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In an attempt to cut down on trash in Tajiguas Landfill, Santa Barbara leaders may consider a ban on plastic shopping bags and restrictions on Styrofoam and textile waste.
The city is on track to meet a goal of diverting 70 percent of solid waste from the brimming landfill – but officials want more progress, and will ask that staff, residents, business and haulers do more.
Several members of the City Council expressed frustration Tuesday after a report by the Public Works Department on the Solid Waste Strategic Plan the city adopted in 2005.
“We’ll be burying ourselves in trash if we don’t figure this out soon,” Councilwoman Iya Falcone said.
Staff members acknowledged their progress fell short of aggressive goals the city set for itself two years ago -- even though Santa Barbara exceeds a state requirement that 50 percent of solid waste be recycled instead of buried in the landfill.
The city now diverts 63 percent of its solid waste compared to 29 percent in 1995, according to the staff report presented Tuesday.
The progress is the result of incentive and educational programs that encourage schools, businesses and residents to recycle, among other programs to divert trash, according to Steve Mack, the city's water resource manager.
Residents now recycle about 23,200 tons of green and other waste at curbsides, drop-off centers and buyback centers; businesses and commercial entities recycle 24,500 tons of waste; and construction and demolition companies recycle 124,000 tons.
The county, and cities that use Tajiguas, must be extra vigilant, leaders say, because the landfill is approaching its capacity and constructing a new landfill will not be a popular project.
Following the recent lead of San Francisco, the City Council will discuss a possible ban on plastic bags at grocery and other stores at its May 15 meeting. Restrictions on the disposal of Styrofoam and textile items including clothing will also be discussed.
The Council on Tuesday also unanimously passed a motion made by Councilman Brian Barnwell to demand more detailed information from the city’s two trash haulers: BFI and MarBorg.
Barnwell asked that within 90 days, staff provide information about the size and type of containers that residents and businesses are provided and whether people are using them, among other information.
This demand comes on the heels of an audit the city conducted several months ago that found BFI had charged residents for green waste containers when they should have been offered for free under city agreements. All of the customers who were overcharged should be reimbursed or identified by the end of this week, staff members said.
Though it is close to being resolved, that issue alone took up huge amounts of staff time, potentially hampering efforts to meet the city’s diversion goals.
Mack said staff would also be hiring a consultant to look at further rate incentives – and possible penalties – attached to customer recycling. A discussion on the potentially controversial idea will likely be presented in December.
The bottom line, leaders agreed, is that customers will have to pay more attention to how they shop, consume and dispose of material.
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