True Recycling or Just Talking Trash?

“Residents Say Crews Are Trashing Recyclables” (June 22), regarding trash-collecting trucks commingling recyclables and trash in a single truck in Woodland Hills, did not surprise me. Our 4-year-old grandson, Adam, a trash aficionado who wants to be a trash collector when he grows up, has been quite upset to see garbage bins and recycle bins sometimes emptied into the same garbage truck in his town of Redondo Beach.

What a waste of time and resources. This is discouraging for those residents who separate their refuse, in good faith, to help the environment and conserve our resources. Suggestion: Build three separate compartments into a single truck in those parts of town where it is difficult for three trucks to maneuver.

Ruth Mazor

Northridge

Nearly all green waste, even if fastidiously segregated throughout the waste cycle, ends up in landfills anyway. “Clean green” is preferred to “crown” the various layers of mixed waste in landfills, so municipalities are given a reduced dump rate on such waste. But thus far the most effective means to compost yard waste remains on the personal, backyard level.

Programs to encourage the increased use of and commercial possibilities offered by composted green recyclables have been rare (L.A., to its credit, has explored some), but until we promote such programs on a larger scale, the only real advantage to segregating green recyclables will remain a price break for the municipalities.

Don Gray

Santa Monica