The city of Long Beach, California (461,522), saves both money and the environment by recycling its street-sweeping debris. Testing showed that less than 5 percent of the street sweepings were not biodegradable and that the street sweeping debris was safe for composting and other uses. The city now screens the debris to separate dirt and sand from inorganic materials. All bottles and cans are recycled. A contractor composts and sells some of the organic materials for agricultural purposes and uses some for alternative daily cover at a landfill. The city now composts or otherwise uses between 95 and 97 percent of its street sweeping debris, which diverts 2.2 percent of its waste from disposal. The city saves approximately $450,000 in disposal and personnel costs per year because it transports less material to a disposal site. Jim Kuhl Department of Public Works City of Long Beach 2929 East Willow Street Long Beach, CA 90806 562/570-2850 Fax: 562/570-2861 E-mail: jakuhl@ci.long-beach.ca.us

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