Santa Clarita’s Waste Management bins are being swept away and gradually replaced with bins from the city’s new residential hauler, Burrtec Waste Industries Inc.
This change also comes with a multitude of new policies, protocols and changes that residents have to take on and adapt into their trash disposal routine as a result of California’s Senate Bill 1383. In short, the new state law, which took effect July 1, requires significant changes to the way the community’s waste is collected for disposal and recycling.
SB 1383 discusses short-lived climate pollutants, methane emissions, dairy, livestock, organic waste and landfills. The bill is requiring the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery to approve and implement a comprehensive strategy to reduce emissions of short-lived climate pollutants to achieve a reduction in methane by 40%, hydrofluorocarbon gases by 40% and anthropogenic black carbon by 50% by 2023.
The bill, which was signed into law by former Gov. Jerry Brown in 2016, also established specific targets for reducing organic waste in landfills.
Burrtec began switching out 165,000 bins on July 1, a process that is expected to take eight weeks. A food waste pail will also be delivered to each customer.
An interactive map where residents can type in their address and see what day their trash bin exchange will take place is available at tinyurl.com/58hucvxd.
New bins and sorting
The introduction of the Burrtec bins introduce a new sorting and color system for waste disposal.
Trash containers will be black, recycling containers will be blue, and green waste, now called organics, is green.
To view a list of items allowed and not allowed in each cart, visit tinyurl.com/apbxy8mj.
This new sorting system will also require residents to remove food waste from its original packaging to then dump into the organics container. Residents will be asked to place their food waste into plastic bags, tie them shut and place them in the green barrel.
The food waste pail will work in tandem to comply with SB 1383, which requires all residents to participate in food waste recycling. Food waste includes fruits, vegetables, cooked meats, seafood, bread, dairy, eggshells, coffee grounds, plate scrapings, etc.
Burrtec will also distribute up to 500 home compost bins per calendar year to residents who want them. To request a home compost bin, call 661-222-2249.
Other items in need for disposal
Santa Clarita residents will receive up to four bulky item pick-ups per year, with three large items, or ten 32-galllon bags per pick-up.
Items can include furniture, appliances and mattresses wrapped in plastic.
Contact Burrtec customer service at 661-222-2249 at least 48 hours in advance of your regular service day to schedule the bulky item pick-up.
Burrtec requests that sharp items such as needles, syringes and lancets be removed from waste bins. They will provide one postage-paid mail-back sharps container per year for residents and two for seniors.
To request a mail-back sharps container, call 661-222-2249.
Household hazardous waste is also requested not to be placed in the bins. Some of these items include paint, pool chemicals, household cleaners, automotive fluids, lawn and garden products, e-waste, batteries, fats, oils, grease, pesticides and herbicides.
For disposal information on household hazardous waste, visit GreenSantaClarita.com.
Rates
The monthly rate for residential services is set to go up from the current rate of $26.31 to Burrtec’s new rate of $28.92.
Seniors and those with low income can contact Burrtec at 661-222-2249 to see if they are eligible for a discount. Some qualifications include being 60 years of age or older, head of household, must reside at the residence, account must be in applicant’s name and a person of low income enrolled in a discounted utility program.
Residents can also sign up for automated bill pay by calling 888-298-5161, entering the last six digits of the account number and billing ZIP code and your credit card or check information.
Protocol for non-compliance
Dennis Verner, the local general manager for Burrtec Waste Industries, said at a presentation to the Valley Industry Association in April that the new law also contains enforcement provisions, and the hauler is obligated to follow them.
“We really don’t want to be out giving fines … but it is a provision of SB 1383 and it is in our contract, and the trucks that we have ordered to handle this contract have cameras in them, and there’ll be GPS to each house. If your trash can is blocked by a car, or it’s not out, or when we go to dump and there is stuff falling out, like sometimes people put paint cans in there and then the paint cans break open and then it leaks out of the truck and gets over the street, those types of things. It also, it videotapes, everything that’s being dumped into the trucks and we’ll be able to see what’s going in there.”
“Now people are like, ‘Oh, well, I’ll just put it in plastic bags.’ OK, that’s fine. But what will happen is, when we take it to the processor or the landfill, wherever it is, we’ll spot check certain loads, we know where that truck came from and then individuals will go down the street either in a truck or something with some tool that they’ll flip, they call this flippers, and open the lid and cut the bags to see who’s not complying.”
“Then there’s a whole notice thing, we want to give notices,” Verner said. “We want to encourage compliance. We don’t want to just say, ‘Here’s a fine.’ We just say, ‘Oh look, we found all this food waste in your trash, is it possible that you could put it in the next trash can instead of this trash can?’ That’s what we’re going to try to do as opposed to you know, just going down and red tagging trash cans. That’s pretty much how it’ll work.”
For more information on organics and effective sorting, visit bit.ly/3MIRAwb. For more information on SB 1383, visit bit.ly/3nXGaKh.
