Recycling is everyone's job
By Stephanie Bertholdo bertholdo@theacorn.com

As more Americans strive to protect the environment and seek products that reduce energy consumption, hardly a day goes by when the term "going green" isn't heard at least somewhere on the street.

California's recycling programs, which have been in existence for nearly two decades, seem simple enough: Place landscape clippings in one container; paper, glass, plastic and metal in another container; and the rest of the trash in a garbage bin.

Trash companies will haul the refuse away, but where it ends up and whether the stuff is successfully recycled depends upon a multitude of players and who's in the mood for cooperation.

In many of the local communities, Waste Management is the company that collects the various blends of waste. Some of it is hauled to the landfill, or dump, while the rest finds new life as a recycled product.

Kit Cole, a spokesperson for Waste Management of Ventura County, which operates in Los Angeles County, Thousand Oaks, Oak Park, Simi Valley and Moorpark, says her company doesn't want residents to make recycling their "second job," but that consumers need to be aware of certain rules to make recycling work..

"The big thing is contamination," Cole said. "People put the wrong stuff in the wrong containers." Trash is sometimes dumped into recycling containers, while plastic milk jugs and other recyclable materials end up with the same garbage destined for the landfill.

"The goal for consumers, and the rule that I follow at home, is get (recyclable material) as clean and dry as you can," Cole said. "You need to make sure how you're recycling in your house is as easy and convenient as possible. Making it easy is what will make it successful."

Cole said "dirty MRFing" is a term trash companies use when trash and recyclables become mixed. At the MRF (materials recycling facility), some companies take the initiative to dump the mixed heaps on a concrete slab and separate them, but Cole said Waste Management does not support dirty MRFing.

"We use the clean MRF approach," she said, explaining that her company does not want to endanger the health of its workers by having them pick through pet waste, needles and other refuse that might pose a risk.

The responsibility is the consumer's. If recyclables are not placed in the correct bin, the material ends up in the landfill, Cole said.

Split forces

Laurie Ackerman, a resident of Mountain View Estates in the unincorporated area of Calabasas, has a gripe with her trash company, Universal Waste Management. The company replaced GI Industries as the area's trash hauling company on April 1. The company's trucks are divided into sections and, according to Ackerman, the recyclables and green waste sometimes become mixed with regular trash and the whole bundle incorrectly winds up in the Calabasas landfill.

Ackerman has complained to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.

Matt Blackburn, manager of Universal Waste Management, said his firm's split trucks are not always used for hauling reyclables in one compartment and mixed trash in the other compartment. On two or three days per week, both compartments of the split truck are used for general trash, Blackburn said.

Despite the challenges of keeping trash separate, Blackburn said Universal Waste Management has increased its trash diversion rate—the amount of waste that goes to recycling—to 54 percent in the last three months, up from about 20 percent when the company took over from GI Industries.

"The numbers speak for themselves," Blackburn said.

Recyclable materials are diverted to several companies, including Sun Valley Paper Stock Inc. and the Allan Company, which purchase recyclable materials and sell the renewed products to commercial and industrial businesses.

Universal Waste Management also sells recycled manure, Blackburn said. Animal waste is turned into compost and then sold to nurseries, which prepare the compost as a fertilizer.

Cole said Waste Management doesn't use the split trucks.

"We found that when you split a truck, the different sections of the truck don't fill up evenly," Cole said. "It's not an efficient use of fuel to have a truck driving around full of trash but only half full of recyclables. From a carbon footprint perspective, it's more efficient to run one type of material per truck."

To the market

Alex Farassati, the environmental services supervisor for the city of Calabasas, said the sucess of recycling depends on certain market forces. Burbank Recycling processes construction and demolition waste, while Crown Disposal Company of Sun Valley combines food waste with green waste and sells the product to farmers in the form of compost.

Electronic waste is collected by a different contractor altogether, Farassati said. Products are separated, sorted, dismantled and purchased by various businesses. "Each piece goes to a different destination," he said, although not all components find a home and may eventually wind up back in the landfill.

Calabasas has a goal of putting 75 percent of its waste into recycling by 2012, Farassati said.

Hazardous waste collection

Household hazardous waste services are available in most cities.

In Agoura Hills, residents can drop used batteries, paint, oil and other chemicals at city hall on the first Saturday of every month.

In Calabasas and Hidden Hills, household hazardous waste can be brought to the Calabasas Tennis and Swim Center. Calabasas has several used battery drop-off points in the city.

Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley run a monthly hazarous waste service and residents of Camarillo and Moorpark can schedule a collection by appointment.

Westlake Village even offers a door-to-door pick-up.

Most cities don't collect the waste in December due to the holidays.

For a comprehensive guide to to the products that could end up in a landfill but shouldn't, visit www.earth911.org.