Sf scavengers8/5/2023 Some of this success is down to innovative policies such as a city-wide kitchen scrap and garden waste collection service, resulting in 20,000 tonnes of high-grade compost a year - much of which ends up spread over the vineyards of Napa. Last year, San Francisco recycled 77 per cent of its total waste, and has set itself a zero waste target by 2020. The California Beverage Container Recycling and Litter Reduction Act has been a huge success. Of the 21 billion drinks purchased in cans and containers in 2009, 17.2 billion of those were recycled, according to California's Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery. Statewide, the bottle bill represents rich pickings for recyclers. Deposits on aluminum cans and glass and plastic bottles are then redeemed at recycling centres. He comes to HANC most days because 'I want a drink and I’m hungry'.Ĭalifornia’s 'bottle bill' was introduced in 1987 to encourage recycling and reduce litter by adding a deposit of 5¢ for containers up to 24 ounces, and 10¢ for larger containers. Patrick, 51, sleeps rough in the Golden Gate Park, and reckons his haul is worth around $5. He comes to HANC with recycling he has collected in the city every week. Victor, 59, turns away with $27.95, after weighing in two barrels of glass, one barrel of cans and 10lbs of plastic. The majority of those who arrive every morning at the recycling yard with plastic bags and shopping trolleys are some of the keenest recyclers in San Francisco - not for the sake of the environment, but because it’s their only source of income. Years of discarded dregs from fizzy drink cans and bottles of beer and wine makes the weighing area sticky underfoot, and the air stale and sweet. The Haight Ashbury Neighbourhood Centre (HANC) echoes with the clink of glass and the crunch of cans. At 9.30am they are allowed to start the noisy process of separating the cans, glass and plastic bottles before being weighed. A few steps away from San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park lined with eucalyptus and palm trees, a dozen men and women queue with trolleys overflowing with salvaged trash.
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