Beginning next month, the city of Santa Maria will run a yard waste recycling pilot program. Three neighborhoods were selected for the test: the Hancock Park area, Driftwood Meadow and the Los Cabos/Toby Villas area, and the area bounded by Fesler Street, Benwiley Avenue, Alvin Avenue, and Dejoy Street.
From Jan. 28 to 30, a complimentary 90-gallon container with a brown lid will be delivered to residents in the selected neighborhoods. The first scheduled yard waste pick-up will be the following week and continue every other week. There will be no charge for this six-month service.
According to a press release from the city, the goal is to determine the amount of green materials that could be diverted from the Santa Maria Regional Landfill and recycled into mulch and compost.
In accordance with the Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989, which monitors California’s landfill capacity, Santa Maria has maintained a 50 percent diversion rate. Potential increases in the city’s population, however, make maintaining that level a challenge.
For more information about the yard waste recycling program, call the Santa Maria Utilities Department at 925-0951,
Ext. 7270.
This article appears in Jan 22-29, 2009.
