Tag: zero waste goal

Author SuzannePosted on Categories Land Use, Sustainable LivingTags , , , ,

Petaluma crafting goal of zero waste by 2030

Yousef Baig, PETALUMA ARGUS-COURIER

With nearby landfills expected to reach their capacity in the coming decades, Petaluma officials are pursuing a zero waste goal that could also help lay the foundation for future policies on climate change.

City officials are currently ironing out the details of a resolution that will ask the Petaluma community to reduce its landfill deposits by more than 90% within 11 years by reusing many items.

Petaluma’s garbage is dumped at the Redwood Landfill in Novato, which is expected to reach its permitted capacity in 2032, said Patrick Carter, management analyst for Petaluma’s Public Works and Utilities Department.

An expansion beyond its permitted limit might be possible, he said, but that could lead to future cost increases that would trickle down to households and businesses.

The entire Bay Area will hit its capacity by 2058, according to a 2016 report by CalRecycle, the state agency that regulates landfills.

“That’s not too far in the future,” Carter said. “Just like we’ve done with water conservation and energy efficiency programs when we’re presented with a challenge like that, we’ve found that prevention is more effective than remediation.”

Read more at https://www.petaluma360.com/news/9742730-181/petaluma-crafting-goal-of-zero

Author SuzannePosted on Categories Sustainable LivingTags ,

Sebastopol is first to embrace countywide zero-waste campaign

Mary Callahan, THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Sebastopol has become the first local city to sign on to a campaign that would commit residents and businesses to reducing the community’s waste stream to zero by the year 2030 — part of a countywide bid to curb greenhouse gas emissions and protect the environment while preserving the region’s limited landfill capacity.

The ordinance approved by the City Council calls for individuals to cut their own garbage production by at least 10 percent a year. It also sets the stage for future policy decisions governing single-use products, composting and recycling, officials said.

“Zero waste is our future, along with electric cars and electric bicycles,” veteran City Councilwoman Sarah Glade Gurney said Wednesday.

The city’s resolution was part of a package of measures approved unanimously Tuesday night as a lead-off to a countywide zero-waste campaign championed by the Sonoma County Waste Management Agency.

The City Council also expressed support for an ordinance that would ban polystyrene food service containers and require food vendors to use biodegradable or recyclable food wares — another campaign being promoted by the county waste agency.

Read more at https://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/8851069-181/sebastopol-is-first-to-embrace

Author SuzannePosted on Categories Sustainable LivingTags , , , ,

New year, new garbage services for Santa Rosa

Kevin McCallum, THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

For more information about Recology programs on the North Coast, visit www.recology.com/recology-sonoma-marin/

Santa Rosa’s new garbage hauler is rolling out plenty of changes for customers this New Year’s, including new plastic bins, new trucks and new rates to pay for it all.
Recology, the San Francisco-based garbage company, completed its purchase of The Ratto Group December 23, making it the dominant waste hauler on the North Coast.
Most Sonoma County residents and businesses will see few changes from the sale because Recology has merely taken over Ratto’s existing service contracts.
But beginning Jan. 1, the company began operating in Santa Rosa under a new 15-year contract that calls for sweeping new changes to the refuse service to 55,000 residential and commercial accounts.
The city hopes Recology will provide not only better service and accountability than its predecessor, but will help it achieve its environmental goals of increasing recycling and reducing the amount of garbage heading to the landfill.
“They really buy into the zero waste philosophy,” said Gloria Hurtado, deputy city manager. “They certainly have a track record of achieving good results in other communities.”Here’s a look at some of the changes in store for local garbage service under Recology.
Read more at: New year, new garbage services for Santa Rosa

Author SuzannePosted on Categories Sustainable LivingTags , , ,

Waste Management Sonoma Style Part 2

Connie Madden, SONOMA COUNTY GAZETTS

In Part 1 on Waste Management – Sonoma Style, we looked at how Sonoma County waste management programs are operating currently – more plastics going to landfill since the few remaining centers no longer accept soft plastics as the resale price of plastic has fallen off, glass deposits not collected by residents, so money from broken glass goes to our hauler, The Ratto/North Bay Corporation.

Since our Sonoma Compost facility closed, we now haul our green waste to Marin County to the tune of $4.5 million per year hoping for a new facility within three years, according to Patrick Carter, Executive Director of Sonoma County Waste Management Agency, and an amazing 100 small recycling booths closed last year due to low income – seems we’re on a downward trajectory.  Of course, the low point can also be part of a renewables upcycle.

Pamela Davis, a waste management consultant working with C&S Waste Solutions, sees light at the end of our waste management tunnel through contracting with the best possible hauling services and by choosing to end the use of plastic water bottles. Reaching those two benchmarks, much more recycling will be possible.

It is encouraging that the City of Windsor has set a goal of 50% recycling and its contract for services is out for bid with a new contract that came up in November 2016 while the City of Sonoma uses a different hauler than other Sonoma cities, John Curatto, inventor of The Curatto-Can (claimed to be The Future of Automated Collection). By mounting an automated container to the front forks of hauling trucks, operators can easily spot contaminants that should be removed from the trash stream, according to Curatto. One wonders if the good record of Curatto-Can, recently purchased by Environmental Solutions Group, a division of Dover Corporation, Fort Payne, AL can continue with an out of state home office.

Read more at http://www.sonomacountygazette.com/cms/pages/sonoma-county-news-article-5991.html