Clean recycling

The basics are pretty clear although I am not sure how many residents and businesses follow them. The big green recycling bin is for garden and food waste. It can then be turned into compost. The blue bin is for paper, cans, paper and orange juice containers and other items which can be recycled. Lastly, the black bin is for trash. It can’t be composted or recycled and ends up in landfill. This is where you put non-recyclable plastic and other items which are not allowed in the green or blue bins. The item which presents the biggest challenge are black garbage bags. Best not to use them at all but, if you do, the black plastic bags go into the black bin.

That’s because black bags are a challenge to the sorters who can’t see through them.

Here’s the full scoop from Roxanne Murray, Solid Waste/Recycling Program coordinator for the city of San Mateo: “What goes where in your three solid waste carts can be confusing. You can put in your blue recycling cart clean dry unsoiled paper (newspaper, catalogs, magazines, envelopes, junk mail, office and packing paper, paperback books, phone books, non-metallic wrapping paper); cardboard (no waxed cardboard); glass bottles and jars (including metal caps and lids); plastic bottles with caps (exception no black plastic); and aluminum cans, steel/tin cans). You can put in your green organic cart food scraps (breads, coffee grounds and filters, dairy, eggshells, fish, fruit including pits, meat including bones, poultry, vegetables); yard waste (plants, flowers, grasses, weeds, leaves, tree trimmings); food soiled paper (coffee filters, pizza boxes, paper plates, paper cups, paper plates, paper napkins, paper towels, paper take-out boxes, waxed cardboard and wine corks). Hopefully, there is not too much left. But what is left, pretty much goes into your black garbage cart. Do not put hazardous or chemical waste; cooking oil; construction debris; dirt; electronics; fluorescent, LED, HID light bulbs; needles, syringes; paint or batteries in any of your in any of your solid waste carts.”

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The South Bayside Waste Management Authority, also known as RethinkWaste, is comprised of 12 jurisdictions: Burlingame, Hillsborough, San Mateo, Unincorporated San Mateo County, Foster City, Belmont, San Carlos, Redwood City, Menlo Park, East Palo Alto, Atherton and West Bay Sanitary District. RethinkWaste owns the Shoreway Environmental Center in San Carlos which includes the Transfer Station and the recycling materials recovery facility, or MRF. Compost and garbage are brought to the Transfer Station. Garbage is then transferred directly to the landfill and organic debris is transported to composting facilities. The collected recycling materials are delivered to the MRF for sorting and bailing to be sold and recycled. Approximately 6,815 tons of recycling was collected at the MRF last year. The revenue received from the sale of the recycling materials is used to offset the cost of solid waste processing. With limited markets for the material and worldwide competition, buyers for recycling can be very selective. We need to keep our recycling clean for it to maintain its marketability. Many jurisdictions are having to landfill recycling because it is contaminated or dirty. Good news — to date all recycling processed at the Shoreway Environmental Center has been recycled. The cost to operate the Shoreway Environmental Center is approximately $19 million annually.

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One of the biggest challenges is what to do with all the plastic we use every day to keep our food fresh, to takeouts, to packaging and much more. At the current rate we use plastic, by 2050 the oceans will contain more plastic than fish. Just take stock of your kitchen and bathroom for starters, and see just how dependent we are on plastic. It’s everywhere — plastic bottles, containers, wrap, bags, holders for toiletries, salves and ointments, beauty treatments. Even your toothbrush is made of plastic.

We are making slow progress in how people deal with this. Most of us now bring our own bags when we buy groceries. But we still use plastic bags for produce. You can recycle clean plastic bags at most grocery stores. Some like Whole Foods encourage customers to use paper bags or recyclable green plastic bags instead. It’s no longer routine to get plastic straws with your drink. And fewer gym goers are taking plastic water bottles to their workouts. The best hope is to increase the number of organizations which take recyclable material and turn them into new products so nothing is wasted.

Sue Lempert is the former mayor of San Mateo. Her column runs every Monday. She can be reached at sue@smdailyjournal.com.