COLUMN ONE : Cities Aim to Junk Their Throwaway Habits : They look for the recycling system--curbside program or automated center--that works in meeting state-mandated requirements.

Southern California is full of garbage. Mounds and mounds of it. In fact, if trash haulers took everybody’s trash in Orange County and piled it in Anaheim Stadium, it would overflow at least once a month.

Throughout the Southland, cities are striving to dig themselves out of this mess by coming up with creative ways that persuade residents to toss aside their throwaway habits and recycle instead.

In Newport Beach, residents don’t have to lift a finger because the city has hired a company to sort their garbage for them and pick out the recyclable materials.

In Pasadena, people toss their cans, bottles, plastic and metal into one big box they leave on the curb in front of each home.

In many San Diego neighborhoods, homeowners carefully separate everything into three special bins and leave them outside for pickup.

And in Santa Ana, ecology-minded residents have to show even more initiative and take their cans and papers to a recycling center because the city is still struggling to design a program.

This recycling mania isn’t just a post-Earth Day fad, it’s a mandate. California in 1989 adopted a law requiring each city to eliminate 25% of all trash by 1995 and half by 2000. Cities that fail to initiate a recycling program can be fined up to $10,000 a day.

The tough new requirement is designed to avert a crisis of huge proportions. Every day, Californians throw away 202 million pounds of waste, 30 million pounds in Orange County alone.

Some Southern California municipalities are way ahead in the war on waste, offering various conveniences to households and reporting that between 18% and 27% of residential garbage that used to wind up in landfills is now being recycled.

Many other city councils, however, including six in Orange County and most of the 87 cities in Los Angeles County, haven’t selected a household recycling program yet. Others, such as Long Beach and Riverside, have chosen their residential programs, but curbside pickup won’t begin until later this year.

“All the cities are facing a big challenge,” said Terry Wold of the San Bernardino County Department of Solid Waste. “Everybody’s kind of scared, and they’re trying their best, but no one really knows how well any of these programs will work.”

Initiating a residential recycling program may sound simple, but it is one of the most ambitious and expensive ventures many California cities will undertake.

The programs involve millions of dollars, and to create one that works, city councils have to confront the availability of funds to purchase equipment and the cost to residents, as well as each community’s unique demographics and logistical problems.

“You need to look at the socioeconomic structure of your city to see what kind of program would work well,” said Cindy Asher, Irvine’s recycling manager.

For example, cities with many poor or homeless residents must keep in mind that some will dig through curbside bins to collect newspapers, cans and bottles and cash them in, cutting into the success of the program.

Coastal cities such as Newport Beach must remember that many residents are seasonal, so distributing bins to households and educating people how to use them would be a never-ending process. And some cities with large numbers of apartments, condominiums or small lots have to tackle the issue of maneuvering bins or barrels in narrow alleys and streets.

“It’s a multimillion-dollar investment for a city, and the money comes from the taxpayers, so if we do a program, it better be a good one,” said George Buell, an assistant planner for Fullerton, which is in the process of selecting a recycling program. “We want one tailor-made for Fullerton and one that doesn’t just meet the requirements of the law, but actually captures the most recyclables.”

The region’s most controversial and innovative system is used in four Orange County cities--Newport Beach, Costa Mesa, Buena Park and La Palma.

Residents there don’t even have to think about recycling since it is done for them, which prompts critics to say those cities may satisfy the letter of the law but not its intent, which is to end Californians’ wasteful ways.

In those four cities, residents throw all trash in regular garbage cans, and then trucks haul it to a sorting center in Stanton operated by CR Transfer Inc., a subsidiary of CR&R;, one of the nation’s largest recyclers. The plant mechanically and manually separates aluminum cans, bottles, paper, plastic and metal, guaranteeing the cities that at least 25% of all garbage will be recycled.

For now, the trash is hand-sorted at CR Transfer’s plant using conveyor belts and magnets. But the company plans to begin operating a $10-million automated sorting plant in April that will be the largest in the nation.

Four other Orange County cities plan to start using automated centers soon. Stanton will be served by CR Transfer beginning this spring, and Westminster is expected to follow soon after. Huntington Beach and Fountain Valley expect to use Rainbow Disposal, another company that plans mechanical sorting.

“Curbside recycling programs are going to be dinosaurs in the next several years,” said David Niederhaus, Newport Beach’s general services director. “This is the most unique plant in California, and in five to 10 years we’ll see a huge network of them.”

Most Southern California cities, however, have chosen more traditional curbside programs.

Residents separate their recyclable trash into color-coded, stackable bins in much of San Diego and San Bernardino counties, Palm Springs and other desert communities, and in nine Orange County cities. The bins--containing newspapers, bottles and aluminum cans--are then picked up, usually weekly.

Other Southern California cities, including Pasadena, parts of Los Angeles, six Ventura County cities, and Anaheim, Garden Grove, Brea, Villa Park, Yorba Linda and Placentia in Orange County, offer similar curbside pickup, but residents don’t have to bother with separating recyclable materials. They mix cans, glass and paper in one large box or barrel, which is distributed by the city. The containers are then picked up and their contents sorted at a central site. A few of the cities, including Los Angeles and Pasadena, go the extra step of asking residents to bundle newspapers separately.

In Los Angeles County, 60 cities have joined forces to study the options, and most will probably choose to give households a single container, similar to programs in Los Angeles, said Bill George, recycling coordinator for the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts.

“Only time will tell which is the best program. This is all so new to the industry,” said Don Snavely, general manager of Midway City Sanitation District, which serves Westminster and west Garden Grove.

