I. INTRODUCTION

1.    Under current approved (or ordered to be implemented) plan:

Date of Ohio EPA approval or order to implement           April 18, 2000
Counties within District                                                    Hamilton
Years in planning period                                                  15

2.    Plan to be implemented with approval of this document

Counties within District                                                    Hamilton
Years in planning period                                                  2006 - 2021
Year 1 of the planning period                                           2006

Mandatory five-year plan update.

In accordance with ORC 3734.56 (D), the Plan must be revised, if the Board of County Commissioners determines that “circumstances have materially changed from those addressed in the approved initial or amended plan of the district.” On an annual basis, District staff will provide a report to the District Policy Committee which analyzes the factors listed below. The role of the Solid Waste Management District Policy Committee will be to make a preliminary determination that a material change in circumstances has occurred in the District and forward a recommendation to the Board of County Commissioners that the District proceed with amending the Plan. The following criteria will be used to determine if a material change in circumstances has occurred in the District:

1. Change in the availability of revenues for plan implementation. A change in District revenues – to the degree which cannot be compensated for through cost reductions and program modifications – will be considered a material change in circumstances provided that such a change impacts the District’s ability to implement the Plan. The District will continually analyze the impact of revenue flows on its ability to implement programming. A revenue reduction of 10 percent, from the projected revenues, will be cause for examining the impacts and determining whether the declaration of a material change in circumstances is warranted.

Monitoring Strategy: In order to make a determination on this criteria, the District will monitor monthly and annual revenue receipts along with changes in the amount of revenue received from various sectors of waste generators (In-District, Out-of-District, Out-of-State, etc.). Revenue updates will be provided to the Policy Committee at each of their regularly scheduled business meetings.

2. Change in available capacity for disposal of District waste. During development of the Solid Waste Management Plan, the District is required to demonstrate access to at least 15 years of disposal capacity. This figure can be misleading depending upon whether planned capacity is included in the analysis. For the purpose of determining a material change in circumstances, the District will convene a meeting of the Waste Industry Subcommittee if, at any point during the planning period, permitted disposal capacity falls below fifteen years. A material change in circumstances may be declared, and acted upon, should that committee indicate that a capacity problem exists or if capacity falls below fifteen years without the existence of planned capacity.

Monitoring Strategy: District staff will periodically conduct a waste-shed capacity analysis to determine the amount of accessible capacity available to the District. The District will also obtain copies of annual reports from each of the landfills identified as accepting District waste.

3. Change in waste generation rates. A material change in circumstances may be declared in the even that waste generation in the District varies by 15 percent from plan projections.

Monitoring Strategy: District staff will utilize data from the Annual District Report to make a determination on a change in District waste generation.

4. Change in solid waste or recycling infrastructure. A material change in circumstances may be declared in the event that infrastructure is lost or added to the District which impacts the implementation of programs designated in the Plan. This may include the addition of infrastructure which assists the District in managing waste streams for which prior programming exists, or the loss of infrastructure currently used to manage various waste streams.

Monitoring Strategy: The District will monitor the activity and existence of recycling infrastructure through the survey process incorporated in conducting its Annual District Report for the Ohio EPA.

5. Any other factor deemed relevant by the Board of Directors. Any other factor which impacts the ability of the District to implement the Solid Waste Management Plan may cause for the declaration of a material change in circumstances.

Appendix A contains a copy of the original “Resolution Establishing the Hamilton County Solid Waste Management District”.

Todd Portune, Hamilton County Commissioner, Chairperson
Bernie Fiedeldey, Colerain Township Trustee
Deborah Holston, City of Cincinnati
Tim Ingram, Commissioner, Hamilton County General Health District
Anthony DiPuccio, P.E., Waste Generator Representative
Glen Welling, Public Representative
Dr. Carl Evert, Citizen Representative
Larry Riddle, Rumpke, Ex Officio Member

Pat DeWine, Hamilton County Commissioner
Phil Heimlich, Hamilton County Commissioner
Todd Portune, Hamilton County Commissioner

Hamilton County Department of Environmental Services
Solid Waste Management District
250 William Howard Taft
Cincinnati, OH 45219
Phone (513) 946-7719

Contact:         Jeffrey W. Aluotto, Manager, Hamilton County Solid Waste Management District
                      Phone:  (513) 946-7719
                      Fax:      (513) 946-7779

The Hamilton County Solid Waste Management District utilizes the following subcommittees to assist in the implementation of the District’s Plan:

• Finance Subcommittee

  Composed of the Township Representative, Municipal Representative and the
  Health Commissioner, this Subcommittee was formed in order to periodically
  review the finances of the District and to ensure that the District’s annual budget corresponds with the District’s plan and guiding principals.

