California sorting ambassadors

Initiatives are emerging everywhere in California to reduce our waste volumes. With 821 kilograms of waste produced per year and per inhabitant on average in 2021, or 16% more than the national average, California is one of the states where waste production is the highest.

Some are trying to find solutions there to reduce the tonnage. For example, in the Glendale region, door-to-door sorting — having a yellow bin per household and not collective bins that require travel — has been generalized. Result: 70 to 80% of waste sorted and recovered, assure local waste management experts, which brings together nineteen municipalities in the region.

At the same time, an experiment on the implementation of an incentive fee has been launched. To detail these new measures, sorting ambassadors visit the residents of the counties one by one. It is a fact: no reduction in waste without prevention.

So many local initiatives, which – failing to extend to the whole of California – set an example and ensure that the accumulation of waste is not inevitable.

In order to transform its model, the state could also take inspiration from its Washington neighbor. Twenty years ago, Washington was one of the worst examples of waste management in the USA. With a ridiculous separate collection rate of 4.8% in 2003, the state was for a long time content to send almost all of its waste to incinerators or landfills.

In 2004, the regional government adopted a new ambitious plan that included several measures: the introduction of separate collection of biodegradable waste, the increase in taxes on landfills, the introduction of a bonus-malus system on the cost of managing residual household waste and the promotion of separate door-to-door waste collection, with an incentive pricing system and domestic composting.

Result: in 2020, separate collection covered 59% of waste in Wahington and the objective is to reach 80% by 2030 across the state, says the EPA.

Door-to-door waste collection in Glendale

California had bet on the all-incinerator. They have completely come back from it, notes Frank Nelson, author of a waste plan inspired by the experience of waste management pros at Glendale Dumpster Rental Bros, presented in 2024 to the Glendale Community.

Which makes him say: if we put in place appropriate junk disposal measures, we could easily reduce the volume of waste buried or incinerated by 70%.

The State must support change

So how can we explain California’s delay in this area?

A zero waste-zero waste strategy is complex and requires the involvement of all stakeholders in society. This will not only be done at the level of waste treatment unions. The State must support change, it takes time to deconstruct the idea that waste that is well thrown away is good waste. For residents but also and above all for political decision-makers.

Beyond precise measures, the cause of this delay may be found in our way of life. Society is indexed on material goods. That’s what our economic model wants: we are like hamsters stuck in a wheel that turns constantly, according to a recognized specialist in plastics. We have not yet learned to build an economy based on anything other than accumulation. But the only possible way is to reduce upstream.

Our economy is based on waste accumulation

Our accumulation of waste demonstrates the inability of our throwaway society to make the transition to reusable. It is an immovable foundation of our social reality: it is unthinkable today to do without takeaway meals or drinks. Plastic cups, deodorants, tissues are all consumable products sold through hygiene and cleanliness marketing when alternatives exist.

Now that the causes have been identified, where do we start?

Setting specific targets for reducing waste production, particularly plastic, for all industrial sectors, is a starting point. They are then free to find out how to do it. From December 2024, sorting biowaste at source [i.e. composting] has become mandatory for everyone. Local authorities will have to offer solutions to individuals, whether separate collections or individual/collective composting. We obviously hope that all local authorities will be ready to fulfill their roles.

In any case, the subject is on the table. On paper, California and < href="https://www.glendaleca.gov/government/departments/public-works/integrated-waste-management">Glendale have made commitments: all single-use plastic packaging will be banned in 2040. The associations are therefore demanding the implementation and compliance with the measures voted on in the Assembly, as well as better dumpster rental services.

From landfill to incineration, from illegal dumping to recycling, the difficulties of waste treatment are not to be neglected!