A Zero Waste Plan for Los Angeles

Whether it's composting or recycling or trash hoarding, more Californian environmentalists are getting obsessive about waste. Now, the City of L.A. as a whole is talking trash, working to develop a citywide Zero Waste Plan to turn L.A. into a zero waste city.

Can L.A. really divert 70% of trash from landfills by 2015? That's one of the main goals of this Zero Waste Plan, also known as SWIRP (Solid Waste Integrated Resource Plan). At the moment, SWIRP's still at the beginning stages of creation; after all, the effort started just last year. So far, the city Department of Public Works has conducted interviews with stakeholders, held 21 regional workshops, and organized the first Zero Waste Conference, which happened Oct. 2007 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

Now, we're having the second Citywide Zero Waste Conference (PDF), which will focus on "Policy, Program and Facility Options":

When: Feb. 2, 8:30 am - 3 pm
Where: Los Angeles Convention Center, 1201 S. Figueroa St., West Hall 515 A and B
RSVP: Call Glenda Silva at (323) 349-0661or email glenda@victorgriego.com

Councilmembers Rosendahl, Smith, Reyes and others will be there to talk trash. Join them, and you'll get free meals and refreshments -- plus an optional Zero Waste Film Festival to kick off the day.

SWIRP’s key goals are to:

achieve a 70% diversion (recycling) rate by 2015
operate an alternative technology facility by 2010
convert the Bureau of Sanitation fleet of over 750 trucks to run on clean fuels by 2010
reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 35% below 1990 levels by 2030
implement Council’s adopted RENEW LA Plan that recommends 12 key measures to make LA a zero waste city

This second conference will still only be the beginning for the Zero Waste Plan. The whole planning process is supposed to take six years, to eventually become a 20-year master plan for the City’s solid waste and recycling programs. After the conference, the city will hold 14 community workshops in February and March. Then on April 26, we'll have a third Zero Waste Conference, in which the guiding principles for this program will be announced in a signing ceremony, thereby concluding the first phase of SWIRP.

Get involved now and help shape the Zero Waste Plan from the start!