STR planning to improve green waste recycling

By Kathryn Reed

South Tahoe Refuse hopes to have its green waste program revamped by this spring when people start to clean their yards after winter.

“It will be expanded to get a higher diversion percentage,” John Marchini with the South Lake Tahoe garbage company told Lake Tahoe News.

The company is still working out what exactly the program will look like.

STR services the South Shore of El Dorado and Douglas counties. In California, there is unlimited pick up, while Nevada residents pay for the number of cans used.

In the past green waste and regular garbage had been picked up on the same day but not always by the same truck. This has led to some confusion by drivers and customers.

All garbage companies in California are required to recycle 50 percent of the waste they collect – known as the diversion rate. The goal per the state is 75 percent in 2020. STR is currently at about 64 percent.

Getting more pine needles out of the landfill not only is better for the environment it helps with the diversion rate. Those bags of debris add up weight-wise much faster than recyclables like plastic.

STR is also looking to beef up its diversion of construction material and food waste to reach the higher state goal in the next four years.