Green Waste

This article looks like it came mostly from LA public relations releases, but no matter. If a good chunk of it is right, it’s good.

Under the massive citywide recycling program – known as the Zero Waste Plan – most of the 3,600 tons of trash picked up daily in Los Angeles will be recycled, reduced to compost or turned into alternative energy by 2030.

The plan’s goal is to stop the piling up of old yogurt cups, coffee grinds and other junk in landfills, where they churn out greenhouse gases.

“We cannot continue doing business as usual,” said Alex Helou, assistant director for the city’s Bureau of Sanitation, under the Department of Public Works. “There’s energy stored in the trash. This is the energy we need to harness.”

Announced Wednesday at a public meeting inside Expo Center, the bureau’s energy goals actually started last year. Still in its planning phase, the program follows environmental plans proposed in the past by city officials.

City Councilman Greig Smith, for example, has a 20-year plan adopted by the city to stop using landfills, transform garbage into electricity and other materials, and help create industries and new jobs to support that growth.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa in May proposed cutting 19 million tons of carbon-dioxide emissions in Los Angeles by 2020.

Gold Trash

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