SIMI VALLEY : Recycling Help in Sight for Rural Area

The rustic roads of Santa Susana Knolls are so narrow that waste companies had to modify a trash truck to navigate the windy paths.

Faced with such prohibitive terrain, trash experts despaired of ever instituting curbside recycling programs in the small community in unincorporated territory southeast of Simi Valley.

But on Tuesday, the Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District will offer a solution to the Susana Knolls’ recycling woes.

The park district has agreed to allow G.I. Recycling to maintain and service a recycling bin in an undeveloped corner of Knolls Park, near the fire station. The Ventura County Board of Supervisors must approve the arrangement at Tuesday’s meeting.

The news was cheered by Susana Knolls resident Cari Caruso, who now lugs her old tin cans, glass jars and newspapers to Simi Valley recycling spots. “The people who want to recycle here find a way to do it,” Caruso said. “But we wanted a bin to encourage other people to start, to make it easy for them.”

Placing a recycling bin in the park will be a lot cheaper than outfitting trucks for curbside pick-up. Caruso said curbside recycling would have added $15 a month to residents’ trash bills. “Also, we have no curbs,” she said.

The park site is accessible to residents of Susana Knolls, Box Canyon and the Lilac Lane neighborhood, according to Kay Martin, director of the county’s solid waste management department.