Trash Flash

Recycling News for Ventura Businesses & Multi-Family Complexes

Fall 2014

Continued on page 2

Join the March toward Zero Waste by RecyclingCalifornia’s recycling

movement is celebrating its 25th anniversary.

Assembly Bill 939 - the state law passed in 1989 that requires cities to cut the amount of trash they send to landfi lls in half – is work-ing. It has changed the daily habits of Californians for the good of Mother Nature.

Ventura residents and businesses are among the best recyclers in all of California. According to the latest fi gures released by CalRecycle, the city’s diversion rate has climbed to an impressive 73 percent – much higher than the statewide average and well beyond the mandated 50 percent.

The goal of Assembly Bill 341, which went into effect in 2012, is to increase the State’s recycling rate to 75 per-cent by 2020, so as a city we’re close. Harrison Industries and the City of Ventura provide free waste assessments to show businesses how to improve their waste diversion.

Join Harrison Industries and our business partners, Gold Coast Recycling & Transfer Station and Agromin Premium Soil Products, as we move toward ZERO waste.

Business RecyclingNearly all local businesses participate in some type

of recycling program. Businesses that generate a large amount of waste and recyclable materials use a tradition-al source-separated recycling program, whereby a recy-cling bin is provided in addition to a trash container.

Here’s what goes in your containers:u Recycling Container: newspapers; glass contain-

ers, including all food and beverage containers; plastic CRV containers 1 through 7; all steel, tin and aluminum food and beverage containers (please empty); cardboard; magazines; and paper/junk mail. All cartons also are now accepted.u Yard Waste Container: leaves; grass; small tree

branches and scrap lumber. All green waste material is hauled to Agromin, which uses cutting-edge technology to convert it into organic mulches, compost, wood chips and other products that naturally fertilize plants and trees, completing nature’s recycling loop. Please remem-ber to “Keep it Green” – contamination ruins it for reuse as a soil amendment.

u Trash Container: Place what’s left. There shouldn’t be much.

This approach is straightforward but there are businesses that generate smaller amounts of waste. For those customers, E.J. Harrison & Sons has devel-oped an innovative recycling program for small generators of trash with space limita-tions that qualify through an audit. The program is called “Unicycling.”

UnicyclingUnicycling is designed for smaller waste generators

and uses a single bin for both trash and recycling. The messy trash (lunchroom and restroom trash, for example) is bagged and placed in the same bin as loose recyclables. Gold Coast Recycling & Transfer Station processes mate-rials collected from the Unicycling program to recover as many recyclable items as it can.

The Unicycling program also reduces the number of trucks needed to pick up trash and recyclables and limits the number of refuse bins placed throughout the city.

Multi-Family Unit RecyclingResidents of Multi-Family Unit complexes, such as

apartments and condos, now have the same access to recycling as their neighbors residing in single-family homes. A list of what materials can be recycled in the MFU recycling program is included in this Trash Flash.

Roll-off ContainersWe offer roll-off service for businesses that have big

jobs requiring large solid waste disposal. Roll-off contain-ers can be rented on a temporary basis and are available in sizes – 3, 10, 25 and 40 cubic yards of space – to fi t your needs.u 3-yard bins are ideal for home, garage and garden

cleanup.u 10-yard bins are for concrete, dirt, asphalt and sod

removal. They also are good for removing other heavy materials.u 25-yard bins are for larger concrete, dirt, asphalt

and sod removal projects.u 40-yard bins are ideal for construction sites,

Page 2Fall 2014 Trash Flash

Join the MarchContinued from page 1

Clean Dumpsters Help Protect Our Rivers and Beaches!

Remember, as a business owner, it is your responsibil-ity to do your part to prevent storm water pollution.

An easy way to help is to regularly monitor your trash and recycling dumpsters and keep these best practices in mind:u Report a leaking dumpster to E.J. Harrison & Sons

(647-1414) so it can be repaired or replaced.u Keep dumpsters covered and impermeable to

rainwater. If there are no covers on the dumpster, provide overhead coverage. Keep them from overfl owing and regularly clean-up loose trash.u Keep any outside garbage, recycling, food waste or compost containers covered and away from storm

drains.u Restaurants should not store cooking oil and grease containers in uncovered areas.

roofi ng projects, land clearing and weed abatement and demolition. They also are good for large furniture and appliances.

