"Innovations" Case Studies: City of Riverside

Challenges, Opportunities, and Tips

Local Government Challenges and Opportunities

Riverside is a good example of an urban area that has worked hard to meet the requirements of the IWMA. Riverside demonstrates that cities with public collection services are able to meet the challenges of the IWMA as well as any other community.

Given that the city has already attained its year 2000 diversion goal, it is noteworthy that Riverside continues to explore improvements beyond current achievements. Opportunities are proposed below for how the City of Riverside (and other cities following their example) could increase waste diversion further.

Increasing Residential Curbside Participation

The city hopes to increase this participation by 5 percent during the current year. Riverside will be trying more things to promote recycling in diverse communities (see related CIWMB model study in this series, “Serving Diverse Populations With Recycling”). Increased outreach through the schools would be particularly effective given the positive roles that school children have played at all levels. Volunteer block captains to enlist those not presently participating would be helpful.

Since the city will be seeking new bids for private residential service this year, it has an opportunity to require a substantial plan for promoting participation in curbside as part of the bid package.

Increasing Commercial Waste Reduction, Reuse, and Recycling

This area is by far the least developed in Riverside and, consequently, presents the best opportunity for substantial gains in reducing disposal tonnages. Suggestions include:

• Develop a waste audit team to proactively contact large commercial, industrial, and institutional generators in the city.
• Design and implement a more substantial recovery system at the Nelson Transfer Station (together with the County of Riverside and Burrtec).
• Require prospective commercial haulers to submit a plan for maximizing reduction, reuse, and recycling.
• Require businesses to: (1) Develop recycling plans; (2) Achieve a 50 percent waste diversion rate; (3) Source-separate their recyclable materials (see companion CIWMB model study, “Business Recycling Plans and Policies”).
• Require commercial haulers to: (1) Develop recycling plans; (2) Achieve a 50 percent waste diversion rate; (3) Collect materials source-separated by businesses.
• Restructure franchise fees for commercial haulers to provide more economic incentives for haulers to increase recycling (see companion CIWMB model study, “Incentive Programs for Local Government Recycling and Waste Reduction”).

Increasing Backyard Composting and Grasscycling

In cooperation with the county’s program, the city should explore ways to increase participation beyond the present estimated 5 percent. Again, it may be useful to look to students in the schools as the vehicle for change at home.

Tips for Replication

• Examine your waste stream to determine if you are concentrating on the major elements such as green waste.
• If you are not already in a regional or subregional grouping, explore cooperative opportunities to achieve economies of scale and reduce costs.
• Contact public, private, and nonprofit groups (for example, schools and chambers of commerce) to form mutually beneficial alliances to achieve more waste reduction, reuse, recycling, or composting.
• Use competition to improve recycling services.

Table of Contents | Next Section

Last updated: October 26, 2007