Approve agreement with Corporate eWaste Solutions (CEWS) for storage, transportation, and recycling of electronic waste for the Yolo County Central Landfill (YCCL), Esparto Convenience Center (ECC) transfer station, and Yolo County Information Technology (IT) Department. (No general fund impact) (Echiburu/Juhler)

Approve agreement with Corporate eWaste Solutions (CEWS) for storage, transportation, and recycling of electronic waste for the Yolo County Central Landfill (YCCL), Esparto Convenience Center (ECC) transfer station, and Yolo County Information Technology (IT) Department.

More than 20 years ago, the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) deemed televisions, computer monitors and other items containing cathode ray tubes to be considered hazardous and therefore banned from disposal in California. Since that time, CalRecycle has added a variety of miscellaneous electronics such as printers, telephones, CPUs, etc. to the universal waste regulations, which also restricts disposal at our landfill. In response to these regulations, the DIWM has operated a successful electronic waste recycling program, which brought in 821,078 lbs. of material in our last FY 20-21 state report.

DIWM would like to continue the current program conducted at the YCCL and ECC of accepting electronic waste free of charge from residents and charging a small fee to businesses that utilize these services.  This agreement will also continue to serve the need of the Yolo County Information Technology (IT) Department. CEWS was selected following a competitive request for proposal process.CEWS is a highly-qualified electronics waste recycling firm, capable of recycle approximately 99% of all material after processing, and is offering the best pricing and operational assistance to the County for the requested services.  Our current agreement with California Electronic Asset Recovery (CEAR) expires on August 31, 2022, and approval of this item would authorize CEWS to begin services on September 1, 2022.

Request for Proposals (RFP) Service Requested:  On June 15, 2022, DIWM released an RFP using the county’s web-based Periscope/Bidsync portal for Electronic Waste Storage, Transportation and Recycling Services.  The three electronic waste recyclers who responded with proposals were CEWS, California Electronic Asset Recovery (CEAR), and Clean Earth. Each proposal had a different method by which they could provide the similar services including storage bins, transportation and recycling of the collected electronic waste materials, however CEWS proposed the most operationally sound offer, which will result in keeping the program either free or at low cost to our customers.