MULCH AND COMPOST

Image of cartoon green waste binCalifornia law (AB 939) required all cities and counties to reduce the amount of waste they sent to landfills by 50% by the year 2000. The City of Los Angeles met and surpassed that goal (report can be viewed and downloaded from the City’s website at www.lacity.org/san), and has adopted the further goal of reducing landfilled waste by 70% by the year 2015. One of the largest single components of the City’s waste stream is green waste - grass and tree trimmings, leaves, garden waste and other vegetable material. The Bureau of Sanitation operates three mulching/composting facilities: the Harbor Mulching Facility in San Pedro, which uses the contents of the Bureau-collected residential green bins in the Harbor area; the Griffith Park Composting Facility, which uses green waste from Griffith Park, biosolids from the Hyperion Wastewater Treatment Plant and animal waste from the Los Angeles Zoo; and the Lopez Canyon Environmental Center, which uses green waste collected by the City’s Bureau of Sanitation and tree trimmings generated by private contractors. The mulch and compost produced by these three facilities is a high-quality product, and is given away free, to large organizations like the Los Angeles Unified School District and to community gardens, City residents, businesses and farmers. There are currently eight sites in Los Angeles for residents to pick-up free mulch, view flyer at http://www.lacity.org/SAN/Mulching_Poster.pdf