Scavenging of Trash Is Banned

The Hermosa Beach City Council voted 4 to 0 Tuesday to ban the scavenging of residential trash.

“If residents see scavengers taking away their recyclable goods, they’re going to think it’s not worth having a recycling program,” Building and Safety Director Bill Grove said.

Curbside recycling of glass and plastic containers, aluminum and metal cans, and newspapers and cardboard for single- and multiple-family units is to begin June 3. However, the ban on scavenging takes effect immediately so police can begin issuing warnings to those rummaging through residents’ garbage.

The penalty for those who do not heed the warnings would be a fine between $25 and $100.

The recycling program helps the city comply with the state law that requires municipalities to reduce their landfill-bound trash by 25% by 1995 and 50% by 2000. Cities are required to document the reduction in their trash streams.

“We cannot document our recyclable goods if scavengers redeem them,” Grove said.

In addition, Grove said, because scavengers remove the most profitable recyclable materials--such as aluminum cans--continued scavenging will force an increase in the charge to residents for the recycling program.

The city’s residential and commercial trash hauler, Browning Ferris Industries, is running the curbside recycling program and will charge each residential customer $1.17 a month for it.

“That rate could increase if certain products were missing from their collections,” Grove said.

Under the program, residents will bundle paper separately and set other recyclables in a blue bin, alongside their regular trash container. Residents are now charged $8.02 a month for weekly trash pickup.