West Covina : Recycling Partners Sought

The City Council has decided it no longer wants to build its own facility to separate recyclables from trash. Instead, city officials will ask nearby cities if they want to be partners in the venture.

For years West Covina has considered teaming with a private waste company to build and operate a West Covina materials recovery facility. Non-usable rubbish would be taken to a landfill.

Council members voted to direct the city staff to find other cities to join in a venture. The council also authorized city officials to spend up to $25,000 to plan a publicly funded, joint-city materials recovery facility.

West Covina officials say it would be too costly for the city to pursue construction of a trash-sorting facility on its own. Financing is extremely difficult to obtain for such a project, Assistant City Manager Steve Wylie said. Before a bank will loan money, the facility operator must get long-term commitments from numerous cities agreeing to send their rubbish there.

The only incentive for cities to make commitments, he said, is a state requirement that all cities recycle 25% of their waste by 1995 and 50% by 2000. He said that so far, the incentive is not strong enough and not enough cities are willing to commit their trash to a recycling operation, which would likely charge higher dumping fees than landfills.