Waste and Recycling

SF State's Hazardous Waste Cleanup Cost Millions More Than It Should Have

Recycling Company Pays SFPD to Catch Trash Thieves

Trash Thieves: Should We Let 'Em Be or Stomp 'Em Out?

One man's trash....​We published a piece today about the city's recycling giant, Recology, paying the cops to arrest the city's trash pirates -- those pick-up truck drivers who scavenge for treasure in a recycling bin near you. Some of these so-called thieves prefer the cardboard set out on the si ... More >>

Big Eggs, Little Birds

One man's trash....​We published a piece today about the city's recycling giant, Recology, paying the cops to arrest the city's trash pirates -- those pick-up truck drivers who scavenge for treasure in a recycling bin near you. Some of these so-called thieves prefer the cardboard set out on the si ... More >>

Recycling Robbery Turns Violent

Ha! The mother lode.​One man's trash is another man's treasure -- and, over the weekend, one man's recycling became another man's swag.A 36-year-old Hispanic man at the corner of Valencia and Mission found himself at the wrong end of a kitchen knife Saturday night. But the blade-wielding assailant ... More >>

SF residents too nostalgic to recycle Mr. Potato Head

Ha! The mother lode.​One man's trash is another man's treasure -- and, over the weekend, one man's recycling became another man's swag.A 36-year-old Hispanic man at the corner of Valencia and Mission found himself at the wrong end of a kitchen knife Saturday night. But the blade-wielding assailant ... More >>

HazMat Teams On Scene at Pier 96 Recycling Facility

​Update: "White powder" at recycling facility was Ammonium Phosphate, a fertilizer. See more after the jump. Reports are trickling in of workers at Pier 96 -- the city's recycling sorting facility, which is operated by Recology -- being sickened by some manner of "chemical."Televised images reveal ... More >>

Ammonium Phosphate, Which Sickened 12 Workers in S.F., Considered 'Non-Toxic'

WikipediaKeep this stuff out of your eyes, folks​This morning, SF Weekly reported on the "white powder" that sickened a dozen workers at the Pier 96 recycling facility and sent one to the hospital. While the term "white powder" evokes the very worst post-9/11 memories, the white powder in question ... More >>

S.F. Green Business Program rewards polluter

WikipediaKeep this stuff out of your eyes, folks​This morning, SF Weekly reported on the "white powder" that sickened a dozen workers at the Pier 96 recycling facility and sent one to the hospital. While the term "white powder" evokes the very worst post-9/11 memories, the white powder in question ... More >>

Is Toxic Waste is Good for the Environment? S.F. Official Explains Logic behind Green Business Program.

​This week's Matt Smith column notes that Sims Metal Management dumps into municipal landfills tens of thousands of tons of waste California Department of Toxic Substances Control scientists say is hazardous. Yet the company somehow received a San Francisco "Green Business Award." The column a ... More >>

You Know All Those Corks You're Saving? You Could Be Wearing Them Someday

Gare and Kitty/FlickrThe makings of a kickass pair of wedgies?​If you want another option for your used champagne and wine corks -- beyond using them in bad art projects -- there are fashion-forward options in the works. Cork is one material that's migrating from the recycling bin to the shoe ... More >>

S.F. Might Start Outsourcing Its Trash to Cheaper States

Possibly heading to Nevada is one more thing to be grouchy about​San Francisco's current waste management service, Recology -- formerly known as NorCal -- wants to ship the 20,000 tons of garbage we produce per week (not including weekends) on a freight train to a proposed landfill near Winnemucca ... More >>

In environmental terms, Cash for Clunkers is a jalopy

Possibly heading to Nevada is one more thing to be grouchy about​San Francisco's current waste management service, Recology -- formerly known as NorCal -- wants to ship the 20,000 tons of garbage we produce per week (not including weekends) on a freight train to a proposed landfill near Winnemucca ... More >>

SFGate Article on 'Diaper-Free Babies' Craps Out Debunked Notion that Diapers are Overwhelming Our Landfills

But the cute bear wants me to buy disposable diapers...​Like many of you, I was more than a bit amazed at an article yesterday on SFgate, in which a woman with the Marx Brothers-worthy name of Willow Lune explained her raison d'etre: Pushing a diaper-free lifestyle in which one's children can be t ... More >>

Mandatory Recycling Hasn't Led to Fascism In Other Locales -- But San Francisco's Proposed Fines are 10 Times Higher Than Elsewhere

It hasn't gotten quite to this point yet...There's no getting around it -- the notion of a government employee or contractor inspecting one's refuse and approving or disapproving its composition is creepy, regardless of how altruistic the goal of waste reduction. You cannot argue about this. That be ... More >>

State Senate Committee Moves to Allow Toxic Waste In County Dumps

Thanks, Ma: Toxic waste from old cars is still hunky dory in California The California Senate's Environmental Quality Committee today unanimously approved a bill that would block environmental officials from preventing 700,000 tons of toxic waste from being dumped into county landfills each year. As ... More >>

Local Schools' Fortunes Plummeting in Tournament -- The Recycling Tournament. What Tournament Were You Thinking Of?

Not everything that goes in the trash can is trash. Ask someone who knows...Pulling into the home stretch of Recyclemania, the nationwide recycling competition for colleges and universities, our local institutions appear to be flagging a bit. Ranked 12th and 13th earlier this month, San Francisco St ... More >>

State Enviro Cops, Recycling Industry in Toxic Showdown

Headed to a landfill near you?It has taken millions of people's jobs and houses. Could the global recession now threaten our health? This theoretical question is at the heart of a regulatory standoff between California toxics police and the automobile recycling industry. State regulators want auto ... More >>

"Alec Soth: The Last Days of W"

Headed to a landfill near you?It has taken millions of people's jobs and houses. Could the global recession now threaten our health? This theoretical question is at the heart of a regulatory standoff between California toxics police and the automobile recycling industry. State regulators want auto ... More >>

Baggage

The city's politicos made the enviros happy by banning plastic bags, but left us with more pollution and cost

Car Alarm

After saying for decades that treated "shredder waste" from junked cars and old appliances was safe, state regulators now admit it isn't.

Prelude to the Plastiki

After saying for decades that treated "shredder waste" from junked cars and old appliances was safe, state regulators now admit it isn't.

Examiner VP of Circ Takes Recycling Theft into His Own Hands

After saying for decades that treated "shredder waste" from junked cars and old appliances was safe, state regulators now admit it isn't.

Last Night: Carnival Mécanique

After saying for decades that treated "shredder waste" from junked cars and old appliances was safe, state regulators now admit it isn't.

Art Dump

After saying for decades that treated "shredder waste" from junked cars and old appliances was safe, state regulators now admit it isn't.

Altered States

After saying for decades that treated "shredder waste" from junked cars and old appliances was safe, state regulators now admit it isn't.

Best Furniture

After saying for decades that treated "shredder waste" from junked cars and old appliances was safe, state regulators now admit it isn't.

Best Use of Trash

The Sanitary Fill Co.

Letters

The Sanitary Fill Co.

Letters

The Sanitary Fill Co.

Money for Nothing

If you're good at pushing a shopping cart - really good - and establish a lucrative route, you too can make minimum wage by heisting bottles, cans, and newspapers from the blue recycling bins. And incur the wrath of the cops in the process.