Re: [greenyes] scavenging

[Gary Liss <gary@no.address>]

Sharon,

The exact same thing has been happening in Hawthorne.  Recently, as part of 
the rollout of the new recycling system, Jaime Lozano (City of Hawthorne) 
has been working with the residential contractor (H&C Disposal) to do 
"sting" operations in the early morning hours.
The main impetus for this sting operation was the mess left behind, 
although the interest of the residential contractor was clearly related to 
their lost revenues as well, as they retain all revenues from sale of 
recyclables collected.

They've gone out a number of times in the last month.  When they spotted 
people illegally scavenging, they stopped them and warned them that it was 
illegal to do in Hawthorne.  The scavenger would then leave.  If they saw 
the scavenger again, they then asked the scavenger to stay, and they called 
the Police to come and arrest them.  You can contact Jaime Lozano at 
jalozano@no.address for more info.


At 09:33 AM 07/03/2003 -0700, you wrote:
> The revenue loss from scavenging is a very minor factor in our scavenging
> problem in Long Beach.  The problem is that people go through our alleys
> and down our streets rifling through recycling bins, making noise,
> disturbing residents, etc.  Often the scavengers will dump the contents of
> the bin, take what they want, and leave the rest on the ground.  Then when
> the recycling truck comes by, the driver doesn't want to stop and scoop
> everything up, to say nothing of all the material that has blown away.  I
> was just speaking with a resident who was calling about scavenging, and
> she said "if the guy is so comfortable going through my recycling bin and
> taking what he wants, maybe he'll be just as comfortable taking something
> off my porch or going in my back yard."  Regardless of whether or not
> scavenging leads to other kinds of theft, the last thing I want is for
> residents to feel they are endangering themselves by setting out their
> recycling.  If it was just a matter of the City losing a bit of revenue,
> then the cost-benefit analysis of police response might work out so that
> it really didn't make sense for the police to address scavenging.  But the
> issue is really disturbing the peace, littering, and people feeling safe
> in their homes -- issues that I think the police should be more concerned
> about than they sometimes appear to be.
>
> Sharon Gates
> Recycling Specialist
> City of Long Beach, California
> 562/570-4694
>
>
>
>
> "Wayne Turner" <WAYNET@no.address>
> 07/03/2003 04:41 AM
>
>
>         To:     <greenyes@no.address>, <Sharon_Gates@no.address>
>         cc:
>         Subject:        Re: [greenyes] scavenging
>
>
> Sharon, et al.,
>
> Scavenging rises and falls with the markets for materials.  When OCC
> prices go south, the pickup trucks scavenging OCC disappear only to
> reappear magically overnight when prices rebound.  Likewise, UBC prices
> dictate how zealous the scavengers are.  Since UBC prices are relatively
> steady, the scavenging is too.  The most aggravating thing about the
> scavenging is that it leaves the dregs for the municipality to collect
> and drives our cost per ton up.  It's a real catch 22.  I guess I should
> be thankful that the material is being collected and sold on the open
> market and not subsidized by the city but we can't make instantaneous
> changes to our fleets and staffs to accommodate these sudden
> fluctuations.
>
> Wayne
>
> (snip, snip)

Gary Liss
916-652-7850
Fax: 916-652-0485