste Week,” expand education and finalize permitting for the new compost and HHW facilities. The agency asked jurisdictions to continue partnering on edible-food recovery, reuse and local composting.
