The Trash-Weary Take to Recycling : Thousands Pitch In to Salvage Reusables

Mark Beckett always cared about the environment, even though he and his family filled up trash cans at about the same rate as other folks. They recycled newspapers, but not much else.

When Solana Recyclers began curbside collection in their neighborhood, though, the Becketts began acting in earnest. In the last year, they have cut their landfill trash output in half. They recycle glass, plastics, aluminum and other reusable materials though curbside pickup and biweekly visits to a Solana Recyclers collection site in Encinitas.

Beckett, who recently began volunteering at the “I Love a Clean San Diego” recycling hot line, says he now believes the most important thing individuals can do for the environment is recycle their own garbage.

“Only one person is going to fix it, and that’s each one of us,” he said.

The Becketts are among a growing number of North County families who are actively recycling. Approximately 120,000 households in North County now participate in curbside programs to recycle more than 5,400 tons of trash monthly.

That’s trash no longer headed for the San Marcos landfill, which is almost full.

All North County cities have recycling programs, many begun only this year. Recycling is an idea whose time seems finally to have come: it is being mandated by state and local governments and it has struck an emotional chord with an increasingly trash-weary population.

“Public acceptance of recycling was 15% in the ‘70s, 30% in the ‘80s and is 80% in the ‘90s--the decade of the environment,” said Richard Anthony, principal solid waste manager for the county.

Anthony said one reason for the change in attitude: the realization that the San Marcos landfill was reaching capacity eight years before predicted.

The trash dump, which was opened in 1979 and initially was expected to last until 1999, is expected to be at capacity by next summer unless a controversial plan to expand it is approved. A related proposal to build a trash-burning energy plant has been stalled for years.

Meanwhile, as county officials look for sites for new landfills--and meet with cries of outrage from potential new neighbors when they think they’ve found one--the urgency of producing less trash in underscored.

A resurgence of interest in recycling began in 1987, according to Anthony. Three years ago, the County Board of Supervisors mandated a 30% reduction of landfill waste by 1992. In 1988, the supervisors approved a countywide recycling plan that estimated 1.8-million tons of trash could be recycled annually.

Then last year, state legislators passed a bill requiring every city and county to reduce landfill trash by 25% in 1995 and by 50% in the year 2000.

Most of the recycling programs in North County are city-operated in conjunction with trash collection. The exceptions are the nonprofit Solana Recyclers, which services Solana Beach, Del Mar and Encinitas, and the city of Poway, which is served through a program operated by Poway High School’s Emerald Brigade Marching Band.

Here’s what North County communities are doing to reduce their contribution to the trash pile:

CARLSBAD Curbside recycling currently serves 40% of the 26,492 households in Carlsbad, according to Luci Romero, city senior management analyst. Two containers were provided for each home in a phase-in program which covered a three-month period from June to August.

Coast Waste Management collects newspapers, glass, tin, aluminum and plastic, mainly food and beverage containers, which generate approximately 20 tons of recyclables per month, Romero said. Residents are billed $1 per month for the weekly service.

The program has a 78% monthly participation rate, according to San Diego County statistics. Expansion of the program to multifamily units, including condominiums, townhouses and apartment buildings, and to area businesses is in the planning stages, with implementation scheduled to occur by January, 1991, Romero said.

DEL MAR Solana Recyclers provides curbside recycling citywide to 2,289 of the 2,648 total housing units, including single- and multifamily homes, for a total of 86% served.

The program, which began in 1987, generates 33 tons of recyclables per month including aluminum, glass, newspaper and plastic.

Charge for the biweekly service is 55 cents per month. Monthly participation rate is 61%, according to Robert Haley, yard manager for Solana Recyclers.

Approximately 25 Del Mar businesses participate in an organized recycling program, according to Jack Taylor, commercial and institution recycling manager for Solana Recyclers. A recycling program at Del Mar City Hall generates 300 pounds of white paper, aluminum cans and newspaper each month, Taylor said.

ENCINITAS Solana Recyclers has operated a citywide curbside program since October, 1987, which currently serves 15,639 of the 20,925 households or 89%. The program generates 298 tons of newspaper, glass, aluminum and plastic per month from single- and multifamily homes.

Participants pay 55 cents for the biweekly collection. Monthly participation in the curbside program is 60%, according to San Diego County statistics.

Encinitas City Hall office staff participate in a recycling program for white office paper, aluminum cans and newspaper, which generates 1,300 pounds per month, Taylor said.

City funding provided 125 bins for employee work stations to aid the recycling effort, according to Brooke Nash, Solana Recyclers Executive Director. Approximately 70 Encinitas businesses, including public schools, recycle through Solana Recyclers.

All tree and bush trimmings are mulched by city street crews bimonthly, Street Maintenance Supervisor Howard Whitlock said. “We also provide a program where contractors who are tree trimmers can leave their mulch at certain areas around town,” Whitlock said.

Solana Recyclers provides drop-off collection at its Encinitas site, which generates an additional 68 tons of recyclable materials monthly. Bins are provided for the collection of cardboard, glass, aluminum, newspaper, office paper, mixed paper and plastics.

“We have around 60 to 70 cars a day at the drop-off center (on the Encinitas site),” Nash said. “The volume is even higher on weekends.”

The drop-off site was threatened with closure recently when a community advisory board denied extension of the facility’s permit.

More than 200 people attended a Sept. 13 meeting to support the nonprofit recycling effort and to protest the community board’s decision. The Encinitas Planning Commission approved a three-year permit extension and an expansion of the site facilities to include a parking lot for employees and for overnight storage of recycling trucks.

