In the News

Recycling Programs Vary at Lake Tahoe
date posted: December 5 2005

Lake Tahoe Report #121
June 13, 2005
By John Cobourn and Heather Segale

Lake Tahoe’s communities offer different recycling approaches to meet the needs of each area. These approaches share the goal of reducing the amount of glass, paper, plastic and metal that are sent to the landfill each year to be buried in mountains of trash. Since these materials can be reused to manufacture new products, recycling reduces the need to constantly cut down forests and excavate new mines to meet our material needs. In turn, recycling will help us retain some natural resources for future generations.

In South Lake Tahoe, the South Tahoe Refuse Company, Inc. has adopted the goal of achieving the highest rate of diversion of recyclables from the waste stream in the most cost-effective manner for their communities. California‘s Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989 required local agencies to reduce the amount of solid waste disposed of in landfills by 50 percent by 2000. Since that law passed, South Tahoe Refuse has increased the amount of materials recycled over twenty-fold to 40,000 tons per year, which is 40 percent of the total amount of garbage generated in the south shore each year.

Surprisingly, there is no curbside recycling in South Lake Tahoe. South Tahoe Refuse built a materials recovery facility where employees sort through the trash as it passes by on a conveyor belt system. First, they take out large items, such as cardboard and newspaper. Next, they remove plastic and aluminum cans. Last, they take out glass items, leaving the rest to go to the landfill.

While residents are encouraged to presort their recyclables and bag them separately, if they do not, the sorting will be done at the recovery facility. This system has proven effective for all of the south shore, including Douglas County. A major advantage of the system is the ability to divert most recyclables from the landfill, even if many residents, businesses and tourists are not aware of or motivated to participate in the program.

Incline Village residents have a classic curbside recycling program. They put unbroken glass (clear, brown or green) in their green crates, and metals and plastic items (numbers 1 and 2) in their yellow crates. They place newspapers and magazines in grocery sacks, and office paper in plastic bags. On their scheduled day, residents put all the recyclables on the curb. For details, call Waste Not at the Incline Village GID, (775) 831-8603: or Independent Sanitation, (775) 831-2971.

In north and west shore communities in Placer County (including Truckee), a blend of the above two programs is used, called the Blue Bag Recycling program. The Tahoe-Truckee Sierra Disposal program only requires customers to place dry, clean recyclable materials in special blue plastic bags. While the same materials are accepted as with the curbside programs, residents do not need to keep separate containers for glass, metal and paper. They simply bag the recyclables in the blue bags and put the bags out with the trash on pick-up day. They are sorted at a new materials recovery facility in Truckee.
Other Recycling Programs

In addition to these basic services, the Lake Tahoe recycling companies offer a host of related programs, including those for household hazardous waste, construction debris, cardboard, forest byproducts and slash, pine needles, and Christmas trees. In addition to the Waste Not phone numbers given above, you can obtain further details by calling South Tahoe Refuse, (530) 541-5105; or Tahoe-Truckee Sierra Disposal, (530) 583-0148. Some auto parts stores and fire stations also accept used motor oil, antifreeze, and transmission fluid. Never dump these toxic substances on the ground or into a storm drain system.

Watch for the “Lake Tahoe Report” in the Tahoe Daily Tribune each Wednesday, and tune in to KOLO-TV News Channel 8 Tuesdays at 5 p.m. to learn more. The “Lake Tahoe Report” is a collaborative effort of the Lake Tahoe Environmental Education Coalition, University of Nevada Cooperative Extension, UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center and the California State Water Resource Control Board. For more information, contact Heather Segale, UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center, (530) 583-3279, or logon to www.lteec.org.