(FOX40.COM) — Some Sacramento city residents may take their bins in on trash day, only to find a message tagged onto the lid telling them to “sort it out.”
The City of Sacramento’s Recycling and Solid Waste Division will be checking residents’ curbside bins throughout July for “contamination,” the division announced in a social media post Sunday. Although no fines will be issued, city staff will “provide education when needed.”
These checks are required by a California law that aims to combat pollution by decreasing the amount of organic waste rotting in landfills, according to the law’s website.
Tag for bins that fail the check (Credit: City of Sacramento)
City staff donning “high visibility vests and badges” will patrol the streets, conducting tests to ensure residents are properly sorting their garbage. The workers will open bins parked at curbs for service days and photograph their contents for “recordkeeping,” the division said.
Residents who ace the test will receive a “Great Job” tag, and those who need a lesson in sorting will receive a “Let’s Sort This Out” tag bearing an educational graphic for future reference.
Those with “excessive contamination” in their bins, such as hazardous materials, will receive a formal request to dispose of it properly.
The division explained that these tests combat larger issues related to methane production in landfills.
“When organic waste is put in the trash container it gets buried … releasing methane gas that contributes to global climate change,” the division explained. “By placing your food waste, food-soiled paper, and yard waste in the organic waste container, you are reducing your environmental footprint by allowing that material to be turned into compost.”
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