Green Waste Recycling: A Growing System For Conserving the Environment

Stuart Oskamp
Sally Augustin

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DOI: 10.2190/4NWX-W3BD-0GNY-PG1H

Abstract

As landfill space becomes scarcer, green waste recycling has emerged as a promising form of recycling. Green waste (grass clippings, leaves, and branches) constitutes 18 percent of the U. S. solid waste stream and can surpass 40 percent in leafy rural and suburban areas. Although community-wide green waste recycling has been legislated in at least twenty-three states, it has scarcely been studied in social science research. This article describes green waste recycling in the eighty-eight cities of Los Angeles County and twelve nearby cities in San Bernardino County. Telephone interviews with knowledgeable city officials yielded a 94 percent response rate and covered all major aspects of current and planned programs. Results indicated that thirty-four of the ninety-four cities had green waste recycling programs as of mid-1995, and that thirty-five additional cities planned to start them in the future. the estimated average household participation rate was 65 percent, but no systematic studies of participation had been made. In nineteen cities supplying data, the annual amount of green waste recycled averaged 6,300 tons per year. On average, cities estimated that they were diverting 15 percent of their solid waste stream from landfills through green waste recycling. Seven cities reported the potential to generate income from their programs, but only one (a city of 80,000) had received any, earning $300,000 last year.

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