vvEPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Solid Waste and
Emergency Response
(5306W)
EPA-530-F-99-022f
October 1999
www.epa.gov/osw
San Jose, California
25% Waste Reduction Rate in Multi-family Dwellings
San Jose, California s multi-family sector recovered 25% by weight of its
solid waste in FY97. By contracting with private haulers, the city of San
Jose offers weekly collection of more than 26 recyclable materials,
including yard trimmings, to every multi-family household in the
ethnically diverse city. In order to maximize participation, San Jose
offers financial incentives to its haulers and MFD building owners for
waste reduction, and the city and its contractors conduct on-going
education programs aimed at building managers and residents.
Program Description
Driven by a California law requiring cities to
divert 50% of their waste by the year 2000,
San Jose added multi-family dwellings to its
residential recycling program. It began
yard trimmings pick-up in 1991 and pick
up of other recyclables in 1993.
Green Team, a local company,
collects trash and recyclables other
than yard trimmings from multi-
family dwellings. Green Team
provides buildings with
approximately one set of three (one
for each: newspaper, mixed paper, and
other recyclables) 96-gallon recycling
bins for every 25 households. Building
managers usually place bins near
dumpsters and in other convenient
locations.
Occasionally, when bins are
contaminated with trash or the wrong
recyclables, the collection driver leaves a
sticker on the bin explaining why
materials were not collected. The driver
also sends a non-collection letter to the
building contact, with tips on how to
correct the problem.
Yard trimmings account for 66% of
material diverted from the multi-family
waste stream. Building maintenance
staff put yard trimmings either in the
street along the curb or in burlap
tarps. Crews from one of two
companies bring yard trimmings to two
privately owned composting sites. Trimmings
are either windrow composted or ground into
mulch. Finished compost and mulch are sold or
used as soil amendment on farms and city parks.
Outreach Activities
Outreach activities comprise two main
components: providing educational and
instructional material, and conducting on-site
visits. Outreach activities have essentially two
audiences: building managers and residents.
For managers, Green Team staff provide
building managers with tools to help them take
an active role in recycling. These include signs,
information on volume-based trash fees, model
lease agreements incorporating paragraphs
Materials Collected
Newspaper
Corrugated cardboard
Mixed paper (magazines,catalogs, paper
bags, telephone books, paperboard,
colored and white paper, envelopes,
mail, paper egg cartons)
Glass containers
Cans
Juice and milk cartons
Plastic bottles and jugs
Polystyrene packaging
Scrap metals (including aluminum foil
and pie pans, metal can lids, small
metal appliances, hubcaps, metal pots)
Textiles
Yard trimmings
This profile is part of the fact sheet Complex Recycling Issues: Strategies for Record-Setting Waste Reduction in Multi-
Family Dwellings (EPA-530-F-99-022).
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about recycling, and a service
agreement packet containing
brochures listing services provided and
tips for dealing with contamination.
The city produces all outreach
materials, including posters and
informational brochures, in English,
Spanish, and Vietnamese. In addition,
Green Team makes site visits and
presentations whenever requested, and
puts on recycling carnivals for children.
The Environmental Services
Department (ESD) runs a recycling
customer service line.
Costs/Benefits
The ESD's operating costs for multi-
family waste management services
include payments to Green Team for
trash and recycling services; payments to
haulers and processors for yard
trimmings collection and composting;
landfill fees for trash disposal; billing and
customer service; and overhead costs for
rent, staff salaries and benefits,
administrative support, and supplies. In
FY97, these multi-family waste
management costs totalled $11,000,000.
Of this, disposal services cost
approximately $6,300,000 and diversion
services cost approximately $4,500,000.
ESD incurred no capital costs for
the program, as contractors provide all
equipment.
One of the main goals of the San
Jose recycling program is to divert trash
from the landfill, extending its life. To
maximize diversion, ESD charges
building owners volume-based fees for
trash pick-up and nothing for
recyclables pick-up. Building owners
with high participation rates save
money by reducing their trash. One
building complex, for example, saves
over $10,000 in disposal costs per year
by recycling 62% of its solid waste.
Tips for Replication
• Involve building management.
Programs improve significantly when
managers actively promote recycling.
• Educate building owners. Owners
can only use services they know about.
• Sell program economics to
building owners.
• Keep it simple. If the program is
intuitive, higher recovery and
participation rates usually result.
• Be persistent. High diversion
recycling programs at multi-family
homes require energy from recycling
coordinators and building managers.
• Reach residents by placing
information where the residents are,
such as on or near recycling containers.
Contact:
Robin Moore
Associate Environmental
Specialist
City of San Jose Environmental
Services Department
777 N. First Street, Suite 450
San Jose, CA 95112
(408) 277-5533 fax (408) 277-3669
Program Summary, FY97
Start Date
Buildings in Program
Type of Multi-Family Buildings
Households Served
Households per Building
Total Waste Generated (Tons)
Disposed
Recycled
Composted
Total Diverted (%)
Recycled
Composted
Average Generation (Ibs./HH/day)
Disposed
Recycled
Composted
Net Costs per HH per Year*
Disposed
Diverted
Yard trimmings phased in Sept. 1991 to
Sept. 1992; other recyclables July 1993
3,400 buildings
All buildings with 4 households or more,
mobile homes, condominiums, and
townhouses
80,440
2,400 buildings have 4-10 households
650 buildings have 11-50 households
150 buildings have 51-100 households
200 buildings have 101 or more households
103,124
77,544
8,714
16,866
25%
8%
16%
7.0
5.3
0.6
1.1
$133.55
$77.73
$55.82
HH = household
Note: Numbers may not add to total due to rounding.
*Costs represent the ESD's payments to contractors for disposal and diversion services, landfill tip fees, billing,
customer service, overhead costs for rent, staff salaries and benefits, administrative support, and supplies.
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