Sunnyvale should switch to mixed recycling

Additionally, in my townhouse community, there is no cardboard recycling like for single family homes, even though the garbage seems to be handled by the same company. In a new community, there's a surprising amount of empty boxes generated and we've been told by the city that these should just be flatten and thrown in the trash!

Same with Mountain View.

It is ridiculous to have to separate everything out. Bottles, cans, paper and cut boxes to small sizes. For the amount of money they charge, the Waste Management companies should be able to buy technology to handle this for them (and us their customers).

I just moved to the area from Los Angeles and was surprised to find out you have to sort recycling. In LA we used to sort recycling but not for the last ten years!

If all of this wasn't bad enough, Sunnyvale has these new three sizes of garbage bins. Many of us can't afford to dish out for the larger two sizes, so we are stuck with these tiny little garbage totes.

This thing is too small! I've only have had one week sense we got the new can that the garbage actually emptied all the way. All the other times a large portion of the waste gets left behind after the truck come and go.

The trash wasn't stuck, and seems lose enough, but it just doesn't dump because of it's bad design. Bagging the waste makes it worse because it just increases the vacuum behind the waste, so even less trash dumps out.

This system was designed by an idiot, and only an idiot would buy into such a stupid system. But the way Sunnyvale pork's money into stupid projects, I'm not surprised by any of this.

I encourage all Sunnyvale residents who have problems with their small garbage totes to flood the city with complaints and to vent your frustration on as many of these forums as you can. As it stands, we have neighbors who are nearly getting into fights because we mistakenly thought our next door neighbors were dumping into our cans. It's causing problems and the system should really revert back to something that actually did work.

It is harder to solve problems when those with whom we disagree are labeled "idiots." I hope we can avoid personal attacks. People in City Government are human beings, like we are.

I've been following Sunnyvale city govenment for a couple of years now and have been impressed by the quality of staff and elected representatives, alike. It seems the more I know about the issues and their history, the more pleased I become.

We are having no trouble with our new garbage tote. In fact, it is rarely full. The cost structure is set up to recover the varying costs of varying amounts of trash. Pay as you throw seems fair to me.

I suppose the idea of separating trash from recycling is to minimize the number of employees we need to paw through undiferentiated trash. It seems to me that it is good to minimize the need for people to do this work for financial reasons and human ones.

I agree that it would be good to improve recycling procedures in townhomes and appartments. Likely it is a lack of money that prevents improvements so far.

I appreciate that the "idiots" gave us a smaller garbage tote. It's easier to roll around. It uses less petroleum to manufacture. Mine is shared between a 2-bedroom house and a 1-bedroom house and we almost never fill it.

Re: recycling: I think the fact that they take batteries, motor oil, mixed paper, nearly all plastic 1-7 is better than some other cities. In the rare event of something prohibited ("clamshell plastic"), I just toss it in there. They'll figure it out.

Re: separating, I do this anyway in the house, so not a big deal. But I've noticed the truck dumps both sides into the same container, so if you don't separate containers from paper it's probably OK. If you do something wrong, trust me, in time, you'll get a note from them telling you.

Cardboard: I just tuck folded cardboard under the recycling lid. They haven't complained.

Additional info on recycling at the SMART station:

SMaRT ® Recycling Center
The SMaRT Station® Recycling Center accepts the following materials at no charge:

Recyclables: Businesses and residents may drop off the items listed below:

Aluminum cans, foil and clean food containers

Tin, steel, metal food and beverage containers

Corrugated cardboard

Glass bottles and jars (green, brown, and clear glass)

Newspapers and newspaper inserts

Mixed paper - including brown paper bags, catalogs, office paper, junk mail,magazines, telephone books, packing paper, paperboard, colored paper, cerealboxes, egg cartons

Plastic food, beverage and non-hazardous household bottles and jars numbered 1-7 (5-gallon or less).

Plastic bags - including plastic grocery bags, dry cleaning bags, bubble wrap, breadbags, and dry produce bags

Scrap metal
Note: The Recycling Center does not accept polystyrene packing materials (Styrofoam®peanuts, blocks).

Hazardous Items: Sunnyvale, Mountain View and Palo Alto residents may drop off thefollowing items:

Fluorescent light bulbs and tubes

Household batteries - including alkaline, carbon zinc, silver button, and mercury

Mercury thermometers and thermostats

Rechargeable batteries - Nickel Cadmium, Nickel Metal Hydride, and Lithium Ion

Televisions and computer monitors (limit 4 per visit)

Consumer electronics - including printers, stereos, DVD players, and microwaves

Automotive materials -antifreeze (up to 10 gallons), motor oil (up to 20 gallons, in5-gallon containers or less), auto batteries, and oil filters
Note: When handling automotive products, do not mix automotive fluids. For used motoroil and antifreeze, use a five gallon or smaller non-breakable container capped with a screw-on lid.

Needles, syringes, and lancet drop-off: Santa Clara County residents may drop off thefollowing biohazardous items:
Needles, syringes, and lancets placed in a rigid, puncture and leak resistant, unbreakable container, labeled "Sharps Waste" or bearing the international biohazard label and having a tightly sealed lid. Designated biohazard containers are accepted. Container must fit through the 8" x 9" chute. Do not use glass bottles or milk cartons. Look for red bin

Following up on Pablo's comment, the recycling trucks actually have a split compartment, and the paper is kept separate from the cans/bottles in your cart, inside the truck, and throughout processing. This is important to prevent contamination of the paper by (for example) bits of broken glass that cause damage at the mill that recycles the paper.
So yes, please put paper and containers into the right and left sides of the cart, as they are marked on the green and blue lids. The program does now accept mixed paper (office paper, junk mail, cereal boxes, etc.) in the newspaper side (green) of the cart.
The multi-family recycling program also now accepts mixed paper in the cart marked for newspaper.
Get details and more at Sunnyvalerecycles.org
Thanks for recycling!

Sunnyvale recently began collecting unneeded medicines, prescription and over the counter, at its fire stations. (Narcotics and sharps not included. Sharps should be taken to the SMART station.) Press release below:


SUNNYVALE FIRE STATIONS PROVIDE SAFE DISPOSAL OF OLD MEDICINES



SUNNYVALE, Calif. – Flushing unneeded medicines down the drain can cause serious harm to the environment, and now the City of Sunnyvale has taken steps to stop this outdated practice. Each Sunnyvale fire station is now a drop-off point where residents can turn in outdated and unneeded pharmaceuticals.



The new program encourages residents to bring in their unneeded prescription and over-the-counter medicines for collection and proper disposal. A Department of Public Safety (DPS) public safety officer will collect the medicine and log it in before placing it into secure storage. The medicines will then be turned over to a licensed waste management company for safe disposal. The program does not accept “sharps” – needles and lancets – or illegal narcotics. To find a disposal site for sharps, consult www.earth911.org for a nearby location.

Pharmaceuticals may be dropped off at any Sunnyvale fire station as long as there is an officer on duty to accept the medicines. Medicines should never be left at a station unless they are physically handed over to an officer.

For more information about this program, call (408) 730-7110, TDD (408) 730-7501. Sunnyvale’s six fire stations are located at:

Station 1 – 171 N. Mathilda Ave., at California Avenue

Station 2 – 795 E. Arques Ave., at Wolfe Rd.

Station 3 – 910 Ticonderoga, at Mary Avenue

Station 4 – 996 S. Wolfe Road, at Maria Lane

Station 5 – 1120 Lockheed Way, at Mathilda Avenue

Station 6 – 1282 N. Lawrence Station Road, near Elko