• Waste Industry Subcommittee

  This subcommittee meets on an as needed basis for the following purposes:

  1. To elect a new ex-officio, Waste Industry representative, to the District’s Policy Committee, and

  2. To provide the District with guidance in areas where the Policy Committee desires technical assistance from the industry.
  

II. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

A.   STATUS OF IMPLEMENTATION

The Hamilton County Solid Waste Management District’s Solid Waste Management Plan, approved by Ohio EPA on July 19, 1993, and updated on April 18, 2000 is fully implemented. As a result of the programs and activities initiated by the District, the residential/commercial landfilled waste stream has been reduced by over 25% and the industrial landfilled waste stream has been reduced by approximately 60%.

Most of the programs described in the current Plan have been successful and will be continued, modified, or expanded in the planning period covered by this Plan update. The District’s Policy Committee has determined a course of action on several major issues related to continued implementation of the Plan.

The keys to the success of the District's programs have been:

§ Flexibility: The Residential Recycling Incentive Program, for example, allows communities to use incentive funds to develop recycling programs that best meet the needs of their residents and fit most appropriately into their existing solid waste management system.

§ Responsiveness: When it became evident that an “education only” approach to HHW would not be sufficient to address the needs of Hamilton County residents, the District was able to modify its approach.

§ Creativity: District staff have developed award-winning education and promotion programs in response to the needs of communities, residents, businesses, and industry in the County.

§ Partnerships: The District did not mandate the type and extent of waste reduction programs to be implemented within Hamilton County. Rather, the District established partnerships with communities, schools, businesses, and residents to determine the most appropriate waste reduction programs for their specific needs.

Adding to these keys to success, during this next phase of the District’s Plan will be a focus on Measuring Performance. While the District has every intention of fully implementing the programs described herein, the Plan has purposefully been written to provide flexibility to alter tactics if, in fact, a certain program is deemed to be unsuccessful. As such, the District will be creating and assigning performance measures to each individual program as a means of ensuring that District funds are being targeted and expended on activities having the most impact on waste reduction and recycling in Hamilton County.

Drawbacks faced by the District in the previous planning period included the availability of low cost disposal; strained local government budgets; volatile recycling markets; a stagnation of recycling rates; and public apathy regarding the issue of recycling. While some of these problems are cyclical, many are structural in nature and will continue into the next planning period. For example, the United States is currently facing one of the greatest local government financial crises in recent history; and projections do not show the situation improving any time soon. As the District moves forward with implementing its Plan, it will have to address the fact that funding for recycling will face increasing scrutiny at the local level.

B.   DESCRIPTION OF SECTION III THROUGH IX OF THE PLAN UPDATE

Section III - Inventories

In this section, the District describes the existing recycling, composting, incineration, and disposal systems in place in 2003, the reference year for the Plan update.

In 2003, District generators disposed 1,044,983 tons of residential/commercial waste, 129,604 tons of industrial waste and 33,654 tons of exempt waste, for a combined total of 1,208,241 tons.

Using community reports and survey data, Section III summarizes the results of the District=s recycling and household hazardous waste collection activities for 2003. Curbside recycling accounted for 31,602 tons of diversion, and community drop-offs resulted in 2,662 tons of materials being recycled. Buy backs, drop-offs, and recycling facilities reported 167,560 tons of recyclables from residential/commercial sources. Industrial recycling totaled 156,912 tons, and household hazardous waste collection events diverted 412 tons of products (such as paints, automotive fluids, and batteries).

Similarly, 22 yard waste composting facilities and mulching operations reported recycling a combined total of 268,586 tons of yard waste from District generators in 2003.

