Don't Trash The Pizza Box! It Belongs In Green Cart

Livermore residents can't simply talk trash on garbage day anymore, what with additional bins for organics and recycling.

Currently, 64 percent of what's collected each week by Livermore Sanitation Inc. is recycled or composted, leaving 36 percent as landfill-bound garbage, city officials report.

But the city has set its sights higher, aiming to divert 75 percent of what's collected away from landfills by 2015. Boosting usage of organics carts and, in particular, the food-scrap program, is key to its cause.

 Thanks to dogged education campaigns, most folks have the hang of basic recycling and know where to put, say, empty soda cans.

But getting households on board with green carts and recycling leftovers has proven more challenging, said Judy Erlandson, city public works manager.

"It's a little different than (recycling) a can or bottle," she said. "They have to get over the 'ick' factor and then make a behavior change."

Livermore's residential organics collection is up from 16,000 tons collected in 2009 to nearly 17,900 tons in 2010, said Celeste Storrs, the city's recycling and diversion coordinator.

Mixing food scraps with yard waste is nothing new. Livermore's program has been in place for seven years, Erlandson said.

But despite being handed the complimentary kitchen pail, some residents still balk at the idea.

Erlandson recommended households experiment with different methods to find ones that work.

"They have to give it a try," she said.

Empty waxed containers, such as milk or ice cream cartons, can be placed in the sink, filled with food scraps and then placed in green carts, she said.

Wrapping or freezing scraps in newspapers are alternatives that may alleviate concerns about odors or attracting pests, Erlandson said. 

Residents also may be unaware that organics collections can go beyond food scraps, said Livermore Sanitation spokesperson Sheila Fagliano.

She listed her top five not-so-obvious items ideal for composting that belong in the green cart:

Pizza boxes

"If they have any grease at all, they belong in the green cart," Fagliano said. (Exclude the little plastic "lid top" in the center of the pizza, however. That's garbage.)  

Chopsticks and Popsicle sticks

Untreated wooden utensils can be composted. Toothpicks, too, she said.

Meat and bones

Backyard composters often avoid adding meat and bones to the mix because of concerns about odors or attracting rodents. But Fagliano said they are fine in Livermore's green carts. 

Food-soiled paper products

Paper towels or napkins used to wipe food spills belong with organics. If contaminated with any chemical cleansers, however, they belong in the trash. 

Coffee grounds, filters and tea bags.

"Coffee and tea compost nicely, so do paper tea bags and coffee filters," Fagliano said. 

Livermore's 2015 goal to divert 75 percent of solid waste from landfills is aligned with Alameda County's waste-reduction initiatives and recent landfill bans on plant debris.

The city's Storrs noted that Livermore's current 64 percent performance is a vast improvement from 1995, when only 26 percent of refuse collected was recycled.