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0 Waste Sonoma outlines new HHW site, compost and rescue programs to Cotati council
Summary
0 Waste Sonoma executive director Leslie Lukacs updated the Cotati City Council on repair fairs, mattress and solar-panel collections, edible-food rescue grants and a planned household hazardous waste facility near Shiloh/US-101; staff and council discussed software to track C&D recycling and state SB 1383 compliance.
Leslie Lukacs, executive director of 0 Waste Sonoma, told the Cotati City Council on Oct. 14 that the agency is expanding programs to reduce waste and increase reuse across its 10 member jurisdictions.
"I'm Leslie Lukacs, executive director of 0 Waste Sonoma," Lukacs said, opening a slide presentation that covered the authority's outreach, household hazardous waste services and pilot collection programs.
Lukacs said the agency's website and printed 0-waste guide are primary outreach tools; the group also runs bilingual education, repair fairs and fix-it clinics to promote reduce-and-reuse practices. She said one repair clinic will be hosted in Cotati in the coming year.
On materials management, Lukacs described free HHW drop-off (Thursday–Saturday) at the Mitcham Road site, a reuse area where residents may pick up donated items, a blended-paint program for graffiti abatement and multiple electronics and mattress collection events to cut illegal dumping.
Lukacs highlighted a recent solar-panel collection pilot: the agency hosted 12 events, collected roughly 1,000 panels and found about 10% were reusable; reusable panels were donated to Habitat for Humanity, some farms and a high-school engineering class.
She also described a new HHW facility planned off Shiloh near Highway 101, for which 100% design is complete and the project will move to the next phase. The site, Lukacs said, is intended to serve residents from Santa Rosa through Cloverdale and to reduce travel burdens to the existing Mitcham Road facility.
The presentation covered regulatory work under state SB 1383, which requires jurisdictions to divert certain organic materials. Lukacs said 0 Waste Sonoma has applied for multiple grants and received over $3 million to support edible-food recovery programs; a recent grant run rescued about 330 pounds of edible food for nonprofit distribution.
Council members asked about a construction and demolition tracking system called Greenhalo, which Sonoma County adopted in May; Lukacs said the agency purchased software with grant support and is working with cities on logistics and long-term funding. She said Greenhalo automates proof-of-diversion reporting to meet CalGreen recycling standards.
The council thanked Lukacs for the briefing and presented a proclamation supporting North Bay 0 Waste Week. Several members praised the agency's outreach and program expansion.