Service is fast, reliable and economical. For more information and rates, call 647-1414.

Gold Coast Recycling & Transfer Station

Waste diversion is the fi rst priority of Gold Coast Recycling & Transfer Station (GCR), located at 5275 Colt Street in Ventura. Gold Coast Recycling has helped all client cities surpass state recycling mandates by offering a wide variety of services.u Recycle Buy-Back

Center: GCR pays top prices for aluminum; newspaper; card-board; cartons; junk mail and magazines; paper, CRV 1 through 7 plastic bottles, and glass.u Free E-Waste Recycling: Don’t throw away your

old electronic equipment or let it pile up in your offi ce or garage. GCR accepts computers/computer moni-tors; printers; VCRs and DVD players; televisions; small kitchen appliances; fax machines; iPods; cellphones and smartphonesu ABOP (Antifreeze, Batteries, Oil and Paint)

Recycling: GCR accepts auto batteries (limit 2); boat and household batteries; antifreeze; motor oil (limit 20 gallons in 5-gallon containers); and latex paint (limit 10 gallons).

Gold Coast Recycling is open 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. week-days and 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays. For more informa-tion, call 642-9236, or visit www.goldcoastrecycling.com.

Household Hazardous Waste (HHW)HHW includes oil-based paints; pool and photo

chemicals; pesticides and insecticides; cleaning solvents;

fertilizers; and fl uorescent light tubes.The City of Ventura sets aside the third Saturday of

the month (except during December) for Ventura resi-dents and small businesses to safely dispose of HHW at Gold Coast Recycling & Transfer Station, 5275 Colt Street. Please call the City of Ventura’s Environmental Services offi ce at 652-4525 to schedule an appointment.

Quantity limits: 15 gallons or 125 pounds of waste per visit.

The following items are not accepted at the monthly HHW events: fi reworks; smoke detec-tors; radioactive and medical waste; explosive materials; com-pressed gas cylinders; tires; and trash.

Food Waste Recycling When Harrison Industries

and strategic partner Agromin launched our pilot commercial food waste program in April 2012, the Albertsons supermarkets in Camarillo, Ventura and Carpinte-ria were their only customers.

From its humble beginnings, the food waste-recycling program has grown to include over 75 businesses, mostly restaurants and supermarkets but also hospitals and schools.

Two years into this successful program, more than 5.3 million pounds of fruit and vegetable skins, unused dairy products and other biodegradable food scraps have been diverted from our landfi lls.

Harrison trucks collect the food scraps from the par-ticipants and transport the scraps to Agromin, which em-ploys a Covered Aerated Static Pile System to mix them with yard waste to create enriched compost.

Harrison’s goal is to expand the program to include more businesses and, eventually, our residential custom-ers. For more information, call Donald Sealund, food waste coordinator for Harrison Industries, at 647-1414, ext. 4318.

Trash FlashPage 3

Fall 2014

Call for a Multi-Family Dwelling Waste Assessment

Americans generate about 250 million tons

of trash a year — or about 4.5 pounds per person, per day! Much of this trash is generated by single-family and multi-family homes.

Recycling at multi-family complexes is often challeng-ing. Many complexes have space constraints, which make it diffi cult to place recycle bins in convenient locations. Multi-family residents also tend to move more frequently, making recycling education a challenge.

Recognizing the potential for improvements, the State passed Assembly Bill 341 making recycling mandatory for all multi-family complexes with 5 units or more. To help property owners comply with this law, the City of Ventura and E.J. Harrison & Sons are providing free on-site waste assessments and educa-tional resources to property owners to help residents improve their recycling efforts.

Multi-family complexes and property management

companies that receive a waste assessment are eligible to receive a “Prop-erty Managers Guide” with tips and resources, a CD with text that can be in-serted into the newsletter and an “Eco-kit” for their residents. The kit includes a recycling tote, energy effi cient light bulb, water effi ciency devices, and more.

