Where does our trash go?

Most people I know make only a token effort to sort recyclables from trash. They still use disposable paper plates and cutlery when they have guests and think nothing of it. The City may be drowning in trash, even after a massive push to get everyone to recycle more, but it seems to be a human rights issue - the right to throw out as much trash as you see fit. Old habits are hard to break. Recycling works because it means there is less going into a landfill, but using less of everything is an even better solution.

Do you know where your trash goes? It goes to Sunshine Canyon Landfill at the top of the Valley in Sylmar, just off the 5. Sunshine Canyon (lovely name) is a privately owned landfill and it is all there is, ever since the City-owned Lopez Canyon closed in 1996. I visited Lopez recently to see what it looked like now.

The road ascends past a massive terraced embankment like a dam, then curves past a methane electric plant run by LADWP (the methane fumaroles are piped in to generate electricity) and then at the top is a composting facility which is still active (see photo above). They produce high quality compost which is sent to mulch distribution points around Los Angeles (our nearest one is in Balboa Park - here) and most goes to farms. On the City website they have a great photo gallery you can check out here, at the bottom of the page.

Both Sunshine and Lopez field complaints from neighbors about the odors from time to time, but to blame the waste companies is a little rich. We may as well blame ourselves for supplying all that trash in the first place.