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Sort It Out
by Paul Giusti
Recently, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved, and Mayor Gavin Newsom signed into law, one of the most comprehensive recycling and composting ordinances in the nation. Regarding multifamily buildings, the city website (SFEnvironment.org) states: “Building owners or managers are required to maintain appropriate, color-coded (blue for recyclables, green for compostables and black for trash), labeled containers in convenient locations, and educate tenants, employees and contractors, including janitors, on how to separate materials.”
To find out more about this ordinance and how it will affect SFAA members, SFAA brought your questions to Paul Giusti, the regional public affairs manager for Sunset Scavenger and Golden Gate Recycling & Disposal, the companies charged with collecting garbage, recycling and composting in the city.
His in-depth answers begin below.
Q. What is the new Universal Recycling and Composting Ordinance?
A. The new law requires everyone in San Francisco to keep recyclables and compostables out of the garbage cart. For apartment house owners, it requires that, in addition to garbage service, tenants also have access to recycling and composting carts.
Q. What is the deadline to institute the (blue) recycling and the (green) compost cart system in apartment buildings?
A. The city’s Universal Recycling and Composting Ordinance takes effect on October 21, 2009, so apartment buildings, like all other properties, should request and set up recycle and compost collection service by that date, if they have not done so already. Almost all properties have recycle service, and 23% already have compost collection service. Therefore, the ordinance is really about getting all properties to fully participate in both programs so people have opportunities to recycle and compost no matter where they live or work in San Francisco.
Q. Are there different timelines for single-family, 2-6-unit and 6-plus-unit buildings?
A. The timeline is the same for residential, apartment and commercial properties. The law states that all properties will be required to have adequate levels of all services by October 21, 2009.
Q. How do I get the blue or green cart by the deadline?
A. Sunset Scavenger and Golden Gate Disposal & Recycling assemble and deliver black, blue and green carts every business day. Please contact Sunset Scavenger at 330-1300 or Golden Gate at 626-4000 today to ensure you receive the recycle and compost collection carts, kitchen pails and program literature before the October 21 deadline.
Q. What if there isn’t a place for a green cart in my building?
A. Per the city website, properties will be able to apply for a waiver with the Department of Environment after October 21, 2009.
Most buildings tend to generate approximately the same amount of refuse every week. Often, the solution is to replace black garbage carts with blue recycling carts and green compost carts. We offer different sizes for carts and metal containers (sometimes called dumpsters), and can work with a customer to increase or decrease service days. We can send a supervisor out to meet with a building owner or manager to discuss options, explain the programs and address any concerns they may have.
Q. Can I be fined if my residents put their refuse in the wrong cart?
A. SFEnvironment.org states: “There will be no fines for improper separation at multifamily or multitenant commercial properties unless regulations are adopted after June 30, 2011. However, fines may be assessed for not instituting and maintaining adequate recycling and composting programs. Recyclables or compostables in the trash at such buildings may indicate inadequate service, or the need for operational adjustments or additional education.”
Aside from complying with the new law, the benefit of a successful recycling program is that it can save you money on your garbage bill. Recycling and composting carts that are consistently contaminated or underutilized (recyclables or compostables going into the garbage) can negatively impact those potential savings.
So what it really comes down to is this: the new ordinance requires apartment buildings to provide recycling and composting service to the tenants, and savings can be realized by the successful implementation and participation in those programs by the tenants.
Q. How much can my residents or I be fined for violations?
A. Again, I’ll cite SFEnvironment.org: “There will be no fines for improper separation at multifamily or multitenant commercial properties unless regulations are adopted after June 30, 2011. However, fines may be assessed for not instituting and maintaining adequate recycling and composting programs. Recyclables or compostables in the trash at such buildings may indicate inadequate service, or the need for operational adjustments or additional education.
The city may request collectors to provide a list of addresses that have been warned for repeated misuse. City enforcement may then follow starting with a call or visit to the address.
If someone still refuses to install service, support or use it properly, the city may consider liens, fines and other fees. Fines can go up to $1,000, but may not exceed $100 for small generators (anyone producing up to one cubic yard of refuse per week—about six standard 32-gallon carts). The city will not create liens without a hearing or issue fines without warnings. Fines can be appealed, and properties with insufficient space may apply for a waiver starting October 21.”
Q. Will the garbage and recycling collectors be looking through the trash for violations?
A. Collectors will not dig through any of the carts. If, during the normal course of the collection process, we notice that materials were not properly separated, we will leave a “friendly reminder” notice highlighting which materials should go in the blue, green and black carts.
Q. How should I address my residents’ privacy concerns?
A. On May 29, 2009, the San Francisco Chronicle ran a story under this headline: “Identity Thieves Getting More Clever.” The report is one example of why confidential information should be stored in a secure location or shredded. Everyone should take steps to protect their own confidential documents, since it is impossible to protect all refuse carts from professional poachers and identity thieves. People who shred confidential documents for recycling should place shredded paper in a paper bag, roll the top shut and toss the bag in a (blue) recycle cart.
A safer method is to keep confidential documents separated and use a professional low-cost shredding service. These services can be found in the Yellow Pages under the heading of “Business Records Destruction.” Our sister company, Shredding & Destruction Services (ShreddingInc.com; 621-6200), offers document destruction services to residential and commercial customers. We use commercial-grade shredders that do a more thorough job than a low-cost in-home device. Even the shredded materials are treated as confidential and followed to the point where they are baled and loaded into containers for shipment to the recycling plants.
