SANTA ANA, May 25, 2006 - Waste Management of Orange County (WMOC), in coordination with the City of Santa Ana, will start a new program on June 1 to help boost the city’s residential “diversion rate” by addressing the ongoing challenge of trash being disposed of in containers meant only for recyclables or yard or green waste.

Next month, residents who have “highly contaminated recyclables” – meaning there is a significant amount of trash in the gray-colored recycling containers or green-colored yard waste containers – will receive a notice along with information about how to recycle and what items are acceptable as part of the city’s curbside recycling program.

Under the California Integrated Waste Management Act, or Assembly Bill 939, all cities and counties in the state must have achieved a 50 percent diversion rate as of the beginning of 2006. This means at least 50 percent of the city or county’s trash must be diverted away from landfills, whether through waste reduction, reuse or recycling programs.

According to the latest available figures, the City of Santa Ana’s total diversion rate, including residential, commercial and industrial customers, is more than 50 percent. However, its residential diversion rate has steadily decreased from 40 percent in 2001 to 34 percent in 2005, due to decreased participation in curbside recycling and the increased contamination of recyclables. Should this trend continue, it would impact the city’s overall diversion rate.

As part of the new program, residents will receive educational materials on how to recycle and warning notices will be placed on recycling containers that obviously contain non-recyclable materials, such as furniture or carpeting. Should the contamination continue after two notices, the City of Santa Ana’s sanitation inspectors will provide a final warning notice from the city and, if needed, issue a fine.

Because WMOC deploys specially dedicated trucks to individually collect recyclables and green waste as part of its curbside waste and recycling program in the city, trash placed into these containers that is dumped into the recycling trucks “contaminates” the materials it touches.

When the recyclables or green waste becomes contaminated, the materials have to be double-sorted to remove the unacceptable items. If the trash is not removed before it goes to the processing plant, the trash can contaminate the whole load or damage expensive machinery used to separate recyclables.

“Trash contamination in household recyclables defeats the goals of the city’s recycling program, which include protecting the environment by conserving landfill space and meeting state-mandated recycling goals,” said Teri Cable, Administrative Services Manager. “It also requires additional time, resources and money to address and resolve the contamination, making it more of a challenge to deliver services at competitive prices for the customer.”

To help remind customers about the city’s recycling program and inform them about the challenges presented by contaminated recyclables, WMOC and the city are conducting an education and outreach program with brochures in English, Spanish and Vietnamese that illustrate the types of materials that belong in each curbside container. Residents will also receive information on how to order additional trash containers in case their current containers are not sufficient for their needs.

Waste Management is the leading provider of comprehensive waste and environmental services in North America. For more information about how we think green, log onto www.wmorangecounty.com.

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