FY25 Proposed Budget

• Iowa City Community Compost sold out in FY23. Staff wrote a successful $4 million grant through the Environmental Protection Agency’s Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling (SWIFR) program to improve the surface of the existing facility and expand by two acres. • A successful partnership was implemented with Table to Table to encourage residents to reduce food waste. • Ongoing assistance from Green Iowa AmeriCorps supports our battery recycling program, litter assistance, waste reduction programming and other Resource Management goals. • The hiring of a new position, a Maintenance Worker I, in FY24 has reduced overtime by Landfill Operators by about 20% in Q1 for tasks such as mowing and dumping roll off containers. • Staff has weathered significant turnover in the past year, including the Assistant Superintendent, a retirement and several staff leaving due to promotions (internal and external). Many of the new hires were internal promotions, including the Assistant Superintendent, and everyone is doing an excellent job. External hires have increased the diversity of the Division. • Timing of purchases for trash, recycling and organics carts has settled into a more routine, predictable task. • White Goods staff is experimenting with potential efficiencies regarding trips to the landfill. Some loads are being combined in order to reduce truck mileage, fuel and staff time needed for daily landfill trips. This effort is being tracked through the Division’s Environmental Ma nagement System. • Food Waste Wednesdays, a pilot program for food waste drop-off, was successfully implemented summer through fall of 2023. The Division will build on this success with the consideration of additional drop-off sites in areas of the community without access to City curbside collection services. Upcoming Challenges: • Wood waste and wood chip volumes continue to remain a challenge. We will continue to explore options for wood waste other than wood chips. • Spatial restraints at the landfill limit potential new or expanded waste diversion, recycling and composting options. Grant funding will help ease restraints in the compost programming area in the short- to mid-term but more space will be needed for all programs to meet the City’s greenhouse gas reduction goals. • Increased compost production will necessitate diligent efforts and outreach to ensure we can move the finished compost. Compost certification and creative partnerships will likely be necessary, incurring significantly more staff time than currently allotted. • Construction and demolition waste programs are needed to reduce material volume entering the landfill and few outlets are currently available for the materials. Staff will continue to explore ideas and possible partnerships to address this challenge.

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