In 2011, the city set a goal of diverting 90% of its material for re-use and recycling (it’s now at about 72%). “The waste stream of today is not the waste stream we’re going to see over the next 20 or 30 years,” he said.īerkeley currently sends about 68,000 tons of material to the landfill. Transfer stations must keep up not only with what can be recycled now, but also in the future. Bourque expects to see much more recyclable construction waste, like wood and concrete, not entering landfills. Berkeley is still one of the only cities in the Bay Area that handles its own garbage and recycling. (Apa pointed out that the petroleum industry manufactures about 20,000 different types of plastic material.) Martin Bourque, Executive Director of the Ecology Center. Not only does the city separate garbage from recyclables from compost, it also sorts plastics into compatible types. The city’s population grown, but technology has changed what gets recycled rather than jammed into trash cans. We want to re-invest in it and get to a future where we can think about zero waste” “We’ve been advocating for a rebuild since 2004. “There are numerous concerns about the infrastructure that exists now, so it’s time,” said Martin Bourque, the Executive Director of the Ecology Center, which handles Berkeley’s curbside recycling. It was designed for less than a third of that amount. Improvements in processing methods at a new station would likely lower costs as well.īerkeley’s transfer station currently processes 147,000 tons of material from city residents and businesses every year. The city also has an eye on the future, depending on what other materials could become recyclable. “Now it’s been re-allocated to re-investment in the U.S., especially with paper and cardboard,” he said. recycling was processed in China, according to Apa. There’s been a re-emphasis on the United States handling its own waste management, after years of shipping it overseas. The idea is to scale back what the city sends to a landfill near the Altamont Pass, beyond Livermore. Opinion: Keep calm and keep your recycling clean: Ecology Center director responds to media reports saying China would no longer accept America’s dirty recyclables. It’s still one of the few cities in the Bay Area that handles its own garbage and recycling, instead of contracting with larger regional companies. Landfill and incineration is the worst thing you can do with it.”Ī burn plant wasn’t going to fly in environmentally friendly Berkeley, which Apa said was one of the first cities in the United States to implement curbside recycling. “In 1981 and ’82, it was supposed to be a burn plant, with PG&E converting (waste) into energy. “The facility has aged,” said Greg Apa, the city’s solid waste and recycling manager, as he gave this reporter a tour of the transfer station Monday.
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