Residential Recycling Program

Recycling is more important than ever to customers of Recology Yuba-Sutter. There is a pressing need to preserve our environment, save natural resources and reduce the amount of garbage going to landfills. In order to keep our communities safe and clean, we all must pitch in to help recycle and reuse as much as possible.

Recology Yuba-Sutter is committed to providing long-term environmentally conscious waste management services in Yuba and Sutter Counties and their communities at the lowest rates possible.

People sometimes have difficulty envisioning how commingled bottles and cans are segregated after collection, or how cardboard is separated from mixed paper.

The sorting process for recyclables takes place at the Integrated Waste Recovery Facility (IWRF) at the Yuba-Sutter Transfer Station in Marysville. Collection trucks from residential homes enter the IWRF and are weighed on a certified truck scale. After the weight is logged into a computer, collection trucks empty the recyclable materials in a designated area. Recyclables are moved along elevated conveyor belts and are sorted manually. Although mechanical devices that separate materials are commercially available, manual separation by skilled sorters is an extremely reliable and adaptable way to segregate materials for a changeable commodities market, and for maximum diversion to help our community meet AB939 goals.

Once segregated by type, recyclable materials (except glass) are moved onto another conveyor line that feeds into a compacting unit. Sorted recyclables are compressed into large cubes - or bales - weighing approximately 1,500 pounds each. Bales of like materials are stored together until there are enough bales to fill a shipping container or semi-truck. (Sorted glass is collected into 40-cubic yard containers for shipment to glass mills.) Recyclable materials collected and processed by Recology Yuba-Sutter are shipped to manufacturing plants around the world to be made into new items.

Collection trucks also pick up the green recycling carts that contain the yard waste from residential homes and are weighed on a certified truck scale. After the weight is logged into a computer, the yard waste is taken to a central location and is used in our composting operation. The weight of the yard waste is important for the diversion number needed in meeting the state mandated goal of 50%. If a blue or green cart is contaminated with non-recyclable material, the contents must go straight to the landfill, and the diversion numbers are not applicable.

Putting plastic bags in the blue and green recycling carts hurts the recycling effort. This is the story of how a lightweight grocery bag becomes a heavyweight problem at the Yuba-Sutter Transfer Station. For years we have asked residents to put garbage into plastic bags before dumping it in garbage carts. This lesson has been well learned as this practice is second nature to most of us by now. But when it comes to recycling, plastic bags are on the list of BIG offenders in Yuba & Sutter Counties, along with garbage. Why is this so?

When residents place cans, glass, plastics and newspapers in plastic bags they deposit in recycling containers, the recyclables travel to the MRF (Materials Recovery Facility) trapped in those bags. As the bagged recyclables enter the processing line there is no time to remove them from the bags and it's unsafe for our employees to open them. The recyclables thus cannot be sorted and end up moving down the line...right into the garbage. A sad story on all counts: the time you spent recycling is lost, material revenue is lost, and disposal costs run higher.

Plastic bags are considered "contamination," that is, foreign material that has mixed in with recyclables, reducing the quality of recyclable materials and raising processing costs.

Of course, you can recycle your plastic grocery bags PROPERLY by returning them to the store they came from. Question: Does this mean that plastic bags are actually desirable recyclables that will somehow make their way back to the store via your local residential recycling cart? They Don't. And now you know the rest of the story.

There is another important step to recycling: buying products made with recycled content. When you purchase products with recycled content, manufacturers will continue to use recyclables in their products and will expand their use to other products.

Compare labels to find the product with the highest percentage of "post-consumer" recycled content. ("Post-consumer" is the material you recycle in your curbside bin.) Many products, such as greeting cards, tissue, toilet paper and paper towels, offer a variety of recycled-content choices. Be sure to look for the recycling symbol! Other products, such as aluminum cans, almost always contain high post-consumer recycled content, even if the can doesn't have the symbol.

You can help the environment and your pocketbook by buying reusable products. Consider using sponges, dish towels, and cloth napkins in place of paper towels and disposable napkins. Use rechargeable batteries and products in reusable packaging such as glass jars.

Instead of throwing that old coat or dress away, consider donating your unwanted household items to a nonprofit or church-run thrift store. Search the Internet or Yellow Pages for "consignment", "second hand", "thrift", "antiques", or "clothing - used" or "furniture dealers - used".

Questions About Recycling?

Please read the Recycling Frequently Asked Questions page.

Can I discard oil, oil filters, paint, paint thinner, batteries, insecticides, or similar materials in my carts?

NO!! Never discard hazardous waste in any of your carts. For information and instructions, please visit the Household Hazardous Waste, page for more information.

The curbside recycling program is partially funded by the Yuba-Sutter Regional Waste Management Authority and the California Department of Conservation. For more information about beverage container recycling, please call
1-800-RECYCLE or visit the Department of Conservation.