Participating in this program is really a win-win for multi-family

complex managers and owners because it not only includes the kit, but also provides tools and resources for improving recycling and increasing effi cient use of water and energy in their complexes.

For a FREE assessment and resources (available in English and Spanish), contact Jill Sarick at (805) 652-4501 or email her at jsarick@cityofventura.net. You also can call Daniel Harrison of Harrison Industries at (805) 647-1414, ext. 4321, or email him at danh@ejhar-rison.com to schedule an appointment.

Business Waste Prevention Programs Save Money, Landfi ll Space

Are you familiar with the various programs for businesses offered by the City of Ventura’s En-

vironmental Sustainability Division? These programs are not only available now, but they are free of charge!u Green Business Certifi cation Program: Join

the growing list of businesses that are doing their part to help the environment. From reducing your energy and wa-ter use, to buying items with recycled content, to recycling more at work, you can be rec-ognized as a green business not only within the City, but statewide! For more informa-tion contact Courtney Lind-berg at clindberg@cityofven-tura.net or visit www.greenbusinessca.org. u Businesses

waste assessments: Want to reduce the

amount of trash you send to the landfi ll? Want to learn more about what can be recycled at your place of business? Want some free recycling containers? Contact Courtney Lindberg at the City of Ventura to schedule your free waste assessment and start saving money and space in the landfi ll.u Chamber of Commerce Green Task Force:

the Green Task Force is a committee within the Chamber of Commerce that’s committed to envi-ronmental sustainability through their business decisions. Whether a business is a law fi rm, a veterinary clinic, or a renewable energy company, we can all make more sustainable decisions and learn from each other. This group meets on the 3rd Thursday of each month in the Chamber boardroom at 505 Poli Street. For more information contact Vadim Simakov at vsimakov@ventura-chamber.org.

Page 4Fall 2014

Printed on Recycled Paper

Harrison Commercial CustomersRecycling, Unicycling and Yard Waste Guidelines

STOP No Hazardous Waste!!

These items are NOT accepted for Trash or Recycling.

u Hazardous Waste u Tires u TVs/Computer Monitors u Batteriesu Closed Containers u Oil or Paintsu Fluorescent Light Tubes & Bulbs u Medical Needles

For information on how to dispose of these items, please call: The City of Ventura Environmental Sustainability Division at 652-4525

City of VenturaCity Manager: Mark Watkins

Mayor: Cheryl Heitmann

Deputy Mayor: Erik Nasarenko

council Members: Neal Andrews,

Jim Monahan, Carl Morehouse,

Mike Tracy & Christy Weir

Got a lot of trash?Try a Harrison roll-off or bin rental. Convenient & Affordable.

Got a little bit of trash?Take it to Gold Coast Recycling & Transfer Station.

Got some yard waste or need some mulch?Call Agromin.

5275 Colt St. • Ventura • (805) 642-9236www.goldcoastrecycling.com

www.ejharrison.com

1-800-AGROMIN • (805) 485-9200www.agromin.com

(805) 647-1414 • 1-800-41 TRASH

Trash Flash

Medical Sharps RecyclingYou can bring your used needles and lancets

(sharps) to the following locations for proper and con-venient disposal: Ventura Public Health (652-5754) or West

Ventura Family Care Clinic (641-5600).

UnicyclingUnicycling™

The rest can go in LooseNo Yard Waste

This container is for BOTH Trash and Recycling

*These items need to be bagged & tied because they are messy:Food Waste, Bathroom Waste, Coffee Grounds, Wet Material,

Anything that will contaminate the recyclables.

UnicyclingUnicyclingŸ

E.J. Harrison & Sons1-800-41 TRASH

Bag & Tie the Messy Trash*The ONLY MUST for all Unicyclers.

Customer provides bags.

Step 1:

Step 2:

www.ejharrison.com

No Yard Waste

Magazines

NewspaperPaper/

Junk Mail

Aluminum & Metal Cans

Glass Containers

Cardboard

No Trash

including nursery pots, yogurt containers and toys.

NO Plastic Bags, Styrofoam, Film Plastic or Shrink Wrap.

All Hard Plastics thru

No Medical Sharps

Cartons

Cereal, Cracker & Shoe Boxes