The City of Manhattan Beach Recycles!

The City of Manhattan Beach along with Waste Management distributed a Holiday Recycling Guide in the Beach Reporter in early December 2007.  For your convenience, we've posted the content below.  If you have any questions regarding your refuse service, please contact Waste Management
directly at (310) 830-7100.   

Waste and recycling collection are as easy as 1,2,3!

Whether you are in the “sand section” with manual truck service or the semi-automated collection area, Waste Management provides you with three easy sorts:

1. Trash goes into your Gray cart (automated service area) or your trash cans (sand section). Please contact Waste Management Customer Service at (310) 830-7100 if you anticipate having extra bags of trash that will not fit into your carts or containers.
   
2. Green waste goes into your Green cart (automated service area) or your Green can (sand section, optional service). 
   
   Place the following in your Green Waste cart/can:
   • Grass clippings
   • Leaves
   • Brush
   • Shrubbery prunings
   • Sawdust
   • Tree trimmings
   • Tree limbs smaller than 4” in diameter.
   
   The following items are NOT allowed in the Green Waste cart/can:
   • NO palm fronds
   • NO cactus or yucca
   • NO dirt or paper bags
   • NO pet waste
   • NO food waste
   
3. Recyclables are placed into your Blue cart (automated service area) or Blue can (sand section). Please rinse all food waste from containers before placing in the recycle bin. 
   
   You can recycle the following items in your blue recycling container:
   • All aluminum, steel, bi-metal and tin cans
   • All colors of glass bottles and jars  
   • All 7 types of plastic including clear, colored and white plastic containers.
   (HINT: If you see the 3-arrow recycling symbol with a number ranging from 1-7 in the center, it is recyclable under our current contract with Waste Management in Manhattan Beach)
   • Newspaper and inserts
   • Junk mail
   • White ledger paper
   • Corrugated cardboard
   • Magazines
   • Colored and construction paper
   • Cereal boxes (with liners removed)
   • Telephone books
   
   The following items are NOT recyclable under our current contract and should be placed in your gray cart/can for landfill trash:
   • NO Aluminum foil
   • NO Scrap metal
   • NO Window, safety glass, Pyrex or drinking glasses 
   • NO Mirrors
   • NO Incandescent light bulbs
   • NO Styrofoam
   • NO Wax paper
   • NO Ceramics
   • NO Plastic wrap (Saran wrap)
   • NO Food waste
   • NO Packaging/moving materials (peanuts or bubble wrap)

By placing all of your green waste and recyclables into your Green and Blue carts/cans,you will be able to decrease the amount of refuse that you place into your Trash cart/can. If you have additional green waste and recyclables than will fit into your existing carts/cans, you may call Waste Management at (310) 830-7100 to request additional green waste and recycling carts and cans.

Waste Management understands that not all residents have the same trash and recycling needs.

Under this program, residents have more space for their refuse. If you use your Recycling and Green Waste cans correctly, you should notice a decrease in the amount of refuse you place in your grey refuse cart.

The 3-cart and 3-can systems used to serve residents of Manhattan Beach help maintain a neat appearance and tidy neighborhoods on collection day.

Additional green waste and recycling carts may be ordered by contacting Waste Management directly at (310) 830-7100.

YOU’RE THE SOLUTION TO WATER POLLUTION
With the rainy season upon us, it is a fantastic time for all of us to be reminded of the importance of Urban Runoff Pollution. Polluted and blocked storm drains have a direct impact on the delicate balance of our local ecosystem. Urban Runoff Pollution is created by collected litter/debris, as well as inappropriate hazardous material disposal. Urban Runoff Pollution is comprised of anything that washes into the storm drain from the community, for example: cigarette butts, animal wastes, yard wastes (hosed down lawn clippings/leaves), automotive fluids, and household cleaning fluids. The importance of proper disposal of litter cannot be overemphasized. Cigarette butts take 200 years to decompose. Discarding cigarette butts into the storm drain directly contributes to potential blocks. The common thought that animal wastes and yard wastes assist in the fertilization process is inaccurate. Decomposing animal wastes demand a high level of oxygen from water. This can kill fish and plant life by reducing the amount of dissolved oxygen available to them. Yard wastes such as leaves and grass that get hosed into the street and consequently the storm drains create blockages. These blockages are a prime opportunity for bacteria to manifest and be transported to the ocean. It is illegal to dispose of automotive fluids such as motor oil, and household fluids such as paint, thinner, and insecticides in the street or gutter.

