Sacramento is hoping to save up to $1 million by revising how it collects its residents recycling and yard waste. However, a 35-year old ballot measure may make realizing the full savings difficult.
In 1977, Sacramento residents passed Measure A that banned the city from requiring green waste bins. Instead, a machine colloquially known as “the claw” has trolled Sacramento neighborhoods, scooping up yard waste along the way. The Council is expected to put a measure on the November ballot to repeal that mandate.
In exchange for drastically reducing “the claw,” solid waste rates in the city are expected to remain flat for three years.
Recycling would also be reduced – with pick up coming every other week instead of every week.
From the Sacramento Bee:
Big changes are in store for the way the city of Sacramento plans to collect recyclables and yard waste.
A proposal before the City Council tonight calls for “the claw” to be idled for all but three months of the year. The unmistakable machine that roams city streets – scooping up piles of leaves and lawn trimmings – would be used only from November to January.
In exchange, city officials propose that residents be required to use bins to collect yard waste.
Read the full article here.