Section IV - Reference Year Population, Waste Generation, and Waste Reduction

2003 has been selected as the Reference Year for the Hamilton County Solid Waste Management District. The 2003 reference year population of 828,504 was determined by using the 1990 Census and the 2003 Census estimates for Hamilton County. This information was obtained from the Ohio Department of Development, Office of Strategic Research and the Hamilton County Regional Planning Commission.

Section IV estimates waste generation for the reference year. For 2003, the reference year, generation quantities and rates were as follows:

§ 1,481,541 tons or 9.80 lbs/person/day for residential/commercial waste;

§ 286,524 tons or 1.89 lbs/person/day for industrial waste; and

§ 33,654 tons or 0.22 lbs/person/day for exempt waste.

Thus the combined total waste generation quantity and rate for the Reference Year is 1,801,307 tons or 11.91 pounds per person per day.

Section IV also estimates waste reduction quantities for the reference year which are as follows:

§ 436,558 tons for residential/commercial waste;

§ 156,912 tons for industrial waste; and

§ 0 tons for exempt waste.

Section V - Planning Period Projections and Strategies

Section V describes the planning period (2006-2021) and establishes projections for population, waste generation, and composition. Overall, the amount of waste generated in the District annually is projected to rise slightly over the planning period. Residential/commercial waste generation, calculated at 9.80 lbs/person/day is expected to rise .1 percent per year over the planning period. Waste stream composition is not expected to change substantially from 2006 through 2021.

Section V also describes the following residential/commercial and industrial waste reduction activities that will be continued, modified, expanded, or implemented during the planning period:

Residential/Commercial

Residential Recycling Incentive Program

The Residential Recycling Incentive Program (RRI) is an incentive-based program that provides funding to municipalities and townships in Hamilton County based on the weight of residential recyclable materials collected from the community and reported to the District. During the planning period, participating communities will submit semi-annual applications to the District that include a report of the tons of residential waste recycled. The District will then provide the participating community with an incremental amount of money for every ton of waste they report as recycled.

During the last planning period the RRI program proved to be one of the District’s most popular programs. It can be credited with funding approximately 20% of the residential recycling contracts occurring in the District. Despite this, however, the program began to lose its incentive effect during this last planning period. The District, therefore, will be modifying the program, as described in Chapter V, to ensure that the program targets District funding where it will have the most impact on recycling.

Reduction Assistance Grants

The District will continue to provide grant funding to communities and non-profits for innovative recycling projects. The community funds, however, will be targeted specifically to address a waste management issue identified annually by the District. It is expected that during the first year of Plan implementation, the focus of these grant dollars will be on issues related to yard waste management.

Yard Waste Management Programs

During the implementation phase of the Solid Waste Management Plan, the District plans to continue its outreach efforts relating to yardwaste management in Hamilton County. This will include increased efforts to promote effective backyard composting through education and sales of compost bins to County residents.

The District will also continue to maintain operation of its yardwaste drop-off sites as long as these sites remain cost-effective. Finally, in an effort to promote sustainable community yard waste systems, the District will initially focus its Reduction Assistance Grant funds on yard waste management activities.

Scrap Tire Management

During implementation, the District will continue to provide funding for scrap tire collections throughout Hamilton County. The District has found it beneficial to partner with Keep Cincinnati Beautiful to implement scrap tire management programs.

In addition, the District plans to:

§ Promote the availability of funds from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources to support tire management; and

§ Cooperate with appropriate entities to promote improved inspection/enforcement practices for illegal dumping, particularly as related to waste tires.

Household Hazardous Waste Management

The District will continue to encourage residents to limit the use of, recycle, and safely dispose of household hazardous waste (HHW) through the following means:

§ Advertising the availability of the District’s permanent site for the collection of Household Hazardous Waste.

§ Responding to citizen inquiries;

§ Periodic press releases or paid advertising; and

E-Waste Management Strategies

The District will promote the proper management of used computer and electronic equipment through the following means:

§ Implementation of annual computer recycling events to raise awareness of the need to recycle and reuse computers.

§ Periodic press releases and advertising.

§ Including this information in District publications designed to promote recycling.

