What’s in a name? When it comes to Santa Cruz County’s Zero Waste program, everything. Through recycling, reuse, composting, and other waste reduction efforts, the county diverts at least 70 percent of its waste from the landfill. That’s already one of the highest figures in the state. But by as soon as 2021, when the Buena Vista landfill, one of two in the county, is scheduled for closure, Recycling and Solid Waste Services resource planner Tim Goncharoff says Santa Cruz County may well have achieved its zero-waste goal. That means no more trash headed to an ignoble end at the dump. Nada. Zilch. Zero.
It won’t be easy, especially on such a short timetable. But through innovations in recycling and product design, reductions in waste in the commercial, industrial and ag sectors and a fully integrated composting program for residences and business, Goncharoff believes the county can do it. “We’re still working hard to find creative solutions, to push the envelope,” he said. “I’m confident we’re going to keep increasing our diversion numbers, and I’m confident we’re going to get to zero waste sooner than anything thinks.”
The county is already exploring cutting-edge practices. Thanks to the sophisticated sorting abilities and high capacity of the GreenWaste Recovery facility in San Jose where Santa Cruz County sends its recyclables, solutions for materials like plastic food wrappers, foil juice pouches and composite milk cartons may soon be available. Component materials can be separated out, bundled and sold for reuse.
Meanwhile, to approach its goal from the other end, the county is working with companies to help design and manufacture products that require less complex recycling methods at the end of their initial life cycle.
If Goncharoff is right in his predication, Recycling and Solid Waste Services manager Kasey Kolassa may be among those pleasantly surprised. “There’s a debate as to whether or not it’s achievable, but we’re always striving as much as we can to reach it,” Kolassa said. “It’s an ongoing mission statement for us.”
The county’s Zero Waste Program was launched in 1999 to build upon a 1989 state law requiring jurisdictions to divert 50 percent of their waste from landfills by 2000. In 2005, when Santa Cruz County was already well ahead of the game, local officials passed an even more ambitious resolution calling for the county to hit the 75 percent mark by 2010. Due to a sinking economy that stalled the development of new waste-diversion programs, the county came up slightly short.
But when the Buena Vista Landfill closes, the county plans to reuse the space to expand its composting program and potentially develop other waste-to-energy projects. Composting could account for the single biggest boon to the county’s diversion rate. Of the 30 percent of the county’s waste still going to the landfill, about a third is organics. Goncharoff estimates that only 10 percent of the county’s green waste is currently diverted by home composting or centralized composting projects, including a county pilot program targeting 60 schools, markets, restaurants, and other facilities. “It’s an area with one of the greatest potentials for growth,” he said.
In the meantime, recycling will continue to do the heavy lifting. Concurrent with its 2005 Zero Waste ordinance, the county instituted mandatory recycling for a variety of materials including tires, batteries and mattresses. More recently, it has developed specialized recycling programs to keep a variety of hazardous and problematic materials and products from the landfill.
Last year county residents recycled 6,500 pounds of unused pharmaceuticals, 4,000 pounds of medical sharps such as needles and lancets and 40,000 fluorescent light bulbs—figures that are sure to grow as these young programs expand. Looking forward, Goncharoff anticipates further developments in the handling of e-waste, carpeting and plastics. The county already operates California’s only program to recycle the single-use agricultural film plastic used widely on fields across the state.
At Sacramento’s Green California Summit in April, Santa Cruz County received the sole California Leadership Award in waste management. Members of the review panel lauded the county’s restrictions on polystyrene and single-use bags, focus on hospitality and tourism sectors, expanded recycling of construction and demolition debris and myriad eco-friendly efforts. “The County of Santa Cruz continues to find creative ways to push the boundaries of what’s possible for local efforts to curb the production and landfilling of waste,” they wrote in their final decision. One can only imagine what they’ll have to say about the county’s Zero Waste Program another decade down the road.
