Poll Finds Wide Support for Recycling : Environment: Almost three out of four people in California said they separate recyclables from their trash.

A surprising 73% of Californians in six urban counties say they regularly separate their garbage for recycling whether legally required to or not, according to an industry poll to be released today.

Another unexpected result of the survey, sponsored by Du Pont Co., was that lower-income people in the six counties appeared more willing to pay for curbside recycling than those with household incomes of $30,000 or more.

“I am very encouraged,” Archie W. Dunham, a senior vice president who heads Du Pont’s $5-billion plastics division, said in an interview Tuesday.

“No. 1, people are already doing a good job separating their garbage,” Dunham said. “They also recognize the need to recycle not only plastics but paper, cans and other items. And third, people are willing to pay for recycling.”

Californians’ commitment to recycling is high compared to the levels measured in nationwide polls. A 1989 Gallup Poll found that 52% of respondents said they were recycling their garbage; a 1990 Louis Harris survey showed only 47% claiming to do so.

Du Pont hopes to announce plans to construct a major recycling plant in Southern California this year--part of a broad plastics-industry effort to dramatically increase reuse of plastic packaging.

Environmentalists and competitors, particularly in the paper packaging industry, have long criticized plastic, which they note is derived from non-renewable fossil fuels and is difficult to recycle. By most estimates, only 1% of all U.S. plastic waste is reused.

“If we don’t do a better job of recycling,” Dunham said, “we might not be in the plastics business 20 years from now.”

The Southern California plant would be Du Pont’s third. Recycling plants in Philadelphia and Chicago process a total of 80 million pounds of plastic soft-drink bottles and milk jugs, which amounts to 35% of all plastic being recycled in the country.

The random poll, conducted by Van Nuys-based Interviewing Services of America, found that 45% of Californians were willing to pay more in taxes for curbside recycling. Of those with household incomes of $15,000 to $29,000, about 58% were willing to have their taxes increased; 44% of those making $30,000 a year or more said they would go along with higher taxes.

“Those numbers aren’t surprising,” said Jerry Powell, editor of Portland, Ore.-based Resource Recycling magazine. “The problem is words versus deeds.”

Powell pointed to several instances when polls indicated greater support for recycling than actually materialized.

In Tualatin City, Ore., for instance, “citizens just screamed,” said Powell, “when they were offered one of the best curbside recycling systems in the country for $4 a month more” on their trash collection bills.

According to a November, 1989, Los Angeles Times Poll, 93% of people nationwide were willing to separate their trash into paper, bottles and aluminum cans. But currently only 13% of all household and small-business trash is recycled, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

RECYCLING POLL RESULTS From a random telephone survey of 602 Californians, 21 years of age or older, in six urban counties. The poll was taken by Interviewing Services of America for Du Pont Co., between Jan. 25-30, 1991. Do you separate your garbage for recycling, whether mandated by local authorities or not? Los Angeles County: 75.2 Orange County: 66.3 Sacramento County: 71.0 San Bernardino County: 66.0 San Diego County: 72.0 San Francisco County: 85.0 % Yes Total: 72.6 Would you be willing to pay additional taxes to receive curbside pickup of recyclables? Los Angeles County: 48.5 Orange County: 66.3 Sacramento County: 51.4 San Bernardino County: 34.1 San Diego County: 41.1 San Francisco County: 57.8 % Yes Total: 45/2 Source: Interviewing Services of America