The Garbage Chronicles, Part I

This will the be the week of trash. Stay tuned for the garbage chronciles here on Mayor Sam. Connect the dots and it will all be very interesting. The main question will be what will Councilman Greig Smith do when the "Sunshine Showdown" hits the Council Chambers on Friday.

In the meantime, Smith is touting his RENEW LA Plan which seeks to encourage recylcing and reuse to cut down. Here is his press release:

Los Angeles – Councilman Greig Smith honored Downtown Diversion Inc. in Council Feb. 3 to congratulate the L.A.-based construction and demolition recycling facility for being named top in the nation and to call attention to the importance of the recycling industry for the City and the environment.

“This company shows that by using innovative technology and creative thinking, the City can partner with businesses to create local jobs and revenue for the City and protect the environment at the same time,” Councilman Smith said. “This kind of partnership is an integral part of my RENEW LA plan, the 20-year blueprint to end the City’s use of landfills by maximizing recycling and reuse, and converting trash into clean electricity and valuable raw materials. It will protect the environment and create a new, clean industry with high-quality local jobs.”

Councilman Smith presented Downtown Diversion co-founders Mike Hammer, CEO, and Myan Spaccarelli, President, with a City certificate congratulating the company for being named “2005 Mixed Construction and Demolition Recycling Facility of the Year” by the Construction Materials Recycling Association and thanking the company for protecting the environment by diverting over 200,000 tons of trash from landfills last year.

Downtown Diversion processes more than 75 percent of the construction and demolition debris it picks up, most of which would otherwise go into landfills where it would pollute the environment and be lost forever as a resource.

The company has created about 60 new jobs in the City. Materials like steel and cardboard are reusable; wood gets chipped and mulched and used for nurseries or biomass fuel to produce electricity; concrete and asphalt is crushed and reused as building material; and even drywall is crushed and used as a soil additive.

The City now generates about 4 million tons of trash a year, about 60 percent of which is diverted from landfills. And Downtown Diversion is an important partner with the City in achieving our strategy diverting 70 percent of trash by 2010 and achieving the goal in my RENEW LA plan of “zero waste” of usable materials and 90 percent diversion by 2025.