Pinellas Partners in Recycling – Contamination Work Group Charter

Purpose

Work Groups are established to support and advance the objectives of Pinellas Partners in Recycling (PPR) in accordance with its Policies and Procedures.

The purpose of the Contamination Work Group is to:

• Develop resources for consistent and effective public messaging, based on research and processing availability, for materials acceptable and not acceptable in single stream recycling and garbage collection programs to achieve measurable outcomes; and
• Provide resources to solid waste and recycling department representatives of local and regional governments

Scope

The Work Group elected to focus on a single contaminant at a time by creating a targeted marketing campaign aimed at keeping the specific contaminant out of single stream recycling and garbage collection. The Work Group is currently focusing on lithium-ion batteries. A lithium-ion (or Li-ion) battery is a type of rechargeable battery that is commonly used for portable electronics. Li-ion batteries should not be placed in single stream recycling collection containers because they are a fire hazard and are not successfully recycled through the single stream recycling process. These batteries should also not be placed in garbage collection containers because they can explode when compressed and cause fires, which is dangerous to solid waste workers.

The campaign will educate and advise residents how to properly recycle or dispose of rechargeable batteries. The Work Group developed a pre-survey to find out what residents currently know about Li-ion batteries and how they recycle or dispose of them. Based on the survey results, the Work Group will research and use effective marketing techniques to develop collateral and a communications plan that includes success measures.

Resources

The group maintains the following resources:

• Pre-survey results (completed)
• Campaign collateral (in process)
• Communication plan (to be developed)
• Meeting agendas and notes (ongoing)

Responsibilities of Officers

The Officers are Chair and Secretary. Their responsibilities are:

• Chair: guides conduct of meetings, builds unity of purpose, helps prepare agendas, welcomes new members, and introduces guests, knows and understands the group’s purpose, ensures sufficient consideration of issues, tries to promote consensus, prevents anyone from dominating discussions, progresses through the agenda on time, summarizes problems, points, and decisions, ensures decisions are carried out, delegates tasks, and represents the group to PPR.
• Secretary: prepares agendas, arranges meetings, keeps formal records of the group’s process and decisions, ensures that resources are accessible to group and PPR, ensures that members have access to records, and assists in representing the group to PPR.

Responsibilities of Members

• Attend and participate in Work Group meetings. If members cannot attend a meeting, they will notify the Secretary and send an alternate, if possible.
• Review and provide input on the development of resources.

Members & Organizations

Officers and members include representatives from the solid waste and recycling departments of local and regional governments, and private sector recycling collector and processors. They are listed in alphabetical order by last name:

• Deanna Doss, City of Gulfport
• Kelsey Grentzer, Pinellas County Communications
• Ashley Giovannetti (or designee), Pinellas County Communications
• Tracy Meehan, WastePro
• Heather Parsons, City of Clearwater
• Marissa Segundo, Transformations PR
• Stephanie Watson, Hillsborough County Solid Waste Management Department
• Ashley Wyland, Pinellas County Solid Waste (Interim Chair & Secretary)

Duration

The group meets every two months or more, as needed

Reporting

The Work Group reports its activity to PPR, who reports the Work Group’s activity to the Pinellas County Solid Waste Technical Management Committee.

Updated on March 5, 2024.