Besides providing a collection service for the community, Solana Recyclers educates students on recycling and operates a library of recycling information. Schools or businesses in the Solana Beach, Del Mar and Encinitas area who are interested in presentations on recycling can call Solana Recyclers at 436-7986.

ESCONDIDO Phase I of a citywide recycling program began in June and services 33% of the 40,815 households, according to Rosemary Leigh, management analyst in the city manager’s office. Cost for the weekly service is $1.43 per month.

Escondido Disposal collects an estimated 32 tons per month of newspaper, glass, aluminum, tin and plastic.

Participation rate in the first phase is approximately 44%, Escondido Disposal Operations Supervisor Bill Thompson said.

The second phase went into effect Oct. 8 when an additional 7,500 homes were added to the program. Each home receives three containers, one for plastic and aluminum, one for glass and one for newspapers.

OCEANSIDE A recycling program began in 1983 with a participation rate of 10% to 13%, according to Anne Thomas, public service department administrative assistant. A 1987 pilot program resulted in a 30% participation rate when recycling containers were provided to 3,000 households in four geographic areas within the city, Thomas said.

A $72,000 grant from the state Department of Conservation provided additional containers, which were distributed in July 1989. Since that time, participation in the program has risen to 68%, Thomas said.

Waste Management of North County/Oceanside Disposal collects aluminum, glass, newspaper, plastic, tin, office paper and computer paper on a weekly basis from 32,000 of the city’s 49,982 dwellings.

POWAY The Poway High School Emerald Brigade Marching Band provides a recycling program for the city. The group opened its own recycling center, at 14225 Garden Road, in November, 1989.

Band students pick up rather than deliver newspapers along established routes. The recycle 250 tons of newspaper per month, according to band director Mark Davis.

“That’s 22 huge containers each month,” said Ray Moreau, parent and recycling chairman for the last seven years of the 14-year program. “We started out in the late ‘70s just trying to buy band uniforms. We were recycling 30 tons a month.”

About 250 of the 400 band students and their parents participate in the collection program, amounting to about 24,000 volunteer hours each year, Moreau said. The money generated is used for private music lessons for the students, for teacher assistants at the high school, for special courses students want to attend and for travel to band competitions.

The band’s curbside newspaper-collection program services 12,500 of the total 17,075 housing units in Poway. At the band’s recycling center, glass, aluminum cans, plastics and newspapers are accepted. The band maintains 11 bins throughout Poway, with the Emerald Brigade logo, for recyclables.

“Each student earns about $4 to $5 an hour, but the money never leaves the school,” Moreau said. “At the end of their senior year, they pool their credits and buy something for the (band) program. For example, they spent a couple of thousand on a synthesizer for the jazz band.”

Money is also used for student scholarships. The students will collect newspapers from certain businesses and the money generated will be used for a scholarship in the name of the business, Moreau said.

SAN MARCOS A pilot program servicing 511 homes was launched in April when the city council approved citywide curbside recycling, according to Kathleen Trepa, city administrative analyst. An additional 5,700 homes were serviced when Phase I began in May.

“By November, we expect to serve 11,500 homes (of the total 13,971 housing units) including all single-family, duplex, triplex and mobile homes, although no apartments or condos are included at this point,” Trepa said, adding that the monthly participation rate in the pilot program was 75%.

The household fee is $1.26 monthly for Mashburn Sanitation’s weekly collection program of glass, aluminum, newspaper, plastic and tin.

SOLANA BEACH Solana Recyclers services 6,063 of 6,330 total housing units, including single and multifamily homes, in a biweekly collection program that began citywide in 1987. Residents receive two buckets for collection of aluminum, glass, newspaper and plastic.

The monthly participation rate is 43%, according to San Diego County figures. Cost of the service is 55 cents per month. Approximately 60 tons per month are collected from residences.

A city hall collection program provides 175 pounds of recyclables each month, according to Taylor of Solana Recyclers. More than 35 Solana Beach businesses are involved in the recycling program, including schools. Earl Warren Junior High School in Solana Beach won the 1990 countywide recycling award for one of the most effective school programs.

The Solana Recyclers operation actually began in Solana Beach in 1983 when two students at the University of California, San Diego borrowed a pickup and told residents they would collect their recyclables. One of those enterprising former students is Nash, the current executive director of Solana Recyclers.

VISTA Phase I of a curbside recycling program, servicing 5,700 of the 25,394 total single-family housing units, began in March. Vista Sanitation collects aluminum, glass, newspaper, plastic and tin on a week ly basis for a total of 9.5 tons per month. Phase II, with an additional 5,100 households, went into effect the week of Oct. 22. The remaining homes in Vista are targeted for curbside collection in March, 1991.

A pilot program for multi-family units is also planned for spring and plans are being developed for a yard waste progam.

FALLBROOK San Diego Recycling began a pilot program in the Fallbrook community in July. Participation rate for the 600 homes in the study was 70%, according to Coy Smith, director of San Diego Recycling.

Residents are given one container for newspaper, glass, aluminum, tin and plastic, which is collected biweekly.

“This it the first unincorporated curbside program in San Diego and the only one that operates co-mingled (all in one container) collection,” Smith said.

The program expanded to 6,500 households at the end of October and is now managed by Fallbrook Refuse Service. RECYCLING NUMBERS

I Love A Clean

San Diego County, Inc.

1-800-237-2583

270-8189

This private, non-profit organization relies heavily on volunteers to operate its recycling hotline, educational and other programs including litter cleanup, Christmas tree and telephone book recycling. County of San Diego

Resource Recovery Program

694-2178