§ Partnering with private sector retailers to promote computer recycling options for residents.

§ Maintaining information on proper computer recycling on the District’s website.

Industrial Waste Reduction Strategies:

Many of the larger commercial and industrial waste generators located within the District are currently using waste minimization and recycling programs to limit their wastes. While recognizing and promoting the successful waste reduction programs and policies adopted by these larger generators, the District will focus its ongoing education efforts on the smaller industrial and commercial firms that do not have reduction and recycling activities.

To ensure that District activities directed toward business and industry meet the needs of local firms, a periodic survey will be conducted to identify needs and priorities facing this sector with regard to solid waste management, waste reduction, and recycling. The survey will also provide a mechanism for evaluating the effectiveness of business and industry education and outreach efforts.

Whenever practical, messages for the business community will provide a focus not only on recycling, but also on waste minimization and buying products with recycled content.

During the implementation phase of the District’s Solid Waste Management Plan, business workshops will be continued on an as-needed basis. Information from the annual survey of businesses, as well as input from local Chambers of Commerce and other representatives of the business community, will be used to determine the frequency of workshops and the topics to be addressed. Whenever practical, the District will find partners to assist with designing, promoting, and facilitating the workshops.

The District will contract for the provision of industrial and commercial waste assessments – moving these responsibilities away from District staff and focusing more heavily on the waste diversion opportunities identified and implemented during these assessments.

In 1996, the District established The Interchange, a materials exchange program and newsletter that connects industries and companies that generate waste with firms or individuals who can reuse or recycle the materials. The District intends to continue managing The Interchange as long as the local industrial and business community feels that this program is beneficial and funding allows.

The District will also continue the practice of placing interns, as co-ops, with industrial firms throughout the County. The purpose of this program is to assist these firms with the identification and implementation of waste reduction alternatives.

Section VI - Methods of Management

This Section presents the maximum tonnages of Hamilton County Waste expected to require management during the planning period, which breaks down to:

§ Recycling 324,884 tons

§ Yard waste composting 275,528 tons

§ Disposal 1,208,241 tons

Based on surveys of landfills in Hamilton County and the region, the District determined that adequate disposal capacity exists in the region for District-generated waste through the planning period. Further, Section VI describes capacity for used tires, recyclables, and yard waste composting. Based on current projections, existing and planned facilities are expected to be sufficient during the planning period.

Section VI also states that the District will rely upon the siting process for facilities contained in the Ohio Administrative Code – effectively relying on the appropriate regulatory agencies to manage siting issues in Hamilton County.

Section VII - Measurement of Progress Toward Waste Reduction Goals

Ohio law requires solid waste districts to reduce residential/commercial waste 25% and for industrial waste 50% before the year 2000. The District reduced approximately 25% of the residential/commercial waste stream and more than 50% for industrial waste stream in the reference year (2003). During the planning period, the District expects to continue meet or exceed this level of waste reduction. However, several challenges affect the District’s ability to substantially increase waste reduction rates during the 15-year planning period, including:

§ Reduced interest on the part of the private sector to collect residential and commercial recyclables and yard waste and;

§ Limited market based incentives (e.g. PAYT p programs) to motivate waste reduction.

§ Decreasing levels of funding;

§ Volatility of markets for recyclables and compost/wood chips.

Section VIII - Cost and Financing of Plan Implementation

Section VIII addresses both District revenues and expenditures.

The District’s Plan maintains reliance upon disposal fees as the sole revenue generating mechanism for the District. However, the District’s Policy Committee did recommend a hierarchy for determining how fees, if necessary, should be increased. The Policy Committee determined that, in the event of a revenue short-fall, Staff first rely on cost reductions and enhanced program efficiencies to balance the budget. Secondly, the Policy Committee stated that further revenue needs should be obtained through an increase in the disposal fee (up to .20/ton on in-District waste) and subsequently through the institution of a generation fee. The generation fee was recommended in realization of the fact that large increases in a disposal fee could have adverse impacts on local waste flows and District revenues. The Policy Committee also authorized District staff to consider the use of user fees where necessary to supplement District revenues.

