Agoura Hills : City Enacts Surcharge to Spur Recycling

Concerned over the city’s failure to meet state-mandated guidelines for recycling, the City Council has levied a surcharge on commercial, industrial and multifamily residential customers to encourage them to recycle.

Under the amendment to the city’s 3-year-old Solid Waste Ordinance, beginning in February, a monthly surcharge of 35 cents will be levied on customers based on the level of service they receive from commercial trash haulers. For example, if a customer has a three-cubic-yard trash bin, the city will assess the customer 35 cents for each cubic yard.

Under this system, the customer could cut the amount of the surcharge by switching to a smaller bin, say two cubic yards, and recycling more trash, officials say. The surcharge will not apply to bins used for recycling.

While the savings seem small, officials say, larger companies could realize substantial savings over time.

Residential customers have been assessed a flat monthly 50-cent surcharge for the past two years, officials said, adding that council’s latest action is to expand the city’s efforts to encourage recycling.

Under state law AB939, passed in 1989, cities must divert 25% of their trash from landfills this year, and 50% by 2000. Agoura Hills, officials said, this year diverted just 17% of its trash.

The new surcharge, which city officials say would raise $55,000 per year, will cover the cost of the city’s efforts to promote recycling among commercial, industrial and multifamily customers. From 1992 to the present, officials said, Agoura Hills spent $177,500 on the effort, which included legal fees and preparation of a report to the state on the city’s progress in meeting its recycling goals.