infoCycling: Winter 2001, continued

City of Burbank's race to zero waste

The City of Burbank, located in Los Angeles County, currently has a population of about 100,000, with about 5,000 businesses.  

Burbank first presented the idea of zero waste to its businesses and residents in the summer 1997 edition of its citywide newsletter, Burbank Recycles. This newsletter, now called Burbank Public Works, is mailed to all 48,000 Burbank residential and business addresses. Because of the positive responses received and the number of businesses interested in the city’s recycling programs, Burbank implemented the "Race to Zero Waste Program." The Race to Zero Waste Program is an underlying driving force behind the Burbank Recycle Center.

Burbank looks at all avenues to try to eliminate waste and achieve zero waste. For example, Recycling Coordinator Al Zorn, Recycling Specialist Hope Mc Aloon, and other public works staff members continue to search for ideas and programs on how to avoid waste. Their ideas include expanding the variety of recyclables collected and interesting more people in recycling and composting by educating them. One emphasis is on educating school children in hopes that the children will educate the adults in their life.

Burbank believes that the best way to reduce waste is not to create it in the first place and to continually educate the public to reduce, reuse, and recycle. By practicing these "3 Rs," the city achieves the results it is looking for, which include saving money (by lengthening the life of the city’s landfill). For instance, the Burbank Recycle Center holds free composting workshops and gives a backyard composter to Burbank residents that attend. The idea is that if residents compost at home for three or more years, the cost of the workshops and composters will be paid for through savings the city realizes from not having to collect, transport, and process the green waste.

Although Burbank already has successful diversion programs (see the Jurisdiction Waste Diversion Program and Diversion Rate Summary Web page for Burbank), it continues to implement new programs and plan innovative ones for the future to strive for waste reduction and zero waste.

Burbank's success in diverting waste is also depicted on a chart found on the Board’s Web site (Reporting Year (RY) NonResidential Disposal per $100 Taxable Sales of Jurisdictions with Similar Taxable Sales).

The smaller Burbank businesses are given the same 65-gallon blue recycling carts on wheels for weekly collection that residents receive. If a business has more material than will fit into two or three blue carts, the city provides white recycling bins of various sizes (2- to 6-cubic yards) that are collected up to five times a week. The size of the bin and frequency of collection accommodates the space available for the bin and the quantity of material collected.

Burbank is fortunate to have large businesses that are environmentally conscious. Warner Bros. and the Walt Disney Company, for example, have been honored nationwide for their waste reduction practices. These businesses compost and even teach composting at times.

Other waste reduction activities: Since 1995, the city has been collecting and recycling tons of undelivered non-first class mail  each month from the local U.S. Post Office. The city collects recyclables from multifamily complexes with over 700 units. Burbank schools have recycling bins, and a few of the schools recycle half their waste.

Burbank continues to consider and plan for future food waste diversion programs. Portions of Web pages from the Board's Solid Waste Characterization Database  (depicted below) show that food waste is probably Burbank's number one material type disposed in waste streams of both the residential and commercial sectors.

Some of Burbank's current efforts in educating residents, schools, and businesses about food waste diversion include handing out information at compost workshops, mailing brochures, including inserts in utility bills, and including announcements and articles in Burbank Public Works.

Burbank received the "California League of Cities Helen Putnam Award for Excellence" in the category of land use and environmental quality for its zero waste program.

 Some examples are:

• Reminding residents that they can put fruit from their trees into the green waste container (to be composted off site) or in their backyard composter.
• Reminding residents that vegetables from their gardens can be put in their backyard composter.
• Educating residents and schools about worm composting (vermicomposting). Burbank Recycle Center also gives tours of its Learning Center to educate school children and adults about vermicomposting (about 1,500 children participate in these tours per year).
• Giving composters to a few small, local restaurants to compost food scraps  (and yard trimmings) on site.
• Teaching a composting session at Burbank High School this year.
• Burbank's future efforts in educating residents and businesses about food waste diversion may include:
• Offering vermicomposting programs for schools and residents.
• Featuring articles in Burbank Public Works on ways to divert food scraps.

Burbank received the "California League of Cities Helen Putnam Award for Excellence" in the category of land use and environmental quality for its zero waste program.

When the Burbank Recycle Center's Public Works director, Bruce Feng, presented the award to the Burbank City Council in August 2000, he said, "This award is for Burbank's old, new, and future reducing, reusing, and recycling efforts."

Burbank says it will continue to develop new diversion programs. "Just as advertisers constantly change their ads and create new themes to sell products, recycling must attract with new concepts, programs and promotion," states Hope Mc Aloon, recycling specialist at the Burbank Recycle Center.

For additional information on Burbank's Race to Zero Waste Program, contact Hope Mc Aloon or Al Zorn with the Burbank Recycle Center at (818) 238-3900, or e-mail Hope at hmcaloon@ci.burbank.ca.us or Al at azorn@ci.burbank.ca.us. You may also contact Steve Uselton of the Board's State and Local Assistance Branch at (213) 576-5704 or at suselton@ciwmb.ca.gov .

Del Norte County's Zero Waste Plan (continue this newsletter>>)

Contents: infoCycling Winter 2001

Last updated: December 28, 2007