The City of Renton will accept $70,822.08 in grant funding from King County’s Hazardous Waste Management Program to implement hazardous waste collection, reduction and education projects.
Of that funding, $8,000 is slated to go to a program with the goal of preventing environmental contamination caused by improper disposal of household batteries. Grant funding will go toward continuing to implement a battery recycling collection program developed in 2012 that is accessible to city employees and the public. Public access will be reportedly expanded to additional locations where feasible. Grant funds will be used for costs associated with collection, recycling and proper disposal of batteries typically used in the workplace and by the public, as well as for administration and promotion of the program.
Evaluation of the success of the battery collection program will measure the availability of local battery collection sites for the target audience, and the volume of batteries collected, recycled, or properly disposed.
Additionally, $42,822.08 will go to a program with the goal of helping residents and employees of auto supply and repair businesses reduce the risk of chemical exposure to people and the environment by promoting safe handling of used motor oil and oil filters both in the home and in businesses, providing collection and recycling services.
While the city has provided used motor oil and oil filter collection for recycling to residents through its regular Special Recycling Events for the past 30 years, city staff reportedly recognize that this practice is not sustainable and limits access to many residents who handle used motor oil.
The city launched the Shift Green, Oil and Oil Filter Recycling program in 2022. To date Shift Green has reportedly included:
• Development of evaluation and metrics to measure the change in oil and oil filter recycling
• Initiating engagement with local auto supply and fast-lube retailers, and the Renton Technical College Automotive Technology program
• Creating collateral material for use by retailers and other interested stakeholders
• Engaging with the public at the Return to Renton car show
• Conducting three rounds of site visits with auto supply retailers
• Content creation for Renton’s webpage, newsletter article placement, and social media posts
The city reports intending to continue support of this program under this task for 2023 and 2024 with the following points of focus:
• Continued partner engagement and technical assistance aimed at confirming and increasing safe handling practices to businesses who start or continue existing used motor oil collection and recycling sites
• Recognition and promotion of local used motor oil collection & recycling sites
• Expansion of public education and outreach to promote oil and oil filter recycling and safe handling as a best management practice
• Program evaluation including a variety of data collection efforts to track business participation, volume of motor oil & filters collected, residential awareness of oil recycling opportunities in the city, and other information relevant to the program and with the intent of using data to improve outcomes
According to the city, the evaluation of success will track engagement, and measure estimated volume of oil and weight of oil filters recycled, as well as improvements in residential awareness of oil recycling opportunities at the end of the grant period.
$25,000 will go toward education and outreach programming with the goal of helping residents reduce their chemical exposure risk by providing information about safer product choices and strategies for alternative cleaning methods, as well as increasing residential and staff knowledge of chemical exposure risk from common cleaning products, and to provide the tools necessary for residents and staff to advocate for changes in cleaning products and practices used within their communities.
According to the city, This project seeks to develop a program to work with residents and staffs of multifamily housing in Renton to increase their knowledge about potential chemical exposure risks from common cleaning products and provide alternative strategies to help them reduce their exposure, as well as introduce resources for advocating for overall risk reduction in products they purchase and use in their communities.
The city says Initial work will include learning about effective safer cleaning programs in King County and other cities that have experienced success with multifamily community engagement. In collaboration with a consultant and utilizing the “Renton Equity Lens,” staff intends to engage with residents, property managers, and facilities staff living and working in multifamily housing to identify needs and seek input into the types of program elements they think are useful to help them achieve goals to reduce their risk and improve their living and work environments.
Information collected from community engagement will be used to develop and begin implementation of a multi-year project that can be coordinated with the city’s Multifamily Waste Prevention & Recycling Program.
