La Canada Approves Recycling Fee

The La Canada Flintridge City Council on Tuesday tentatively approved a monthly fee of $1.25 per household to fund the city’s voluntary recycling program, promising not to increase the rate for at least two years.

The ordinance will return to the council for a final vote Feb. 5 after the city attorney revises it to include the two-year freeze and establish guidelines for regulating future increases. If the council then adopts the ordinance, the fee will become law 30 days later.

The recycling program is being inaugurated without approval of the fee. The city will begin delivering green recycling containers to residents Saturday. The program will begin operation Jan. 29. Although every city household will be charged, participation in the program is voluntary.

Residents will be asked to separate aluminum, glass, plastic and tin from their household trash and place these together in the recycling container. Newspapers will also be included but must be bundled with twine or placed in bags and set next to the garbage cans. The recyclables will be collected the same day as the regular trash pickup in each neighborhood.

Part of the impetus for the recycling program stems from the city’s use of the Scholl Canyon Landfill. The city of Glendale, which operates the facility, has asked that all cities that use it begin a community recycling program.