Manteca’s universal 96-gallon cart solid waste service is repeatedly slammed by detractors as being unnecessary and unfair.

Unnecessary, as some indicate they rarely generate enough garbage per se in any given week to fill even a 32-gallon cart.

Unfair, because they feel they should be charged less than the $58.72 a month charge because they don’t generate enough garbage to even fill a third of a 96-gallon cart each week as opposed to households that do.

The rule and the charge are not arbitrary, but rooted in operational realities and reflect the fixed costs of servicing a household on a collection route as Avneet Mahil, Assistant Director of Waste Management and Fleet Services for the City of Manteca points out.

The universal 96-gallon household carts for garbage (brown), recycling (blue), and organic/yard waste (green) are being used because:

*It increases efficiency in the collection process by being able to have nine different parts in stock to repair damaged carts instead of 27 that would be required for three different sized carts.

*The large carts coupled with weekly collection of green, blue, and brown carts is stopping many people from contaminating recycables rendering them unable to be recycled. Those with smaller garbage carts in the past would dump garbage per se into recyclables when they filled up the previous options of going with 32 or 64 gallon carts for garbage.

*The 32-gallon carts are problematic for the hydraulic arms on the solid waste trucks to tip. It often leads to the cart itself being dumped into the bin. That requires the driver to stop, climb into the back, and retrieve the cart. In cases where the driver wasn’t aware the cart dropped with the garbage, the cart would be crushed requiring a $150 replacement cart.

The actual cost of “tipping” or burying garbage at a landfill is a relatively small part of the cost of serving a household with three collections — blue, green, and brown — per week.

Among the bigger fixed costs that are in play despite how much trash, recyclables, and organic or yard waste is in the carts are:

*the wages and benefits of the drivers.

*fuel and maintenance costs.

*setting aside funds for the replacement of the $650,000 trucks that typically have an 8 to 10 year useful life.

Other costs include customer support positions and such.

That said, the city does offer an option for residents to apply for a smaller cart. It is by application with specific criteria needed to be met.

The city, however, will not lower the monthly solid waste rate.

There is a lower rate available for those low-income seniors that don’t exceed certain household income levels.

‘Slipping’ & ‘burning’

solid waste trucks

Mahil, along with solid waste compliance specialist Clarissa Frias, on Thursday shared with the Manteca Rotary the nuances and such of why the city does what is does when it comes to solid waste.

First, the need for a compliance specialist.

The city — as well as other agencies collecting solid waste —have to comply with California’s mandates when it comes to garbage.

That goes beyond just keeping track of the tons of waste that is handled and how it is recycled or disposed of. There needs to be robust outreach to educate residents and businesses as well as enforcement mechanisms to assure people comply with what are basically state mandated rules.

The commercial food waste recycling program and the switch to weekly pickups of all three carts are part of state mandates to reduce the amount of garbage that is landfilled.

Driving the push to divert more solid waste from being buried at landfills are two-fold:

*Organic waste such as food, yard debris, and cardboard/paper that is buried eventually breaks down and creates methane gas, the leading source of greenhouse gas emissions.

*Stretching landfill capacity is critical given new landfills are difficult to site and typically, thanks to development, are being located farther from cities and even out of state which adds to the cost of transporting garbage to get rid of it.

There are a number of rules in place designed to keep toxic and dangerous items from entering the solid waste steam such as paints, garden chemicals, light bulbs, and batteries.

The city works with San Joaquin County to stage periodic collections and paints and household chemical at a one-day event in Manteca as opposed to having to drive to the hazardous household waste facility at Stockton Metro Airport.

Used household batteries can be dropped off at the city’s solid waste office in an outside container Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to noon.

“Never throw uses batteries in the garbage,” Mahil said. “They can start fires in solid waste trucks.”

It is not uncommon for drivers periodically to be forced to pull over to the side of the road and “dump” out trash collected in the back because a battery started a fire.

Not doing so could mean the untimely loss of a $650,000 truck.

The city several years ago switched to taking garbage to the Lovelace Transfer Station as opposed to the Forward Landfill on Austin Road.

Not only did that reduce mileage costs given Lovelace is closer, but municipal garbage trucks no longer have to maneuver around the landfill site that would often involve slippery ground causing struck to slide that significantly accelerated tire wear.

Food waste will one day

power city garbage trucks

There are currently 35 solid waste trucks powered by compressed natural gas generated methane gas at the wastewater treatment plant. Methane gas is a byproduct of the wastewater treatment process.

Long range plans call for the city to create compressed natural gas from food waste as well.

That requires a dedicated and expensive anaerobic digester.

For now, a city-owned turbo separator at the Lovelace Transfer Station separates food waste from wrapping to produce a slurry that is mixed with yard waste at a facility the center contracts with to produce.

There are currently 26,000 households that solid waste makes three stops at each week to collect the content of the brown, green, and blue carts.

That is in addition to 1,000 commercial and multiple-family residential accounts such as apartment complexes.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com