Commission presses staff on recycling contamination, compost outreach and landscaper enforcement

At the Feb. 27 workshop commissioners emphasized education, enforcement and clearer customer sign-up for composting and recycling programs.

Commissioner Quintana framed the session as an opportunity to bring residents ‘‘along with us’’ and pointed to the city’s $19 million solid-waste bill as a countywide and household-level issue. Commissioner Schuham and others urged staff to push composting and to use schools and youth ambassadors as channels for public education.

Staff noted recycling contamination remains a problem: Joseph Kroll said the city collected about 6,140 tons of recyclables in FY24 but that contamination reduces the tonnage ultimately processed. To address that, staff distributed bilingual door-hangers explaining what can and cannot be recycled and a new courtesy-notice program to inform residents when contamination or excessive piles caused collection issues.

Commissioners pressed staff to streamline compost-pilot enrollment after several commissioners and one participant reported delays in signup and delivery of compost buckets. The compost pilot is subsidized by a city set-aside of $50,000 and a private contribution of $110,000 from Waste Pro for education; as of the workshop 17 households had signed up. Vice Mayor Quintana and Commissioner Schuham suggested school garden projects, demonstrations and in-person field trips as higher-impact outreach than mailed materials alone.

Several commissioners described landscaper behavior as a visible source of yard clippings entering drains and alleys. Commissioner Hernandez requested more aggressive enforcement and vendor outreach; staff confirmed there are existing ordinances for landscapers to haul debris, and commissioners asked staff to increase on-site enforcement, targeted education to landscaping vendors and direct notices when crews are observed leaving waste in the right-of-way.

On yard-waste collection mechanics, opinions differed. Some commissioners supported reintroducing green carts for weekly curbside yard-waste in non-alley neighborhoods; staff said carts carry procurement and replacement costs (roughly $55,000–$60,000 cited as a program total in discussion) and operational trade-offs because yard waste may include large palm fronds and other materials that do not fit easily in 95-gallon carts. Commissioners asked staff to analyze costs and operational impacts of green carts, bagging programs and weekly versus biweekly pickup and to return with recommendations.