Environment and Recycling

CITY OF CHARLESTON WEST VIRGINIA Council Member – AT-LARGE Caitlin Cook Environment and Recycling Committee, Chair 1534 Summit Drive Public Safety Committee Charleston, WV 25302Telephone: 304-543-879 caitlin.cook@cityofcharleston.org TO: Environment and Recycling Committee FROM: Caitlin Cook, Chair RE: Committee Meeting A meeting of the Council Committee on Environment and Recycling will be held on Thursday, April 14, 2022. The meeting will begin promptly at 5:30 PM. THE MEETING WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC VIA ZOOM *Join via internet: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86435790679?pwd=YklqYjJlSklyc1NjZU1qTXphb1BaZz09 Passcode: 163963 *Join via Telephone: (312) 626-6799 or (929) 436-2866 Webinar ID: 864 3579 0679 Agenda APPROVAL OF PREVIOUS MINUTES 1. 1-27-2022 DISCUSSION 1. Bin discussion 2. Gorilla recycling facility discussion 3. Green team update 4. Benchmarking update CC/jb Page | 1 of  MINUTES ENVIRONMENT & RECYCLING COMMITTEE MEETING JANUARY 27, 2022– 5:30 PM- VIA REMOTE Committee Members Present: Caitlin Cook, Chair – Courtney Persinger, Vice Chair Bobby Brown –Bobby Brown–Emmett Pepper Others Present: Brent Webster – Jered Lanham -Linda Frame w/Green Team Caitlin Cook, Chairman began by stating that this would be mostly a meeting that would allow us to gather information and establish a foundation as a committee. She added that we want to build on the great work that former Chair Councilman Bailey set forth that we need to make sure we are up to date and aware of everything that has gone or and set goals for moving forward. She also stated that that since this is the first committee meeting under its new makeup, we want to ensure we have a solid foundation on recycling and will hear from our Refuse department as well as a member of our Green Team. Additionally, she would like to establish a standard meeting date for this Committee and will be sending a doodle poll to each member in order to establish what dates would work for the members of this committee. The Chairman next entertained a motion to approve the previous meeting minutes. Courtney Persinger made the motion. Emmett Pepper Seconded. Previous minutes approved as written. First Agenda Item: Overview of Program - The Chairman provided a power point presentation and gave a brief overview of the recycling program. The Chairman then gave the floor over to Brent Webster, Public Works Director. Mr. Webster began by stating that currently the number one issue is cardboard, as the Beckley facility only takes it if its dry. After the bags were discontinued, and in order to continue recycling and to make it easy as possible for the residents, they picked up recycling in whatever it was in. He states that he believes that there does need to be some type of uniformity in collecting recyclables but acknowledges there is no immediate resolution for the issue. Jered Lanham provided the committee some cost numbers related to the city taking its recyclables to the Beckley facility. Jered Lanham added that it would be ideal to find a way to go over to a standardized bins for recycling as the tippers can be added to the trucks at any time. With no questions or comments from the committee the Chairman moved to the next agenda item. Green Team Update: Linda Frame with the Green Team began by stating that Patty Hamilton is the Chair of the committee and they have put together some notes to give an overview of what they have accomplished in the almost year that they have been in existence. She stated that their purpose as a group is to be a citizen advisory team to provide ideas around sustainability issues. She stated these were broken down into four priority issues : Energy & Efficiency, Land Use Water Resources and Transportation, Public Education & Communication and Litter Waste & Page | 2 of and Recycling. She stated that one of their first big achievements is that they had recommended a benchmarking program that was adopted by City Council. She went on to say that they have created a Facebook page, utilize guest speakers in order to increase their education, and adopted by-laws to help govern themselves. She stated that green teams exist throughout other cities and that Morgantown WV is their sister city. She added that a passion of Chair Patti Hamilton is making the city more walkable and have been looking into ways to improve sidewalks, lighting and safety. She stated that at their last monthly meeting they had received a recycling proposal from Gorilla Recycling which gave them some promising ideas that could help tackle some of the issues just discussed to help alleviate some of those costs. She went on to say that they hope to review it and hopefully have something to recommend to this committee in the very near future. She advised that the Green Team meets the 3rd Tuesday monthly at Noon and extended an invitation to all on the E&R Committee to join them. She stated that they are looking forward to 2022 and to working with the E&R Committee. She also mentioned that at their next Meeting on February 15th there will be a representative from the DEP mostly focusing on targeting education to young people and the school system. Chairman Cook opened the floor for any questions or comments. There being none she thanked Linda Frame for joining them tonight and expressed the desire to connect with the Green Team moving forward. Chairman Cook stated that at the next meeting as a committee, that we can hopefully identify three areas or three