Trash Cutting Programs of 10 Cities, Counties Win First-Ever State Honors.

SACRAMENTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 26, 1998--Ten cities and counties were honored by the State of California today with the first-ever Trash Cutter Awards for their efforts to develop the best recycling and waste reduction programs in the state. The California Integrated Waste Management Board -- the State's primary recycling agency -- presented the awards as recognition of the local governments' efforts that have helped keep 100 million tons of the state's garbage out of landfills since 1990.

The 10 local governments that received awards in 11 categories were: -0-

Outstanding Organics Management -- City of Palo Alto
Outstanding Regional Waste Reduction Program -- Sonoma County Waste
     Management Agency
Best Education Program -- City of Burbank
Most Creative Partnerships -- City of Carson
Best Procurement Program -- City of Los Angeles (City Facilities
     Recycling Program)
Outstanding Construction & Demolition Debris Management -- City of Los
     Angeles (Integrated Solid Waste Management Office)
Best Waste Prevention Strategies -- Central Contra Costa Solid Waste
     Authority
Outstanding Rural Waste Reduction Program -- City of Eureka
Program Excellence in Recycling -- City of El Cerrito
Outstanding Urban Waste Reduction Program -- Los Angeles County
Most Innovative Program -- City and County of San Francisco

-0-

"Today, Californians are keeping 32 percent of their waste out of landfills. This would not have been possible if not for the tremendous effort of these cities and counties to put in place the programs necessary for residents to conveniently reuse or recycle what otherwise would have been thrown away," said Waste Board Chairman Daniel G. Pennington.

"The Trash Cutter communities will be our models when it comes to helping other cities and counties cut their trash in half by 2000. There is much that the rest of the state can learn from their efforts."

The Trash Cutter Awards were the result of a partnership effort between the Board and its Local Government Technical Advisory Committee (LGTAC) to recognize the wide range of successful waste reduction and recycling programs that have been implemented since 1990 when AB 939 took effect. AB 939 called for a 25 percent reduction in the amount of solid waste landfilled in 1995 and a 50 percent cut in trash disposed by the year 2000.

In selecting the winners, the Board and LGTAC sought to recognize programs that among other factors were cost-effective in terms of the cost for the amount of waste recycled; amount of residents participating; innovations in ideas or technologies; and usefulness to other jurisdictions evaluating whether similar programs would work for them.

The following is a list of highlights of the winning programs.

Outstanding Organics Management - City of Palo Alto

With organic waste making up approximately 30 percent of the waste stream, the City of Palo Alto established a composting facility in 1977 that processes 17,000 tons of yard trimmings each year. The city in turn produces compost that is sold in bulk and bags. The bulk sales operation, which began in 1993, has sold nearly 60,000 cubic yards of compost, generating more than $252,000 for the city. The city also offers free backyard composting workshops, taught by certified composters. In addition, compost giveaway events are held five times a year to educate residents about composting and benefits of participating in the yardwaste curbside collection program.

Outstanding Regional Waste Reduction Program - Sonoma Co. Waste Mngmt. Agency

How to deal with the county's solid waste was the dilemma for the County of Sonoma and nine cities within the county. As a result the jurisdictions formed the Sonoma County Waste Management Agency to cost-effectively reduce the amount of solid waste handled at the county's five transfer stations and disposed of at the area's landfill. With a budget of less than $2.5 million, the agency operates yard waste composting, wood waste chipping, household hazardous waste, source reduction, and education programs. Most programs are managed largely by part-time staff. The agency also produces an annual recycling guide, staffs a recycling/disposal information hotline, and runs a local materials exchange program.

Best Education Program - City of Burbank

Free recycling and green waste collection are just some of the services the City of Burbank promotes through its comprehensive education program. To effectively get the word out, the city staff publish a bi-annual newsletter; attend frequent business and apartment workshops, and 20 citywide events each year; network with the local Chamber of Commerce; speak before engagements of local community groups; visit schools and provide lesson plans for teachers; and conduct tours of its Learning Center. Open to the public, the center serves as a clearinghouse of recycling and waste reduction information and a site for composting workshops. The city also honors businesses and individuals as "Recycling Heroes" during the April City Council meeting.

Most Creative Partnerships - City of Carson

The City of Carson, along with its hauler USA Waste, developed a unique cooperative waste reduction and recycling program with the University of California, Los Angeles Extension (UCLA) Waste Management and Recycling Program, Cal State Dominguez Hills, Cal State Fullerton, the US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA), and the Waste Board. During 1997 and 1998, student interns from the various universities were trained by Dr. Eugene Tseng of UCLA, the US EPA and the Waste Board on how to conduct on-site waste audits. As a result, the students did 120 audits of businesses throughout the city. The audits involved assessing and quantifying existing recycling practices and programs and any additional programs that could be implemented; providing literature; notifying hauler and/or third party recyclers or potential recycling opportunities; assistance to businesses in implementing recycling programs; and databasing audit results.

