Genie Kaggerud (VALCORE President), Peter Friesen (Vallejo Garbage Service General Manager) and I recently chatted about the changes in recycling over the eighteen years that we have worked together. We would have never dreamed of all the interest or regulations surrounding the items that can now be recycled.

There are still skeptics that are not recycling as anti-recycling myths continue to re-surface. The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) defused the allegations written in a 1996 New York Times Magazine article entitled Recycling is Garbage. The following information is relevant today.

Myth: The recycling movement is a product of a false "crisis" in landfill space."

EDF found that "concentrating on landfill space misses the point. The greatest environmental benefits of recycling occur in reducing the damage and pollution that arise when extracting virgin raw materials and manufacturing new products." Making new products from recycled aluminum saves 95 percent of energy needed to make new aluminum. Energy saved by recycling paper is 60 percent and recycling glass is 32 percent.

Myth: Landfill space is cheap and abundant.

There may be cheap land for landfills but they are far away from urban areas. Fourteen landfills have disappeared around the bay. The Bay Conservation and Development Commission continue to regulate the remaining seven; three which will be gone soon. Potrero Hills near Suisun is one of the remaining four and is trying to expand its footprint for the garbage it accepts from communities up to 150 miles away.

Vallejo's garbage goes to the Devlin Road Transfer Station where it is loaded on trucks and driven to the Keller Canyon landfill in east Contra Costa County. San Francisco's food waste is trucked to Jepson Prairie Composting in Vacaville. These huge garbage trucks share the same highways that we travel on every day.

Myth: Recycling should pay for itself.

We do not expect landfills to pay for themselves, nor should we expect this of recycling. In fact, recycling creates more jobs through collecting and sorting material as well as producing new goods.

Myth: There are no markets for recycled materials.

Most plastics have limited or non-existent markets, however aluminum, glass and paper markets remain strong here and over seas.

Myth: Manufacturers are compelled by law to make costly changes in their packaging and products.

Lawmakers are slowly making headway by giving manufacturers reasonable standards for their products. For example, there are over 50 different types of plastics and only seven are accepted in the California Redemption Value buy back program. Responsible companies now design their products to be easily recycled.

Myth: Recycling is a time-consuming burden on the American public.

Most cities are going to single-stream recycling where paper goods (newspaper, magazines, cardboard, junk mail) and food containers (cans and bottles) are placed in one recycling toter. This mix is then separated at a sorting facility such as the one that Valeljo Garbage operates on Broadway.

Confusion comes from what materials are recyclable. Most food packaging such as trays that come with produce, bakery goods or frozen food, and plastic bags do not have a viable market at this time. Such packaging is considered trash.

When you receive your new recycling toter this spring, take time to read the attached label to learn what materials are recyclable.

Flyway Festival

The 11th Annual Flyway Festival happens February 2 to 4, on Mare Island in Vallejo. The free Festival celebrates the annual migration along the Pacific Flyway of hawks, shorebirds, and monarch butterflies with exhibits, hikes, and birding outings.

The local Sierra Club will again provide compostable plates, cups and cutlery for the event. The used products will be composted at VALCORE Recycling. For more information call 707 649-WING or www.sfbayflywayfestival.com.