policies or solutions that we want to work toward, realizing that there are things we can and cannot control. She hopes that the Committee can come to a consensus of what the top priorities should be and how we can achieve them. The Chairman asked if there were any further comments, questions or concerns. Emmett Pepper mentioned that perhaps at some point in the next month or two that there May be a reason to have an update from the City Manager about the implementation of the Energy Savings Bill that passed last year. There being no further comments, the Chairman entertained a motion to adjourn. Emmett Pepper made the motion. Shannon Snodgrass seconded. Meeting was adjourned. Page | 3 of Page | 4 of Page | 5 of Page | 6 of  PROPOSAL March 9, 2022 The City of Charleston Kanawha County, WV Ms. Patti Hamilton, Chairperson, City of Charleston Green Team Mr. Emmett Pepper, Councilman, Environment & Recycling Committee, City of Charleston , We are Gorilla Recycle LLC based in the USA seeking an opportunity to build a turnkey, recyclables processing facility in Kanawha Valley County. Our design is unmatched in the industry and the safe operation will yield best in class purity of all recyclable materials. The world is seeking a sustainable solution for recovery of all renewable materials and the opportunity for the City of Charleston and all the Greater Kanawha County to participate is now available. Our design includes state of the art sorting equipment and is affordable because of sizing and efficient design. Our equipment is made available from renowned industry international suppliers. Our project can be completed in 120 – 150 days from day of equipment delivery (4-6 months) and all we need is 3 acres of land, proper ingress and egress, tie-in to utilities, local labor force and a single stream of recoverable material. We are willing to share our revenue stream with the City of Charleston and the percentage is negotiable based on several factors including payback to our investors and total feed to the facility. The footprint for our facility is expandable from 4 to 5 tons per hour which is adequate to meet the needs of the Greater Kanawha Valley population (60,000) and expandable up to 20 tons per hour. This is more than enough capacity to handle neighboring communities in the future. Recoverable commodities include aluminum (40% of revenue), ferrous metals, all grades of paper and plastics. What makes our design and process unique is that with a push of a button, we can recover 96+% purity of any single commodity and bale it before being shipped to end users or brokers. The purity of our recovered material Page | 7 of is second to none and will create a new standard in the industry. Consequently, Charleston and the state of West Virginia will be an industry leader. To facilitate your decision regarding the approval of our facility, we reference “FINAL REPORT – Feasibility Study for the Recycling Program, January 14, 2021” Section 5 RECOMMENDATIONS.  Sustainable, Equitable Waste Management Revenue Mechanism – Although a feed of mixed stream is possible to our facility, the operation is much more efficient with a single stream of recoverable materials. A tip fee of $30 per ton (compared to the current cost of $175) will be realized. KV will participate in the revenue generation and this percentage is negotiable.  Waste Management Organizational Structure – Gorilla will hire and train local individuals for the safe operation and management of the facilities. This will include manual sorter, technicians/mechanics, and management personnel. Gorilla will be fully responsible for the organizational structure while being completely transparent in our operation with the KV. This will include attendance of trade shows, conferences, and best practices.  Optimized Refuse and Bulk Waste Collection Services – With the assistance of The Recycling Partnership and other partners, the education of the community for successful collection and contamination management of the recoverable materials will be a key. It will take time and persistence but absolutely achievable as demonstrated and practiced in many parts of the USA and the world.  Transition to Cart-based Collection – Together we can work with our partners to make carts available to all residents with grants and assistance from our investors.  Develop a Comprehensive Recycling Education and Outreach Strategy – Education is necessary for the successful operation of our facility. Our education process will be continuous, and the outreach will be to all neighboring communities to welcome participation. Our National Tour Bus will travel to schools, hand our program literature, and engage with city officials. We can meet and exceed all recommendations on the report and look forward to future discussions involving the approval and acceptance to build and operate our facility. Frank S Hernandez, Scottee Newkirk CEO, Founder Gorilla Recycle LLC Page | 8 of Business Opportunity Current recycling infrastructure and businesses cater to large metropolitan areas in the U.S. This leaves a vast majority of rural and smaller communities in the U.S. without recycling infrastructure or underserved with costly and inefficient recycling programs. These same communities have no choice but to incinerate or worse, landfill valuable resources. Company Description Gorilla Recycle has been created to provide efficient, near-zero carbon footprint, turnkey recycling facilities for small to medium communities or regions in the U.S. This solution