Santa Monica officials are experimenting with a six month pilot program for disposing of hazardous waste that they believe could ultimately save over $100,000 a year for the city in consolidation and personnel costs. Citizens with hazardous waste can request individual pickups Monday-Friday at their homes, rather than transporting the waste to city yards or disposing of it improperly as they did under the previous system.

The program will contract waste disposal to WM Curbside LLC, a third party private entity that will handle all requests, mail residents a collection kit and pick up their waste within two weeks of every request. All pickups are free of charge and there is no limit on the amount of pickups per home. The city is also developing a website and telephone number as resources to explain the new program to residents in the hopes that it will encourage more participation.

It remains to be seen how much cost-savings this new system will bring, but it certainly provides a more convenient method for disposing of hazardous waste and may help discourage improper disposal by residents who don't want to bother hauling their waste to city yards, as more than 5,000 people do every year in Santa Monica.

For more information, read this article at The Santa Monica Mirror:

http://www.smmirror.com/?ajax#mode=single&view=31543