Best Procurement Program - City of Los Angeles (Facilities Recycling Program)

As part of the City of Los Angeles' Facilities Recycling Program, staff has implemented Buy Recycled 2000. This program educates buyers, specifiers, and supply clerks to include recycled-content specifications for city products ordered through various contract mechanisms, such as annual contracts, one-time orders, and blanket purchases. The program's procurement component also requires closed-loop purchasing. This program requires suppliers, vendors or contractors of various products to purchase recycled feedstock from the city's contract recyclers and use the materials to manufacture new products for the city.

Outstanding Construction & Demolition Debris Management - City of Los Angeles (Integrated Solid Waste Management Office)

To encourage the recycling and reuse of construction and demolition debris, the City of Los Angeles' Integrated

Solid Waste Management Office developed the Building Industry Recycling Tool Kit. The Tool Kit helps building industry professionals develop programs to recycle construction, demolition, and landscaping materials. The Tool Kit also promotes the use of recycled-content building products and space allocation for recycling at local projects. During the recent construction of the LAPD Emergency Vehicles Operations Center, the contractor used the Tool Kit to recycle more than 13,000 tons of inert materials. The contractor also used the Tool Kit to find a facility that could recycle mixed loads of construction and demolition debris from the project.

Best Waste Prevention Strategies - Central Contra Costa Solid Waste Authority

The Home Composting for Busy People program provides basic instruction on small-scale home composting for residents within the Central Contra Costa Solid Waste Authority and the City of San Ramon. The CCCSWA encompasses the cities and towns of Walnut Creek, Lafayette, Orinda, Moraga, Danville, and the unincorporated portions of the county. The program has several components to make it simple for residents to compost food, yard waste and other organic materials at home. They include home composting workshops at local nurseries and gardens; an in-home instructional videotape on composting; a telephone information line that provides technical assistance and arranges services; and garbage rate discounts for residents that have become certified composters through the program.

Outstanding Rural Waste Reduction Program - City of Eureka

Fourth graders in the City of Eureka are learning all about reducing waste, thanks to the commitment of local high school students that produce lessons on waste reduction, using puppetry and skits. The main themes of the School Waste Education Project focus on buying smart to reduce waste and reusing waste materials. The program's success has come from the basic approach of peers teaching peers. The high school students act as positive role models for the fourth graders, encouraging them to reuse waste in the hope of reducing the amount of garbage in local landfills.

Program Excellence in Recycling - City of El Cerrito

El Cerrito, a Bay Area bedroom community of 23,260 residents, began recycling activities shortly after Earth Day in 1970. By 1977 it began offering weekly curbside recycling and opened the Ecology Recycling Center. Since 1990 the city has kept, on average, 4,600 tons of waste out of landfills each year. It estimates that more than 1,000 people visit its recycling center each week, with more than half of those residents coming from other nearby communities.

In 1990 and again in 1996 residents indicated in surveys that the city's recycling services were the most important and best-performed (non-emergency) services in the city. Each week 43 percent of its residents set out recyclables, 80 percent of eligible households use the greenwaste recycling service, 17 percent of residents use mini-(garbage) cans, and just 8 percent subscribe to a garbage service level higher than a 32 gallon can. Throughout the years, the city has remained committed to the program by continuing to commit the financial resources necessary to continue its aggressive recycling activities.

Outstanding Urban Waste Reduction Program - County of Los Angeles

"Master Recyclers" are the key to the County of Los Angeles' comprehensive Business Recycling Technical Assistance Program. The program's "Master Recyclers" conduct roughly 200 site visits per month throughout the unincorporated portions of the county, helping businesses initiate or expand waste reduction, recycling, and composting programs.

The county hopes to expand the size and scope of the program to target 3,200 businesses and increase public awareness about solid waste issues in all of the county's 25,000 businesses. Since the program began in 1994, it has helped to develop markets for recycled materials and provide local jobs by increasing awareness about recycling and recycled products.

Most Innovative Program - City and County of San Francisco

In the San Francisco Bay Area, 400 supermarkets and 110 cities and counties have partnered to bring the message to shoppers about the importance of waste prevention and buying reusable products. In 1996 an analysis of product sales in one supermarket chain showed that sales of minimal packaging and recycled-content products increased 19.4 percent during the campaign, while sales of overpackaged products declined 36 percent.

By 1997, 84 percent of shoppers surveyed said that their shopping habits were changed based on the campaign messages. Over the three years of the campaign, it has included various supermarket displays, brochures, posters, a drawing, an information hotline and kick off events, all backed by extensive media campaigns.

The six-member Integrated Waste Management Board is responsible for protecting the public's health and safety and the environment through management of the 52 million tons of solid waste generated in California each year. The Board's mandate is to work in partnership with local government, industry, and the public to achieve a 50 percent reduction in waste disposed by the year 2000, while ensuring environmentally safe landfill disposal capacity. Currently, California's diversion rate is at an all-time high of 32 percent.

The Waste Board is one of six boards and departments within the California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal/EPA).

Visit the CIWMB on the Internet at www.ciwmb.ca.gov

    CONTACT: California Environmental Protection Agency
              Integrated Waste Management Board
              John Frith or Eric Lamoureux, 916/255-2296
              [e-mail]