Draft Meeting Minutes 10/20/2022 — original pdf

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ZERO WASTE ADVISORY COMMISSION (ZWAC) UNIVERSAL RECYCLING ORDINANCE (URO) COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES October 20, 2022 The ZWAC URO Committee convened on October 20, 2022, at Austin City Hall; 301 W 2nd St.; Austin, TX; 78701 Committee members in attendance: Cathy Gattuso (Chair) and Kaiba White City staff in attendance: Selene Castillo, Katie Mulholland, Elizabeth Nelson, and Elizabeth Taylor 1. CALL TO ORDER a. Committee Chair Cathy Gattuso called the committee meeting to order at 1:05 p.m. 2. PUBLIC COMMUNICATION One (1) speaker spoke during the opportunity for public communication. Emily Hanson of Chewie Labs expressed support for organics diversion as part of universal recycling policy and asked for examples of models in other cities in the U.S. Austin can look to for success. 3. MEETING MINUTES a. A motion to approve the June 30, 2022, meeting minutes with no amendments or revisions was made by Commissioner White and seconded by Commissioner Gattuso. The minutes were approved with a 2-0 vote. 4. NEW BUSINESS a. Elizabeth Nelson (ARR) led discussion on composting at multifamily properties. b. Commissioners, staff, and stakeholders discussed the potential financial impact of adding composting at multifamily properties, specifically how it could impact low-income renters. Discussion included costs for haulers and processors, potential for incentives and subsidies, and how economies of scale can reduce costs. c. Commissioners, staff, and stakeholders discussed the processing capacity available through the haulers present in the meeting, and the potential for contamination. d. Stakeholders and commissioners discussed the need for comprehensive education for residents including sustainability impacts of composting. Staff answered questions about how the City can provide education to residents and current education requirements of the URO. e. Commissioners and stakeholders discussed their desire to see access to compost increased through a requirement to provide the service to residents. f. Stakeholders, commissioners, and staff discussed the need to affect behavior change and g. Staff and commissioners discussed the next steps including the future stakeholder meeting engage residents. schedule. 5. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS: multifamily properties a. Commissioners White and Gattuso requested a continued discussion of composting at b. Commissioner White requested discussion on front-of-house recycling and composting. c. Commissioner White requested discussion on landscaping organics diversion requirements. 1  ZERO WASTE ADVISORY COMMISSION (ZWAC) UNIVERSAL RECYCLING ORDINANCE (URO) COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES October 20, 2022 6. ADJOURNMENT Commissioner White motions to adjourn the meeting at 2:34 p.m. without objection. 2