Yorba Linda trash-hauling bill increase due to diversion of green waste from land-fill sites

By now, most residential customers of Republic Services, Yorba Linda's trash-hauling cont-ractor, have noticed a 13.4% spike in their bills for the three-month period ending March 31.

The extra $2.88 per-barrel per-month cost will pay for diverting the city's annual 14,000 tons of green waste – mostly grass clippings and leaves collected in the brown containers – from local county landfills to a composting facility co-owned by Republic Services in Chino.

The change is the result of a state law passed in 2014, with an effective date of Jan. 1 this year. The new three-month rate for weekly trash pickup for residential customers is $73.26, up from $64.62, for the trash (black), recyclable (green) and green waste (brown) containers.

Prior to the start of this year, the city's green waste was transferred by Republic Services mostly to the 565-acre Olinda Landfill in Brea, where it was used to cover the active parts of the landfill at the end of the day to control vectors, fires, odors, blowing litter and scavenging.

The green waste earned the city “diversion credit,” and the county did not charge for disposal.

But now, according to a report from Assistant City Manager Dave Christian, the green waste – called “alternative daily cover” – will be considered regular trash and the credit eliminated.

The state goal is to reduce “the amount of organic waste sent to landfills to 50% by 2020 and to 75% by 2025,” Christian noted, adding, “CalRecycle requires all California cities to divert at least 50% of their trash from the landfills each year.”

One option explored was to continue dumping the green waste at county landfills and have it counted as regular trash. That would have increased the city's monthly per-container charge $1.52, boosting the three-month bill to $69.18 instead of $73.26.

However, that option “could cause the city's diversion credit rate to drop below the 50% minimum required by CalReycle,” Christian reported. The City Council voted 5-0 for the $73.26 rate.

The city retains the right to choose the location for delivering the green waste, with rates reduced or increased if costs of using a different facility are lower or higher. Republic will notify the city if a lower cost plan becomes available before the regular annual rate adjustment July 1.

Update to my Sept. 19 and 26 and Dec. 5 columns on the state mandate to plan for future housing needs: The city hired Karen Warner Associates to prepare an eight-year General Plan Housing Element by April 2021 at a cost of $127,400.

The city was allotted a preliminary new construction need of 2,322 units for the 2021-2029 planning period under the Regional Housing Needs Assessment process, to be distributed among very-low, low, moderate and above-moderate income categories.

The firm will plan for community engagement and create visual simulations of hypothetical projects of varying densities on potential housing sites.