SIMI VALLEY : Curbside Recycling Program to Expand

The city of Simi Valley will expand its voluntary curbside recycling program to include all 26,000 single-family houses in the city beginning July 9, officials said Thursday.

The recycling program, which began in 1989 as a pilot project serving 1,000 houses, was expanded in April to include 13,000 households. The program has yet to include apartment and condominium complexes.

Initially, city officials had planned to further expand the operation in April, 1991. But a recent grant of $70,000 from the state has enabled the city to widen its service sooner, said Jocelyn Reed, deputy director of the city’s Environmental Services Department.

She said the city is also pitching in an additional $90,000 to help pay for operation of the citywide program through March.

She said the money will be used to purchase 13,000 34-gallon plastic bins for the additional households.

Residents will begin receiving their containers Monday, with collection of newspaper, glass and aluminum starting about a week later, Reed said.

Since the recycling expansion in April, more than 400 tons of recycled materials have been diverted from the Simi Valley Landfill, Reed said.

A recent state law requires that cities devise a plan by the end of the year to reduce the flow of trash into landfills by 25% in the next five years and by 50% before the end of the decade.

Simi Valley was the first city in Ventura County to implement a recycling program. With the expansion, it will have the largest curbside program in the county, Reed said.

Thousand Oaks, Fillmore, Moorpark and Ventura have similar programs.