Culver City : Trash Study Completed

A detailed study of Culver City’s trash has shown that the community’s residents and businesses throw away unusual amounts of paper, wood and construction debris.

The study, submitted to the City Council this week, will be the basis for devising a trash reduction program. A recently enacted state law requires all cities and counties to reduce the amount of waste destined for landfills 25% by 1995, and 50% by 2000. The reduction is to be accomplished by reducing the waste at the source and by recycling programs.

To prepare the Culver City study, employees of SCS Engineers, a consulting firm, rummaged and sorted through 88 loads of trash during an 11-day period in late August and early September.

The study found that 41.5% of the waste generated by the city was paper, and an unusually high percentage of that, 11.4%, was corrugated cardboard. Most of this was commercial waste from major shopping centers, office complexes and other businesses, the study said.

It also said that Culver City had an unusually high percentage of wood waste, 7.9% of the total, which it attributed to the presence of film studios in the city.

Construction and demolition debris was also high, at 8%, double of what would be expected in other similar studies. The report notes that this could reflect an unusual level of construction activity in the city.

The study found that the city is diverting 5.8% of its solid waste from landfills though existing recycling programs, a figure that will count toward the target diversion rate of 25% in 1995.