Toss toast crusts and apple cores in the disposal at your peril: San Francisco recycling is now a matter of law.
The San Francisco recycling and garbage law effective as of late October 2009 requires every household and business to use three different bins for discards: blue for recyclables (e.g., cans, bottles, paper, yogurt containers); green for compostables (e.g., food scraps, leaves, dirty paper napkins); and black for trash (including plastic bags, Styrofoam and diapers). Many San Franciscans have been using the three-bin system for months or years, but now it’s mandatory.
Fines ranging from $100 to $1,000 won’t be levied until mid-2011, so that everyone can get in the groove of garbage sorting. (Besides, enforcement could be a headache--will San Francisco recycling inspectors be checking green bins for leftovers?)
SF is already a green leader. We keep 72 percent of our garbage out of landfills; the San Francisco recycling rate is the highest in the country. The city’s goal is to send nothing to landfills or incinerators by 2020.
Even since June, when the law was passed, SF companies and residents have shown a readiness to recycle. The amount of compostable materials hauled in by Recology, the city’s waste collection company, has grown from 400 tons a day to 500 tons. The resulting compost is sold to farms and vineyards.
