In 2000, the CIWMB (now known as the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery or CalRecycle) approved the release of a request for proposals to solicit partnership projects with local jurisdictions and/or school districts designed to divert food scraps generated at high-volume sites. CalRecycle made several awards with no individual project funded in excess of $50,000. Awards were offered to the proposer who met the minimum scoring criteria and was the lowest bidder, with subsequent awards given to the second lowest bidder who met the minimum scoring criteria, depending on availability of remaining funds.
Acceptable proposals were to demonstrate innovative approaches to effectively and economically divert food scraps and must have met the following criteria:
- Projects must be located in California.
- Proposals were only accepted from local jurisdictions and/or school districts. School districts and local jurisdictions were allowed to submit a joint proposal to divert food scraps within the school district.
For acceptable proposals, CalRecycle encouraged proposers to be creative and describe specific goals and methodologies of the project. CalRecycle was particularly interested in high-visibility, high-volume food diversion projects that were either ongoing or one-time events that clearly provided public education opportunities. Innovative technologies for high-volume food scrap processing were also encouraged.
Requests for proposal for this solicitation were available April 17, 2000. Proposals were due May 31, 2000. Award of contracts was announced in June, 2000. The Food Scrap Waste Reduction Case Studies page describes the projects (see section on "Food Scrap Diversion Contracts").