News

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Waste collection diversion rates

Based on information from the districts’ Business Services Department

Removing food trash from the solid waste stream achieves two important ends: it saves the district general fund money (e.g., $10,000 annually at Franklin alone) and reduces the amount of solid waste trucked to and buried in the Tajiguas Landfill.

Because the Franklin kitchen produces meals for other schools, it generates hundreds of pounds of food waste every day. Diverting that material from the trash means fewer trash pick-ups each week, which translates into immediate monetary savings. Following are the most current diversion rates for the Santa Barbara School Districts:

• Adams Elementary, 41%
• Cleveland Elementary, 45%
• District Office, 69%
• Franklin Children’s Center 17%
• Franklin Elementary/Cesar Chavez Charter, 75%
• Harding School, 92%
• La Colina Junior High/Open Alternative, 45%
• La Cuesta Continuation High, 36%
• La Cumbre Junior High/Santa Barbara Community Academy, 41%
• Las Flores Preschool, 41%
• McKinley Elementary, 59%
• Monroe Elementary, 51%
• Parma Children’s Center, 32%
• Roosevelt Elementary, 31%
• Santa Barbara High, 45%
• Santa Barbara Junior High, 35%
• Washington Elementary, 56%

Franklin Elementary School launched foodscraps composting on January 20, 2010. La Cumbre launches pre-consumer foodscraps on April 13. Adams, Monroe, and Washington will be launching foodscraps composting in April.

The district does not have the same level of statistical analysis for schools outside the city as the Santa Barbara County Public Works Department is short staffed. The most current diversion figures for our districts’ schools that are located in the county/unincorporated area are:

• Dos Pueblos High, 30%
• San Marcos High, 48%
• Goleta Valley Junior High, 56%