<B>S.F. Firm Working to Boost City Recycling Levels</B>

Sunset Scavenger Company, in cooperation with the city of San Francisco, has proposed a recycling program to boost the city to San Francisco above California's 50 percent waste diversion law. The core elements of this model program include: color-coded carts with attached lids to hold recycling and garbage; citywide collection of food scraps, yard trimmings and other organic materials for composting; a new collection fleet; and improvements to recycling facilities in San Francisco.

This new program will make San Francisco the first large city in the nation to initiate citywide collection of food scraps with other organic materials for composting. In San Francisco, food waste constitutes more than 25 percent of the waste stream, an unusually high percentage.

"Working with the City, Sunset Scavenger Company has developed more than a dozen recycling programs to serve different needs. The proposal will modernize the City's recycling campaign and provide easy ways for everyone to directly participate in efforts to protect the environment," said Ron Proto, group general manager for Sunset Scavenger. "San Francisco will truly have a comprehensive recycling system."

Another reason the city has not reached the 50 percent recycling mandate is paper. San Franciscans recycle a lot of paper, more than 54,000 tons annually through the Curbside Program. Unfortunately, half of the paper used in San Francisco still ends up in the garbage.

In order to bring San Francisco into compliance, an additional 180,000 tons of material going to the landfill each year must be recycled. To get the job done, Sunset Scavenger has proposed regular collection of food scraps and other organic materials from homes and restaurants for composting, and bigger carts for recycling mixed paper and beverage containers.

Currently, residents participating in the Curbside Program use a 12-gallon blue bin to recycle bottles and cans. Recyclable paper, including cardboard, must be placed in paper grocery bags or tied with string into bundles. The new recycling program will make recycling far easier and more effective. A typical household will receive three color-coded carts. Each cart can hold 32 gallons of material.

Bottles, cans and mixed paper are placed together in a blue cart. Food scraps, plate scrapings, yard trimmings, soiled napkins, used paper towels, even waxed paper milk cartons will be accepted for compost and go in a green cart. Any left over material is considered garbage and goes in a black cart for proper disposal. The upright, wheeled carts are easy to move and have attached lids to reduce litter and odor.

"The recycling of food scraps on a large scale is the new frontier in recycling, and San Francisco is leading the way," Proto said. "We propose to take the organic waste generated at homes and 3,000 restaurants in San Francisco and turn it into compost, a useful product. Composting food scraps returns rich nutrients to the soil and will help the City achieve important recycling goals."

The program will require a new fleet of collection trucks specifically designed for San Francisco's recycling program. The trucks have dual compartments -- garbage goes on one side, recycling on the other. These split-compartment trucks will make collection more efficient and help improve traffic flow by reducing truck trips on City streets.

Improvements to Recycle Central, a 185,000-square-foot facility at Pier 96, are another essential component of the program. Materials collected for recycling will be separated on mechanical sort lines and by recycling workers in this modern facility. Recycle Central will employ 200 recycling workers, and process 1,200 tons of recyclables a day. Automated sort lines and other modern recycling equipment is needed to efficiently separate and bale different recyclables. Most of these baled recyclables will be shipped from the Port of San Francisco to paper mills, glass plants, and other secondary recycling facilities at numerous locations including Alcoa, Tenn.; the Pacific Northwest; Mexico; South America; and the Far East.