Yard Waste Containers to Be Provided Soon

The city will soon be providing some residents with trash containers for yard waste, not a moment too soon.

The green containers will help the city meet state-mandated recycling goals and avoid stiff financial penalties, while giving home gardeners a way to dispose of yard clippings.

“I know we have a need for this because on garbage day, it’s very entertaining to drive through College Park and see people in their housecoats at 7 o’clock in the morning with a bag of garbage, looking for a trash can they can stick it in because theirs is full,” said Councilwoman Patty Campbell.

She joined her council colleagues Monday night in approving the “green waste” recycling program.

Each Seal Beach residence now has one trash container for recyclable materials and another for remaining trash and yard waste.

The additional bins will be distributed during the first week of August, except in the Old Town, Bridgeport and River Beach communities, where streets are too narrow for the trash trucks that are specially equipped to collect yard waste.

Homes in the Gold Coast area near Old Town will be included in the yard waste program. Leisure World already has yard-waste pickup.

City Manager Keith Till said the agreement with Briggeman Disposal prohibits collection fee increases for the first 18 months.

The California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989 required all cities to reach a 25% reduction in waste by 1995 and a 50% reduction by the year 2000.

“This will bring us very close, if not all the way, to our 50% waste reduction goal,” Till said.