Firms Urged to Step Up Recycling

Westlake Village, which is lagging in its efforts to comply with a state mandate to reduce the amount of trash that goes to landfills, has launched a campaign to encourage businesses to recycle.

Under Assembly Bill 939, cities must already have diverted from landfills 25% of their waste, and must divert 50% by 2000. Westlake Village, according to city records, reached the 25% goal well ahead of time, diverting 28.1% of its waste during 1993.

However, during 1994, city officials say, the figure dropped to 20.9%, due largely to the commercial sector, which dramatically increased the amount of trash it sent to landfills. According to city records, businesses sent 4,500 metric tons to landfills in 1993, and 8,000 metric tons the following year.

Planning Director Bob Theobald said he believes that Packard Bell, which moved to the city early in 1994, may have been responsible for much of the increase. The firm, which moved to Westlake Village after its Chatsworth facility was damaged in the Northridge quake, was scrambling to get production up to pre-quake levels, Theobald said, and apparently did not have time to set up a recycling program. Packard Bell has since moved its operations to Sacramento.