Gilroy
– When taking out their trash, residents of this city soon will
have more chances to recycle, and their monthly garbage bills are
reflecting it. Residents who live outside Gilroy city limits in
unincorporated Santa Clara County, however, won’t see those
changes.
Gilroy – When taking out their trash, residents of this city soon will have more chances to recycle, and their monthly garbage bills are reflecting it. Residents who live outside Gilroy city limits in unincorporated Santa Clara County, however, won’t see those changes.
Beginning Oct. 1, city residents will be able to recycle certain food items in yard waste carts – the green carts – as well as scrap metal and plastic bags in the recycling bins labeled for glass, plastic and metal.
The new services are being paid for by a 2.3-percent increase in residents’ garbage bills, said Lisa Jensema, the city’s environmental programs coordinator. That increase is half of a 4.6-percent garbage bill increase that was implemented in July, averaging about $1 more per month for residents with small garbage cans. Bills for residents with medium- and large-sized cans went up about $1.40 and $1.90 per month respectively, Jensema said.
The carts will be emptied once a week, a change from the current biweekly collections.
“This is another program that can make a big impact (to help the environment),” Jensema said.
While city residents will have more recycling options, residents in the unincorporated county will not. Elizabeth Finley, Santa Clara County’s solid waste manager, said that in lieu of yard waste carts, county residents dispose of yard waste through a voucher system. The program allocates 12 yard-waste vouchers per year to each unincorporated south county property. Each voucher has an annual expiration date and is good for one load, which is a maximum of 2.5 cubic yards of waste.
Residents can bring up to six vouchers at a time to the San Martin Transfer Station, 14070 Llagas Ave., to dispose of their yard waste, which only includes leaves, grass and prunings. Food waste is included in regular garbage.
County residents also receive one clean-up voucher per year, which is used to dispose of one load of unusually large, unrecyclable items.
Finley said the county currently is not considering providing yard waste carts to unincorporated south county residents because the voucher system is more efficient for them.
Also, additional costs to provide the carts would include trucks, fuel, labor and the actual carts, which cost about $60 each to make, said South Valley General Manager Phil Couchee.
Finley and Couchee said they have not received complaints from unincorporated south county residents about the current system, and as long as that’s the case, they see no reason to make county residents pay more.
“By utilizing the voucher system, residents are able to discard much larger amounts of yard waste than would fit in a typical cart,” she said. “Thus far, they have been very satisfied with this system for removal of their yard waste.”
Additionally, Finley said, many county residents have access to trucks to haul large amounts of yard waste to the transfer station.
But the extra trip to the transfer station might not be as convenient for county residents who live far from the transfer station, or who simply would prefer tossing their yard waste in a cart for someone else to pick up. Additionally, not all county residents have trucks or large vehicles.
“We are open to considering changes,” Finley said. “Our goal is to keep costs down while remaining efficient. If and when any changes are considered, the cost impact and what the residents are willing to bear must also be a consideration.”
The new city recycling services were established to help exceed a state-implemented goal of 50-percent waste diversion.
That program was developed in 1989 to help reduce the state’s waste stream by 50 percent by 2000, Jensema said. After the goal was achieved, the state began mandating additional recycling programs.
Currently, Gilroy is at about 50 percent, Jensema said.
