Los Angeles’ apartment buildings and businesses produce 2.45 million tons of a trash per year. Unlike single-family houses, which have their garbage handled by the city’s Bureau of Sanitation, residential and commercial pick-up is taken care of by more than 100 contractors in what is described as the “Wild West” of garbage.
We have a host of questions:
-
Are the current trash collectors properly registered with the city?
-
How much money is the city losing by not tracking the actual amount of garbage collected?
-
How are working conditions different between unionized and non-unionized companies?
-
Where does the trash go once it's picked up? What guarantee does the city have that the proper amount is being recycled and properly disposed of?
-
What are the environmental impacts of changing how garbage trucks roam the city streets?