Publication Date: Wednesday, July 27, 2005
Long-awaited recycling program rolling out
Long-awaited recycling program rolling out
(July 27, 2005) Wheeled carts a feature of single-stream recycling
by Koren Temple
After a two-and-a-half year pilot program and debate among City Council members over the merits of single-stream recycling, the program finally rolled out this week.
Citywide delivery of the wheeled recycling containers will take approximately three months, said Monica Devincenzi, Palo Alto Sanitation Co.'s community and municipal relations manager.
The main benefit of the program is that single-stream recycling is easy, Devincenzi said. The method will allow residents and businesses to combine metal cans, mixed paper and cardboard all in the same cart -- no more sorting into plastic crates.
"You don't have to figure out where do I put this or that, and in that sense, more people will participate in recycling," she said.
The city will deliver the new containers on a route-by-route basis. Residents will receive a brochure with a list of acceptable items with their new carts.
Among the recyclables: newspapers, egg cartons and junk mail are accepted, along with aerosol cans, glass and plastics #1-#7 containers (e.g., beverages, milk, soda, water, detergent, shampoo, lotion, yogurt and margarine). Plastic bags, paper napkins and frozen food boxes or cartons are not.
Grass clippings, plant trimmings, flowers and shrubs are acceptable items for the yard-trimming cart. But dirt, rock, cactus, and manure are among those not accepted. The city will also be taking used motor oil, oil filters, household batteries and scrap metal.
Residents filled out a preference sheet last fall, with the option of receiving 32-, 64-, or 96-gallon bins for recyclables and yard trimmings. They also had the option of a new 20-gallon wheeled cart for garbage at no cost. But residents are able to keep their old carts if preferred.
Even though the new, wheeled recycling containers may be tall, they're pretty simple to roll out, Devincenzi said.
For those unable to handle the carts, PASCO offers a physical-limitation program, which is available at no additional charge. The program requires the completion and approval of an application, and enrolled residents would be allowed to leave their carts in their backyards, where PASCO employees will retrieve them.
Despite the recycling changes, the schedule for neighborhood pick-ups remains the same. Carts should be placed curbside by 6 a.m., but should not be left longer than 24 hours before or after collection.
Bins should not block the sidewalk and should be close enough to the street for pickup. A minimum of 36 inches of sidewalk clearance is required by law for safe pedestrian passage.
Recycling and yard-trimming carts should only be placed out when they are full, and should not exceed 200 pounds. Residents should close the lids on the containers, which will prevent raccoons from getting into the bins, Devincenzi said.
What to do with the old recycling crates? The city will pick them up curbside at no additional cost on regular collection days the week after residents receive their new bins. Old yard trimming and garbage containers will not be collected, however, and can be recycled individually or dropped off at the Palo Alto Landfill for a fee. The city is encouraging the reuse of bins for storage or around the house and yard.
The monthly cost schedule for the program will remain the same, and is still based on the number and size of garbage carts per residence. The costs range from $16.87 for a 20-gallon mini-can, all the way to six cans for $134.51, with recycling bins and yard trimming carts costing nothing.
"We want residents to downsize their garbage cans. So the more residence recycle, the more money they will save," Devincenzi said.
Although the recycling carts can be exchanged for larger or smaller ones once a year at no cost, requests cannot be made until after Jan. 2, 2006. This will ensure that services and new bins will reach the entire city.
All of the same rules apply to commercial businesses as well. Businesses however started the new program as of July 1 because they were able to use their recycling carts from their existing program.
Like commercial businesses, residents were supposed to receive bins starting July 1. But the city rejected the original Dec. 2004 bids to supply the carts and to collect and recycle the existing crates, Public Works Director Glenn Roberts said. The bids ranged from a high of $2,260,000 to a low of $2,157,000.
A second bidding process brought the costs down to the city's budgeted amount of $2,023,300.
In a survey of the 2,500 residents who participated in the single-stream pilot program, 93 percent said they preferred the wheeled carts to the former crate method.
The city of Palo Alto will put the new bins on display during "Music in the Park" events. City recycling coordinators will be answering questions Aug. 2 at Mitchell Park and Aug.16 on California Avenue.
Residents can find more information on the city's Web site at www.city.palo-alto.ca.us/recycle/ or by calling PASCO at (650) 493-4894.
Editorial Intern Koren Temple can be reached at ktemple@paweekly.com.
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