County Recycles Ton of Material Per Day

Recycling at the Ventura County Government Center has saved an average of 1 ton of material each workday for four months, including enough paper to spare 850 trees, according to the county Solid Waste Management Department.

A report on today’s agenda of the Board of Supervisors says that by recycling trash since December, the county has saved 150 cubic yards of landfill space, kept 3,000 pounds of pollutants out of the air, and conserved energy and water.

The experimental effort is in response to a state law requiring local governments to recycle a significant part of their waste by the year 2000. Materials saved in special recycling bins placed throughout the administration building in Ventura include paper, glass, aluminum and cardboard.

In her report, Kay Martin, the county’s solid waste manager, asked the supervisors to adopt a broader recycling program that would require all 6,000 county employees to use paper products more efficiently and to use recycled paper products at work.

The report suggests that employees use both sides of a sheet of paper, post memos rather than circulate them, eliminate duplicate mailings and subscriptions, and try to buy reusable products.

The plan should cut paper use by 25% to 50%, saving $112,500 to $225,000 a year, Martin said. That would make up for about $45,000 a year in extra costs for higher-priced recycled paper.