So far, the reported success rates of the programs are about the same.

Irvine, which initiated Orange County’s first curbside program more than two years ago, recycled about 8,000 tons of waste last year, or about 20% of residential garbage, Asher said.

In Anaheim, where residents are given big barrels for recyclable materials, 15% to 18% of trash from the households is recycled, said Bob DeSio, Anaheim’s maintenance manager.

In Garden Grove, that amount is reported to be about 22%.

Some financially strapped cities are struggling with the law because they don’t have the millions of dollars needed to invest in programs, such as Anaheim’s, which had a start-up cost of about $12 million.

Many cities have added a $1 to $3 recycling surcharge to monthly garbage bills, but the added cost can be politically unpopular.

“People have trouble understanding that these programs don’t pay for themselves, and at least part of that cost has to be passed on to them. People are asked to do more, yet pay more, and many don’t like that,” said Jan Goss, recycling manager for Orange County’s Integrated Waste Management Agency, which operates the county’s landfills as a branch of county government.

Several cities chose the automated sorting centers because they are cheaper than curbside programs. For example, buying recycling barrels and automated trucks would have cost Midway City Sanitation about $6 million to serve Westminster and west Garden Grove. A curbside program would have cost Newport Beach another $350,000.

“It was the least costly way for the residents, and the easiest to implement. And the city also is guaranteed that we’ll meet the 25% goal in the law,” said Brigitte Charles, senior management assistant for La Palma.

In Newport Beach, which began using the mechanical sorting center in January, 27% of the city’s trash was recycled in the first 10 days, a better rate reported than most cities with curbside pickup, Niederhaus said.

Waste managers from other cities, however, say the sorting centers have serious drawbacks. They believe the recyclable materials, especially paper, are worthless because people mix them with regular garbage and, as a result, may wind up in landfills anyway.

“I don’t see those as the answer. What you get is a lot of dirty materials,” said George of the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts. “The cleaner you can deliver the materials, the more opportunities you have to sell it and the higher the price you get.”

Some waste managers also point out that residents of those cities aren’t being taught to be environmentally aware.

“What changes in behavior are there? By requiring no separation at all, are you encouraging people to reduce and be more conscious of what they are throwing away and what products they use? I don’t think so,” said Jim Kuhl, waste management officer for Long Beach, which plans to begin a curbside program this summer where residents put recyclable materials in a box.

Newport Beach, La Palma, Buena Park and Costa Mesa residents are told by their cities that separation is preferred, but not required. They are asked to bag or bundle newspapers, junk mail, flyers and other papers or at least separate them from wet waste.

Mike Silva, president of CR&R;, said his company has had no problem finding clean, recyclable products in the waste, even paper.

“It’s just a perception that they are damaged. It’s not reality. Since we get 100% of the materials, even if half of them are damaged, we still get enough to satisfy the 25% goal,” he said. “We believe this is the way go to and we hope to sign up five or six more cities. We have the greatest recovery rate and the lowest price.”

Niederhaus of Newport Beach argues that the program is the best of both worlds “because those who are environmentally conscientious can sort to their heart’s content and it helps the system. But for those who aren’t, I won’t have to keep after them with an education or enforcement program.”

ORANGE COUNTY RECYCLING PROGRAMS

Most Orange County cities have already implemented recycling programs to achieve the state’s goal of reducing garbage by 25% by 1995. In many cities, such as Anaheim, residents mix all recyclable products in one large barrel that is picked up at curbside, while regular trash goes in a separate barrel. Others, such as Dana Point and Mission Viejo, issue three stackable bins, in which bottles, newspapers and cans are separated and left on curbs for pickup. Residents of some cities, such as Costa Mesa, can mix all their garbage and recycleables together because all trash is sent to automated sorting centers. Other cities have not yet implemented recycling programs.

City Type of Program Anaheim Mixed container curbside pickup Brea Mixed container curbside pickup Buena Park Uses automated sorting center, no separation required. Costa Mesa Uses automated sorting center, no separation required Cypress No program yet. Dana Point Three-bin curbside pickup Fountain Valley No program yet. Plans to use sorting center by 1993. Fullerton No program yet. Garden Grove Mixed container curbside pickup. (Except west Garden Grove, which will have same program as Westminster) Huntington Beach No program yet. Plans to use automated sorting center by 1993. Irvine Three-bin curbside pickup. Laguna Beach Three-bin curbside pickup. Laguna Niguel No program yet. La Habra Three-bin curbside pickup. Lake Forest/El Toro Mixed container curbside pickup begins June 1. La Palma Uses automated sorting center, no separation required. Los Alamitos Three-bin curbside pickup. Mission Viejo Three-bin curbside pickup. Newport Beach Uses automated sorting center, no separation required. Orange Three-bin curbside pickup. Placentia Mixed container curbside pickup. Santa Ana No program yet. San Clemente Three-bin curbside pickup San Juan Capistrano Three-bin curbside pickup Seal Beach No program yet. Stanton No program yet. Plans to begin using automated sorting center this spring. Tustin No program yet. Villa Park Mixed container curbside pickup Westminster No program yet. Plans to use automated sorting center by ’92. Yorba Linda Mixed container curbside pickup Unincorporated areas: Aliso Viejo and Nellie Gail Ranch have three-bin curbside pickup. Rancho Santa Margarita, Cowan Heights, North Tustin, Lemon Heights and Laguna Hills all will begin mixed container curbside pickup June 1. Rossmoor has no program yet.

Source: Various cities and the Orange County Integrated Waste Management Agency