Sometime in the next decade the City of Manteca will likely stop weekly “garbage” collection.
That’s because the odds are great households will have a fourth container that’s a bright orange.
It will be where your unwanted pizza, leftovers that have turned into science projects, spoiled fruit, banana peels, and all food waste will be placed.
A hands on audit of brown carts pulled randomly from curbside several years back with the contents dumped and shifted through at the solid waste division revealed close to 40 percent of what Manteca households toss into the garbage is food waste.
It is also probably the heaviest component as well.
Say what you want about state mandates but a reasonable — and fiscally responsible person — should agree Sacramento’s edict that food waste be diverted from landfills makes sense. Not only does it save space, reduce the bill for what the city is charged per ton to bury, but it can be converted into clean burning compressed gas to fuel solid waste trucks and other vehicles.
The time will soon come when weekly “garbage collection” is not needed and will be reduced to an every other week frequency such as recyclables and green yard waste is now handled. Those orange carts will likely be picked up every week.
Before then all apartment dwellers in Manteca will join the world of recycling.
Whether that is an exact scenario of what lies ahead for the City of Manteca has yet to be seen. But it is clear that when it comes to our solid waste habits change is on the way.
There is something that conjures up thoughts of Buck Rogers knowing the apple cores and orange peels you tossed in an orange cart last week will power the 10-ton municipal solid waste truck that’s collecting your recyclables this week.
Manteca is clearly one of the early pioneers among California cities marrying methane gas from the wastewater treatment plant with food waste to produce compressed natural gas.
It isn’t by chance. Manteca had wisely invested in a cutting edge treatment plant 15 years ago with the ability to expand with relative ease. They are also one of the few jurisdictions in California that hasn’t unloaded garbage collection to private contractors. No other city in the Northern San Joaquin Valley is positioned as Manteca is today. Add to that the city timed needing replacement of a digester at the treatment plant to coincide with the food waste to fuel infrastructure development and Manteca is positioning itself to enjoy lower solid waste rates as the years roll on than neighboring jurisdictions.
The mantra for the past two decades of Manteca’s Public Works Department when it comes to sewer, water, and solid waste has been strategically making significant upfront investments to assure long-term delivery of services as well as lower costs in the long run. That was reflected in a 12-year run without solid waste rates going up as well as the current six-year run of no water rate increase and seven years without a sewer rate hike.
It is the result of a Public Works Department that is innovative, forward-thinking, cost conscious, and customer service orientated from the director and engineers all the way down to the technicians that run the wastewater treatment plant, the crews that work on water pipes, and the solid waste truck drivers. It also is a testament to an inquisitive elected leadership that has seen the value of long-term decisions that may initially be unpopular instead of taking the short view that keeping spending at a bare minimum is the most cost efficient way to run an enterprise serving 75,000 people. That is especially true when it comes to the “mundane” but absolutely essential municipal services that we take for granted yet touch our lives repeatedly throughout the day as we turn on a water faucet, flush a toilet or toss garbage into a city issued cart.
Twenty-five years ago Manteca’s curbsides were much different places. You could place as many 32-gallon cans as well as bagged garbage tied shut as you wished at the curb and the city would take them for the same flat fee.
The world has changed since then. Cell phones were still fairly rare in 1991 just like household recycling. Now we’ve gotten to the point most of us can’t function without a smartphone and separating garbage, recyclables, and yard waste is virtually automatic. Adding an orange food waste cart to the mix that you can toss unwanted leftover dessert into will be a piece of cake.

This column is the opinion of executive editor, Dennis Wyatt, and does not necessarily represent the opinion of The Bulletin or Morris Newspaper Corp. of CA.  He can be contacted at dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com or 209.249.3519.