Cerritos : Green Waste Recycling Program to Begin as a Test to Help Conserve Landfill Space

Green ribbons will begin flying from trash cans Friday in front of about 1,800 Cerritos homes, signaling the start of a city-sponsored “green waste” pilot recycling program.

Homeowners in the targeted area are being asked to put their grass clippings, leaves and plant trimmings in a separate can from the rest of their trash. They are not to “contaminate” the green waste with anything such as the large plastic bags that are often used to line trash cans.

The green ribbons tell the trash haulers which cans contain green waste.

The pilot program is a test that will last for the next three to six months and take place in the city’s southern area. It marks Cerritos’ first step toward meeting the state mandate to reduce by 25% the amount of trash being trucked to landfills.

Green waste is dumped in landfills anyway, but when it is separated from other trash, it can be ground up and used in place of dirt to cover other garbage that is hauled daily into Southern California’s rapidly filling landfills.

Recycling the green waste will reduce the rate at which landfill space is used up. The city’s private trash hauler, Calsan Inc. of Downey, estimates that 30% of the city’s refuse is green waste.

Green ribbons and instructions have been distributed to homes that are in the target area, which is generally between South Street and Del Amo Boulevard, and west of a diagonal line created by Southern Pacific railroad tracks.

Other cities in the area already have started green waste programs in an effort to meet the state mandate.