Q. How much will the green cart, kitchen pails and compostable bags cost me? Can I pass these costs on to my tenants?
A. There is no additional charge for either the blue or green cart collection service at apartment buildings. Blue and green carts are supplied and delivered at no additional cost. Also, at the time we set up service, Sunset Scavenger and Golden Gate will provide free kitchen pails, sample packs of compostable liner bags and educational material on how to participate in the programs.
Q. Where can I find compostable bags?
A. Visit SFRecycling.com/compost and click on the link to the map showing locations of neighborhood stores that sell compostable bags. Just make sure you use bags that are certified as “compostable,” and not simply “biodegradable.” There are some plastic manufacturers who claim their bags will biodegrade in the landfill; however, these bags were never designed to be composted and will contaminate the green cart.
Q. What should go in the green cart?
A. Food scraps, soiled paper and plants. Examples include: coffee grounds, paper filters, lettuce leaves, chicken bones and eggshells, or anything that used to be
alive. All food scraps are compostable in our program.
Q. Are there any compostable materials that can’t go in the green cart?
A. The compost created from the San Francisco green cart program is listed by the Organic Material Review Institute as approved for use on organic soils and sold to farms and vineyards in the area. Therefore, you can’t put kitty litter, dog droppings, sanitary napkins or used bathroom tissues in the green cart.
Q. How do I teach my residents how to use the green bin?
A. There are many options to help educate residents on how to participate in San Francisco’s recycle (blue cart) and compost collection (green cart) programs.
Building managers can direct tenants to these websites: SFRecycling.com or
RecyclingMoments.org. Managers can also print out flyers posted at SFRecycling.com/compost or share the article “Recycling ABCs” from the July issue of this magazine with their tenants. The article highlights how recycling and urban compost collection programs are more helpful at protecting the environment than people previously realized.
Additionally, Sunset Scavenger, Golden Gate and Department of Environment representatives are available to make presentations at tenant meetings.
Also, all new green compost collection comes with tenant guides to help them recycle and compost correctly. Finally, moving forward, consider putting language in your new leases informing tenants of the requirement to recycle and compost.
Q. How often will the green cart be picked up?
A. Single-family homes and smaller apartment buildings receive once a week collection. Frequency at larger apartment buildings is typically a function of the size of the building and volume produced.
Q. Won’t this cause pest control problems?
A. It shouldn’t. If you don’t have pests now, you should not get them just because you started the green cart composting program. It’s the same garbage you always generated. You are just handling it in a more environmental way. To avoid pests, refuse collection areas should be kept clean and free of uncontainerized garbage, recycling and composting. Wash and disinfect containers on a regularly scheduled basis.
Q. Why is it important to recycle and compost?
A. We have all been taught that recycling and composting are easy ways to preserve natural resources and save space in landfills, but a recent study published by the Institute on Self-Reliance stated that increasing recycling and composting is one of the fastest, cheapest and most effective ways to combat climate change. The study, “Stop Trashing the Climate,” reports that if Americans recycled and composted 90% of all our discards, we could cut greenhouse gas emissions by more than 400 million metric tons, equivalent to closing 21% of all U.S. coal-fired power plants.
A German study published in the journal Recycling International reports recycling offers “stunning emissions savings” compared to primary manufacturing processes. Farming one acre of land conventionally emits 3,700 pounds of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere annually. Farming that same acre and using compost made from food scraps to grow cover crops returns 12,000 pounds of carbon to the soil.
That’s right, recycling and composting help fight climate change. Additionally, by recycling and composting, San Francisco residents and businesses help save forests, provide materials for manufacturing, return nutrients to local vineyards, reduce landfill disposal and protect oceans and beaches.
Q. How much trash will be diverted by this new program?
A. A study commissioned by the city found that more than 66% of the material San Francisco sends to landfills could have been composted or recycled. Currently, San Francisco sends about 440 tons of compostable material (mostly food scraps) a day to the compost facility. That tonnage could more than double with additional participation.
Q. Where does San Francisco’s compost go?
A. Food scraps and plant cuttings collected in San Francisco’s green cart program go to Jepson Prairie Organics, a modern compost facility outside Vacaville. More than 200 vineyards in Northern California have applied the finished compost to their soils.
Q. Any advice for apartment building owners or managers who want to make sure they are in compliance with the new law?
A. We want our customers to know that our role in the new ordinance is to help them be in compliance by providing the carts, service and educational materials they need. We pride ourselves on being a customer-service-oriented company and are committed to remain that way. Our top recommendation is for apartment building owners or managers (whoever pays the garbage bill and makes service decisions) to request an onsite visit. For no additional cost, we can send a representative to meet with you, look at your garbage and containers, and recommend service options and program refinements for your consideration.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the viewpoint of the SFAA or the SF Apartment Magazine. Paul Giusti is the regional public affairs manager for Sunset Scavenger and Golden Gate Recycling & Disposal. To read statements from the city about what the ordinance does, provisions specific to multifamily properties and answers to frequently asked questions, go to SFEnvironment.org, look for the heading “Quick Links” (on the right-hand side) and click on “Just the Facts: Universal Recycling and Composting.” Copyright © 2009 by Black Point Press. All rights reserved.