Yolo County Central Landfill Now Accepting Tissue for Resale and Reprocessing
By LEVI GOLDSTEIN — [email protected]
The Yolo County Central Landfill (YCCL) has opened a textile recycling program for Yolo County residents, according to a Press release May 9.
Marissa Juhler, Yolo County Landfill Operations and Waste Reduction Manager, said YCCL operates multiple waste disposal and recycling programs to meet the sustainability goals of Yolo County’s Strategic Plan. and California State SB 1383 waste reduction goals, including electronics, hazardous materials, liquids, soil, and even mattresses.
“[We’re] run an efficient operation here for our customers so that we are a one-stop-shop,” Juhler said. “That’s probably the most important thing is that when people come here to the landfill, we have something – at its highest and best use – to divert the things that they’re trying to get rid of. “
Davis Community Meals and Housing (DCMH), a local nonprofit that serves people experiencing housing insecurity, receives donations of second-hand clothing which they redistribute, according to DCMH chief executive Bill Pride.
“Living on the streets, you go through clothes pretty quickly,” Pride said. “It gets dirty. There really isn’t an easy way to wash it off. What happens is that you end up looking for new things quite frequently.
DCMH won a Environmental Recognition Award for their efforts to reduce food waste. However, they currently do not have a textile recycling program, nor have Pride heard of it in the county. The new fabric recycling program fills a much-needed niche in the community.
“People tend to buy too many things,” Pride said. “You wear it or you don’t wear it, and after a little while it gets thrown away.”
Now, Monday through Saturday from 6:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and Sunday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Yolo County residents can bring clothes, rags, sheets, shoes and sleeping bags to the YCCL Textile Recycling Bin. According to Juhler, the collection is sent to the ICL Thrift Store in Woodland, which sorts the items into what is to be resold at their store and what is to be shipped to facilities in Los Angeles to be reprocessed into carpets.
The program has some limitations. Currently it cannot accept wet tissue. Juhler said they always try to make sure operations run as smoothly as possible.
“When things get wet and soiled, they start to mold and can contaminate the whole ball of clothing,” Juhler said. “We are going to have to determine the staff to be able to monitor this bin and this area in the landfill so that the things that really need to go to the landfill go to the landfill and we can still recover as much as possible. ”
Residents are encouraged to continue donating to organizations like DCMH and local thrift stores. Still, the new recycling program is proving useful, with approximately 4.6 tons of fabric brought to the YCCL since its founding.
“There was no where to take things that don’t have a reusable life,” Juhler said. “It’s important to get the message across that we now have a home for this material.”
Written by: Lévi Goldstein — [email protected]