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Litter Smug
New hazardous waste site crowns the city's garbage glories
By Amy Reeves
They say that one man's trash is another man's treasure, but nowhere is this truer than in Sunnyvale. In a land where progress is often associated with the latest advances in microchip technology, perhaps Sunnyvale's most underrated progress is in how it treats its garbage. And with the addition of the new Permanent Household Hazardous Waste Collection Facility, which opened in July, the town has become even more cutting-edge.
In 1989, California passed a law mandating that 50 percent of the state's garbage must be recycled or otherwise diverted from landfills by the year 2000. Fortunately, Sunnyvale was already prepared. Since 1982, Sunnyvale has been home to the SMaRT station (Sunnyvale Materials Recovery and Transfer), a high-tech dump where not only are curbside recyclables saved from the fill, but workers pick through the regular trash for anything that could be sold, recycled, or reused. While the rest of the state still dumps two-thirds of its trash into landfills, Sunnyvale blew past the 50 percent mark in 1996 and now recycles 53 percent of its refuse.
Because the SMaRT station was already operating in the city, the county viewed it as a logical spot for one of its three new hazardous-waste disposal sites. After Sunnyvale opened its facility on July 17, San Jose launched its own version on August 12. The third will start up in San Martin in September.
"Hazardous waste" means household chemicals like lead paint, cleaners, batteries, antifreeze, aerosol cans, fire extinguishers, pesticides, glue, and motor oil. All of these materials are fire hazards, so the city encourages people to get rid of chemicals that they aren't using.
Before last month's opening, residents could drop off these toxins at the SMaRT station only once every three months. And while the new facility is permanent, Linda Bagneschi, public education specialist for the city, said "permanent" in the name misleads some people into believing that they can bring around their refuse at any time, like a regular dump. In fact, residents can only leave them off on the third Saturday of each month. The next drop-off date is on August 21.
Mark Bowers, the city's solid waste program manager, said that it would be too expensive to keep the facility open at all hours because it needs trained professionals on hand. While almost anybody can sort through ordinary trash--indeed, the SMaRT station is a major employer of developmentally disabled adults--hazardous wastes present new challenges.
"We need a chemist just to identify some of the materials," said Bowers. "Some people bring in bottles of stuff and they're not even sure what it is."
Knowing the content of the materials is important in knowing how to handle them. For instance, many of the materials need to be kept apart from each other to avoid explosions.
Local residents have dumped old batteries at the SMaRT station's new hazardous waste site for disposal. Before the Sunnyvale facility opened last month, residents could only bring hazardous waste such as paint, batteries, and acids to the station once every three months.
The station is already putting its recycling smarts to good use in giving away unopened containers and transforming other materials in various ways. Paint can be turned into lower-grade paint, solvents can be burned for energy, and batteries can be drained of their lead for reuse. A small amount of the waste, Bowers said, ends up in the hazardous-waste landfill at Kettleman.
But most of the stuff that we throw away has become the stuff of international business. At the SMaRT station's site at the north end of Borregas Road, huge trucks bearing Asian logos pull up to take our leftover paper to be processed in distant mills. Above the complex looms the gray gravel peak of the privately-run asphalt recycling business, which leases land from the city to the tune of $450,000 a year.
Inside the station, Latin music blares while workers pick through material cruising by on a conveyor belt. It's much like any factory--only here the business isn't production but salvage. And much like any other business, it's subject to the business cycle. Bowers said boom times make it easier to recycle trash while bad times make it more difficult.
"The Asian economic crisis affected us a great deal," he said. "After the Asian currencies collapsed, the Pacific Rim countries basically stopped buying from us. It's amazing how interconnected it all is. You learn that an economic collapse in Russia can suddenly make the price of aluminum go down."
Still, even in good times recycling isn't a lucrative business. Of the $22 million it takes to run the projects, only about $1 million is recovered a year from sales. But there are other costs to consider--like the $10,000 a day that Sunnyvale would be socked with next year if it hadn't met the mandated 50 percent diversion of trash.
Why did Sunnyvale end up as the trash capital of Silicon Valley? The residents have been remarkably undisturbed about it. Bowers said the SMaRT station opening "was the only facility that I know of that went up without any comments or complaints from the public."
Bowers and Bagneschi agree that the location of the site has a lot to do with it. Hidden behind a grassy ridge that was a landfill not too long ago, the station is well out of seeing and smelling range of the nearest houses. Also, the station was built on the grounds of an abandoned concrete plant, so the area was not exactly scenic to begin with.
Still, Sunnyvale has shown a willingness to take its garbage seriously. Rob D'Arcy, a management analyst for Santa Clara County who oversaw the design and construction of the new site, said that he was "extremely pleased" with the way that Sunnyvale officials handled the matter.
"Sunnyvale really went the extra mile to do site work that they really didn't have to do," he said. "What can I say? It was a wonderful partnership."
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Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
