A major overhaul in waste collection and recycling practices is happening in Los Angeles, California, the country’s second largest city.

The city council recently voted to divide the city into eleven districts with a private hauler responsible for each area. Currently, the city is responsible for waste and recycling collection for single-family homes only. Private companies handle collection for commercial and multifamily properties. The measure passed easily in favor of the initiative by a vote of 11-3. Those against the measure cited costs and fairness in contract negotiation for smaller businesses as concerns.

City officials, including those from the division of sanitation, supported the measure as a way to reduce the number of trucks needed, help preserve the condition of roads, control for costs, and to collect recycling in a more efficient way. Los Angeles has a zero waste goal which is to be attained by 2025.

The city currently has a recycling rate of sixty-five percent but commercial recycling collects over seventy-five percent.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: More and more municipalities are establishing zero waste goals which means opportunities exists for those in the waste and recycling businesses. What are you doing to fully take advantage of the importance of “going green”?