Waste Reduction in Tehama County

Overview

Tehama County is a rural county located in Northern California along the Interstate 5 corridor. The county includes the cities of Corning, Red Bluff, Tehama, and the unincorporated area of the county. The primary industries in the county are agriculture, manufacturing, and retail trade. In 1997 Tehama County's unemployment rate was 9.4 percent, almost one-third higher than the state as a whole. Much of the unemployment is due to job losses in the timber industry, historically Tehama County's primary industry.

*Source: California State University, Chico: Center for Economic Development, 1999.

Before 1997, the Tehama County jurisdictions had done little comprehensive solid waste data collection, planning, or program implementation. The Tehama County-Red Bluff Landfill did not have scale facilities, and the facility's contracted operator had created an un-permitted expansion. None of the jurisdictions had approved integrated waste management plans as required by the State’s Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989 (AB 939)

Residents of Tehama County had very limited recycling services available to them. Trash contractors offered their customers weekly collection of up to five containers of trash. The curbside recycling program collected only beverage containers and did not serve all residents. Looming deadlines for meeting AB 939's diversion requirements and environmental concerns over the landfill spurred the jurisdictions to action.

To address their concerns, the jurisdictions created a regional agency—Tehama County Sanitary Landfill Agency (TCSLA)—and entered into new franchise agreements with private haulers to provide recycling, yard debris, and trash collection. The Tehama County-City of Red Bluff Landfill Management Agency (TC/RBLMA) installed new scales at the landfill, negotiated a new contract for its operation, and required its contracted operator to establish a yard debris and recycling drop-off site at the landfill. In 1998 the county achieved a remarkable 43 percent reduction of total waste generation.

As of February 2000, the TCSLA has not completed 1999 diversion calculations but believes its diversion rate increased during the year. In 1997 Tehama County reported a negative diversion rate using 1990 as its base year. Diversion data is based on Tehama County's revised based year of 1998. Comparison data for 1997 and 1998 diversion rates are not available.

Residential waste diversion in Tehama County has increased since pay-as-you-throw (PAYT) trash rates began in three of the county's four jurisdictions. Collection of more materials for recycling and expanded yard debris recovery options have also helped. The franchised trash hauler serving the unincorporated areas of the county collects trash and recyclables or yard debris at the same time.

Corning requires single-family households to subscribe to curbside services, but the other jurisdictions allow residents to self-haul materials to the landfill or transfer stations. Tehama County's three transfer stations also serve as drop-off stations for recyclables and yard debris. The sites accept the same materials collected in the GreenWaste of Tehama curbside recycling and yard debris collection programs. Self-haul customers can also drop off recyclables and yard debris at the Tehama County-Red Bluff Landfill, but these drop-off facilities are located past the landfill scale house and site users must pay the same tip fee for recyclables and yard debris as trash.

Financial incentives drive increased commercial recycling in Tehama County. The franchised waste hauler serving  unincorporated Tehama County, and the cities of Tehama and Red Bluff, offer commercial customers collection of recyclables at half the cost it charges for trash service of the same volume and collection frequency. Corning's franchised hauler offers its commercial customers free recycling services.

The county achieves additional landfill diversion through salvage operations at the landfill. GreenWaste of Tehama—the contracted landfill operator—salvages appliances and scrap metal, construction and demolition debris, and carpet padding from the landfill for recycling and reuse. GreenWaste also salvages yard debris for composting. In 1998 these salvage operations diverted 1,170 tons of material from landfill disposal.

The TCSLA has also implemented household hazardous waste collection, an illegal dumping cleanup and prevention program, and a buy-recycled procurement policy as part of its integrated waste management program.

Creation of a regional agency has benefited Tehama County jurisdictions. Since the four jurisdictions agreed to develop similar waste management systems, the agency reduced administrative costs by assuming planning, grant applications, and reporting. The agency guaranteed one contractor "curbside to closure" responsibility for waste from three jurisdictions along with the associated economies of scale. It negotiated a contract that requires the company to cover development costs for a regional materials recovery facility (MRF) and a composting facility. None of the participating jurisdictions had the capital or expertise to develop similar facilities before forming a regional agency.

Chart 1: 1998 Tehama County Landfill Diversion

Next> Table 3: 1998 Tehama County Landfill Diversion

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Last updated: October 26, 2007