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Curbside recycling service is coming to your neighborhood on November 1, 2016! In late spring, the Santa Fe County Board of Commissioners adopted an ordinance expanding the County’s role in managing solid waste and recycling throughout the County with an eye toward increasing waste reduction and recycling participation. The ordinance establishes a new “Solid Waste Collection District” consisting of the higher density residential areas surrounding the City of Santa Fe, including Eldorado, Rancho Viejo, Tano Rd. area, Aldea, and La Cienega. Solid waste haulers providing curbside residential refuse service will be required to also provide at least every other week recycling service for a single “bundled” fee. Haulers will no longer be allowed to offer “refuse only” service.

This program is an alternative to a proposal the County considered early last year that would have established exclusive “franchise” areas where only a single solid waste hauler (competitively selected by the County) would have served your neighborhood for refuse and recycling service. Citizen opposition to that proposal led to the ordinance now being implemented. In many ways, this compromise proposal is more workable for all concerned – homeowners, private haulers and the County.

The addition of recycling service may increase rates per month. All of the regular household-generated recyclable items currently accepted at the convenience centers, with the exception of glass, will be collected. Due to constraints associated with glass recycling and processing, glass is not included in this program. At least one hauler, however, currently offers glass recycling pick-up along with the collection of other recyclables. Many citizens wanted mandatory glass recycling included in the ordinance, but such a requirement would have been cost-prohibitive. Most haulers utilize the automated “one-armed bandit” trucks and carts that don’t lend themselves to keeping glass separate from the other recyclables. With curbside collection of all of the non-glass recyclables (a much greater list of materials since last year), homeowner trips to convenience centers to recycle only glass will be much less frequent than previously required. For similar operational reasons, the City of Santa Fe will be transitioning to a glass recycling drop-off program this December – eliminating the current curbside pick-up of glass.

Homeowners are not required to obtain curbside refuse and recycling service under the County ordinance. If they so choose, citizens may continue to self-haul their refuse and recyclable materials to a convenience center or BuRRT.

Under the ordinance, private haulers are required to start providing recycling service by November 1st.
The ordinance also requires all private haulers, providing residential, commercial, and construction/demolition service, operating throughout the unincorporated County to submit a solid waste and recycling data report to the County semiannually (twice per year). The County will use the haulers’ solid waste and recycling data to develop additional management policies and programs.

For more information, feel free to contact me at 992-3044, cohare@santafecountynm.gov.
or Jeff Spillers, 992-3025, jspillers@santafecountynm.gov