can also be applied globally. Team Core Team: Scottee Newkirk, founder; Frank Hernandez, CEO; Dave Finnman, CFO Other Team Members/Advisors: Steve Pilato, West Virginia advisor Luke Bingham, design and construction advisor Nick Doyle, advisor, Tomra Sorting Systems, Inc. Rutger Zweers, advisor, Sparta Manufacturing, Inc. Industry Analysis The heart of the recycling business is the successful and safe operation of a full processing facility. It is where recyclable commodities, collected at households or businesses, are delivered for sorting by type, to be baled or bundled. These commodities are then sold to brokers or mills to be used again in a manufacturing process. Partnering with end-users will be a challenge but large metropolitan areas already have established outlets that can be leveraged. End uses for all commodities is continually evolving along with profitability in the U.S. and the world since China stopped taking a large portion of our commodities. Target Market The Gorilla processing facility is designed to accommodate communities or regions with a population base of 50,000 to 200,000. There is little to no competition in these target markets in the U.S. and we estimate over $150MM people can benefit from our facilities. Current collection methods can be used to route the necessary single stream to the facility. Implementation Timeline Gorilla Recycle can construct a turnkey facility within 120 – 150 days after a contract is signed depending on equipment delivery and weather conditions. Industry experts, managers and construction leaders are available to Gorilla Recycle and will Page | 9 of be brought on board as needed to oversee and manage the construction. Gorilla Recycle is fully prepared to own and operation the facility until the community is ready for a smooth transition of ownership. Marketing Plan Gorilla Recycle has a network of individuals familiar with the recycling industry throughout the U.S. Each facility is fully customized to meet the needs of a specific community. An alliance with the Recycling Partnership who has a similar mission of providing a domestic recycling solution is available for consultation and grants. Financial Summary Gorilla Recycle will realize a net operating margin of +$2MM per year, depending on the feed to the facility and commodity pricing. Financial modeling and revenue forecast is available, and we plan to be fully transparent regarding the operation and revenue sharing with the KV. Funding Required Exact costs will be determined at the contract date for the highly customized facility. Negotiations with our investors will ultimately determine how much revenue we can share with KV. Gorilla Scope & Performance SCOPE • In-feed Material: Commercial and Residential single stream • Capacity: 4 - 10 tph (expandable to 20 tph) • Personnel: 7 Manager, Mechanic and Sorters • Total Area Required: 3 acres • Gorilla facility built on reinforced concrete foundation & optional climate controlled • Optional Solar Power Plant - Electric Grid is the backup or Diesel Generator • Gorilla includes general contracting, commissioning and training PERFORMANCE PROJECTIONS • Rate of Recovery/Purity: +87%/+96% • System Uptime: > 90% • Cost $/processed ton: $30-40 / ton • Net Margin: $139 / ton with Solar * Depends on Op Costs, Feed Rate and Commodity Pricing. Tipping Fee of $30/Ton • Estimated ROI: 5 - 6 years * A BETTER WORLD FOR ALL PAGE 23 Page | 10 of Secondary Markets Recovered Materials Potential End Users OCC Newport Trading, Blackbridge Investments, • Regional End Users will Clean Tech, Georgia Pacific have to be ascertained Newport Trading, Blackbridge Investments, ONP/Mixed Paper Clean Tech, Georgia Pacific Newport Trading, Blackbridge Investments, • Brokers are also an PET optional market – direct Clean Tech, Georgia Pacific Newport Trading, Blackbridge Investments, to end users is preferred HDPE Clean Tech, Georgia Pacific 3-7 Mixed Plastics Newport Trading, Blackbridge Investments, • +96% Pure Commodities Clean Tech, Georgia Pacific creates a new product Newport Trading, Blackbridge Investments, Ferrous Metal that makes the Gorilla- Clean Tech, Georgia Pacific Newport Trading, Blackbridge Investments, mrf unique in the Non-Ferrous Metal Clean Tech, Georgia Pacific industry Mixed Glass and Rejects LANDFILL (New Markets Emerging) A BETTER WORLD FOR ALL PAGE 25 Page | 11 of To: The Honorable Amy Goodwin, Mayor The Honorable Caitlin Cook, Chair of Environmental & Recycling Committee From: Charleston Green Team Patti Hamilton, Chair James Young, Vice-Chair Linda Frame, Secretary Ted Armbrecht Justin Marlowe Rod Watkins Pam Nixon, Advisory Member Re: Proposal from Gorilla Recycling Date: March 15, 2022 Your Charleston Green Team submits the attached proposal to you for consideration by the Environmental and Recycling Committee. We had a detailed discussion by Zoom with Steve Pilato and Scottee Newkirk, representing Gorilla Recycling, at our January meeting. They followed up with a proposal for consideration at our February meeting and we responded with a few questions and suggestions. We discussed the attached revised proposal at our March 15th meeting, concluding and voting affirmatively that the proposal should be reviewed and vetted by the members of the Environmental and Recycling Committee. We recommend that you request a presentation from Mr. Pilato and Mr. Newkirk as they provided to the Green Team in January. Thank you for your consideration and please feel free to contact us if you have any questions. Page | 12 of