From: Parnes, Rebecca

To: Slote, Peter

Cc: Gagliardi, Mark; Redic, Wanda
Subject: RE: Christmas Trees for biomass for clean energy?
Date: Monday, December 09, 2013 10:47:22 AM
Thank you for the consideration Peter. We will proceed with composting the holiday trees.

Rebecca

From: Slote, Peter [mailto:PSlote@oaklandnet.com]
Sent: Monday, December 09, 2013 10:46 AM
To: Parnes, Rebecca
Cc: Gagliardi, Mark; Redic, Wanda
Subject: RE: Christmas Trees for biomass for clean energy?

Rebecca While we appreciate the challenges specific to managing pine trees, the City
does not approve WMACs request to send holiday trees collected in Oakland to biomass
facilities as an alternative to the options allowed in Article 4.3 of the Franchise Agreement,
which requires that collected Yard Waste will be recycled through composting, mulching
or applying directly to land. This provision of the Franchise Agreement reflects the
community expectation that material set out for recycling will be actually recycled, and not
transformed. Mulching of holidays trees, as an alternative to composting, remains an
approved activity.

Respectfully - Peter


Peter Slote
Senior Recycling Specialist, Environmental Services Division
City of Oakland | Public Works Agency | APWA Accredited Agency
250 Frank H Ogawa Plaza, Ste. 5301 | Oakland, CA 94612
(510) 238-7432 | (510) 238-7286 Fax
pslote@oaklandnet.com

Recycling Hotline | (510) 238-SAVE (7283) | recycling@oaklandnet.com
www.oaklandrecyles.com

Report A Problem | Public Works Agency Call Center | (510) 615-5566
www.oaklandpw.com | pwacallcenter@oaklandnet.com | Mobile app: SeeClickFix




From: Parnes, Rebecca [mailto:RParnes@wm.com]
Sent: Wednesday, November 20, 2013 10:56 AM
To: Slote, Peter
Subject: Christmas Trees for biomass for clean energy?

Hi Peter,
Per our contractual requirements, I would like to request the Citys permission to send
holiday trees collected in Oakland to a biomass burning facility to generate clean
energy. WM prefers composting as a first choice to manage organic discards but the
chemistry of pine trees makes this option challenging. Pine trees are very acidic and
their needles are very waxy. The acid in the pine trees kills the microbes resulting in a
long timetable for decomposition, and the needles remain intact in our finish compost
because their waxy nature prevents their decomposition.

Please let me know if the City approves sending holiday trees to a biomass facility,
which still results in diversion credits under The California Integrated Waste
Management Act of 1989(AB 939).

Thanks,

Rebecca Parnes
Contract Compliance
rparnes@wm.com

Waste Management
172-98
th
Avenue
Oakland, CA 94603
Tel 510 613 2104

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