You can assist yourself and the community by doing the following:

• Dispose of trash appropriately. NEVER use streets or gutters as a trash receptacle
• Recycle green waste 
• Always pick up after your pet - every time
• Rake up yard wastes and place them in your Green Waste cart/can
• Take advantage of the S.A.F.E. Household Hazardous Waste Collection Center located at the Hyperion Treatment Plant.  Additional information on the S.A.F.E. Center is listed on this page under Household Hazardous Waste Facilities."  
• Tell a friend

In the United States, it is estimated that an additional 5 million tons of waste is generated during the holidays. Four million tons of this waste is wrapping paper and shopping bags. At this time, the City of
Manhattan Beach would like to remind you to continue to recycle.

Keep in mind the Recycling loop is “Rethink, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.”  While shopping for holiday, birthday or anniversary gifts here are some ways to be part of the recycling solution:

Reduce:

• Not sure what to get someone? How about a gift certificate or gift card. That way, you know the gift will be used.
• Make gifts. Everyone appreciates home cooked meals or baked goodies.
• Consider non-material gifts. Tickets to a sporting event, movie, play, or concert are a real treat!
• When you go shopping, bring your own reusable bags.
• Think durable. Consider how long an item will last before you make a purchase. Often, a cheaper item will wear out long before its durable equivalent.
• Always remember to search for items made with recycled content.
• Start a tradition of Holiday stockings for each person. Little gifts can be put into the stocking without being wrapped. The stockings can be used year after year.
• Hide a large unwieldy gift somewhere in the house or yard and give the person a card with a clue, or a series of clue cards to lead them to the present instead of using wrapping paper.

Reuse:

• Design your own gift-wrap by using a paper grocery or department store bag and adding decorations such as drawings, stamped patterns, or pictures cut from magazines. Let the kids do the designing. It will keep them busy on stormy days.
• Purchase sturdier gift bags (or save the ones that you receive) that can be used again for another present.
• Save those gifts boxes and use them again. Many gift boxes fold down and take little room to store in a closet or cabinet.

Recycle:

The New Year is a great time to consider new ways that you can do your part to recycle and preserve natural resources.

• Become a part of the loop by buying recycled products. By purchasing recycled products, you can increase the demand for recycled products and, therefore, reduce the cost of recycling.

COMPOSTING is not a DIRTY BUSINESS
In fact, it’s the simple and natural way Mother Nature recycles organic waste. Egg shells, grass clippings, leaves, vegetables and fruit scraps, tea bags, coffee grounds and many other organic materials found at home can be recycled using simple backyard composting techniques. The result is a valuable and free organic fertilizer for your garden.

COMPOSTING BINS

• BIOSTACK BIN: Backyard composting is fun and simple. The City of Manhattan Beach makes it
  even simpler by offering composting bins to residents at discounted prices. You’ll even receive a free book about backyard composting with your purchase of a bin.
• WORM BIN: Unearth the many benefits of worm composting. It’s easy and fun for the whole
  family. The small (14 gal.) bin can be placed on your patio or in your garage. You don’t need a backyard, or leaves or clippings, etc. Just feed the worms kitchen scraps and create rich potting soil in the process. With the purchase of a Worm Bin, you’ll receive red worms and a free booklet about backyard composting.

Reminder: HOLIDAY TREE RECYCLING
Waste Management offers free collection and recycling of Holiday Trees.  Up to 14 days after Holiday, you may leave your tree on the curb on your scheduled collection day along with your waste container(s). Waste Management will remove your Holiday tree and see that it is properly recycled. Please remove all tinsel, metal ornaments and metal stands from trees. Flocked trees will be collected but cannot be recycled. Tree size must be no longer than 6 feet in length for pick up.

If you have questions regarding any of the above, please contact Waste Management at (310) 830-7100.

Household Hazardous Waste Facilities:
HHW Facilities accept:
Used Oil, Paint and Solvents; Anti-Freeze, and other Automotive Fluids; Cleaning Products, Compact Fluorescent Bulbs, Pool and Garden Chemicals, Aerosol Cans, All Medicine, No Needles, Auto Batteries, E-Waste (TV’s, computers, monitors, etc.)

HYPERION TREATMENT PLANT S.A.F.E. COLLECTION CENTER
7660 West Imperial Highway, Gate B
Playa Del Rey, CA 90293

Hours of Operation are Saturdays and Sundays
from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM

Removal of Bulky Items
Residents may request the pick-up of oversized or overweight household articles such as stoves, water heaters, rugs, washing machines and furniture. Call (310) 830-7100 to schedule.