The financial projections presented in this Plan call for an increase in the disposal fee in 2011 to $1.20-$2.40-$1.20. It should be noted that this increase will only be necessary if the financial projections materialize in the manner detailed in Section VIII.

Section IX - District Rules

The Board of Directors of the Hamilton County Solid Waste Management District have decided that at this time no rules will be made, published or enforced in accordance with Divisions (F)(1), (2) and (3) of Section 343.01 of the Revised Code and Divisions (C)(1), (2), (3) and (4) of Section 3734.53 of the Revised Code. However, the Board of Directors of the Hamilton County Solid Waste Management District, does not waive its authority to make, publish or enforce rules in accordance with Divisions (F)(1), (2) and (3) of Section 343.01 of the Revised Code and Divisions (C)(1), (2), (3) and (4) of Section 3734.53 of the Revised Code.

Table ES-1
General Information

  Plan Status (underline one):
  D   RD   DR     Approved (date)   /   /       OI (date)   /   /   DA

  III. INVENTORIES

The purpose of the inventory section is to identify the existing waste reduction and recycling services operating in the District. Measurements of the amount of waste source reduced, recycled, composted, incinerated and disposed are identified here for the purposes of establishing the basis for plan projections.

A.   REFERENCE YEAR

The District has identified 2003 as the reference year for the plan update. Data collection on residential, commercial and industrial disposal and recovery efforts were begun in 2004, using 2003 as the most recent completed year for the availability of data.

B.   EXISTING SOLID WASTE LANDFILLS

The existing landfills used for solid waste generated within the District are outlined in Table III-1. Additional information on out-of-state landfills is provided in Table III-7.

  In-District Facilities

  Out-of-District Facilities

  Out-of-State Facilities

  Rt. 4; Box 258;Olive   Hill, KY;   41164

Residential/commercial landfill disposal totaled 1,044,940 tons, industrial waste totaled 129,604 tons, and exempt waste equals 33,654 tons for a combined total of 1,208,249 tons. Exempt waste is defined as material excluded from the definition of solid waste in ORC 3734.01 (E) including slag, uncontaminated earth, non-toxic fly ash, spent non-toxic foundry sand, and material from mining, construction or demolition operations. The following sources of information were used to complete these sections:

1. 2004 District Survey of Landfills in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana.
2. Telephone conversations with area landfill operators.
3. Hamilton County Solid Waste Management District’s 2003 annual report.
4. Telephone conversations with Ohio EPA.

C. EXISTING INCINERATORS AND RESOURCE RECOVERY FACILITIES

Based upon a review of past OEPA Annual Reports and conversations with local facilities and haulers, the District did not send any municipal solid waste to incinerators or resource recovery facilities in 2003. Therefore Table III-2 is not included.

D. EXISTING TRANSFER FACILITIES

As shown in Table III-3, 122,040 tons of Hamilton County waste flowed through a transfer station before final disposal in a municipal solid waste landfill. All of this material was classified as residential/commercial solid waste. This information was collected primarily through a 2004 District telephone survey of transfer stations.

E.   EXISTING RECYCLING AND HOUSEHOLD HAZARDOUS
      WASTE COLLECTION ACTIVITIES

Residential/Commercial

The District currently has 22 communities providing non-subscription curbside recycling to their residents. Eleven communities provide recycling opportunities through a combination of curbside service supplemented with drop-off facilities that is either provided or funded by the community. 20 communities provide recycling solely through subscription service. 3 communities provide recycling solely through drop-off service. Data for residential curbside recycling is presented in Table III-4.

Curbside Recycling

Total amount recycled = 31,602 tons

Community Drop-Off Recycling

Total amount recycled = 2,662 tons

As stated previously, the District collected community recycling data from the Residential Recycling Incentive Program. Each community that participates in this program sends the District the amount recycled on a semi-annual basis. Eleven communities in Hamilton County have both curbside recycling programs and drop-off locations. These communities are: Anderson Township, City of Blue Ash, City of Cincinnati, Crosby Township, City of Deer Park, City of Loveland, City of Montgomery, City of Reading, City of Sharonville, Village of Woodlawn, and the City of Springdale. Three of these communities (Cincinnati, Blue Ash, and Sharonville) have multiple drop-offs that were reported in aggregate.