Hayfork group seeks recycling opportunities

Members of the Our Fair Share group in Hayfork have obtained more than 640 signatures on a petition seeking equitable recycling opportunities in that community and they are working with the Trinity County Solid Waste Department to develop long-term solutions.

"We have a crisis and an inequity exists," said Susan Weiss, who co-chairs the Our Fair Share group.

"If the family budget takes a hit, all members should share the pain equally," she added, noting that Hayfork residents pay the same annual property assessments and tipping fees to the county for solid waste disposal as residents of Weaverville.

Yet she argued there is free paper and cardboard recycling available at the Weaverville transfer station and no such thing at the Hayfork transfer station.

"We are requesting equity in Hayfork. Our businesses are hit very hard in the time and labor it takes to haul all their paper and cardboard to Weaverville. We want the same services as Weaverville," she said, adding that members of Our Fair Share have offered to assist the county in researching possible solutions, both short and long-term.

Trinity County Director of Solid Waste Mark Lockhart said he has met with Our Fair Share members and is working with them to develop a pilot program that would expand recycling opportunities in Hayfork even beyond those currently available in Weaverville.

He said the focus is on Hayfork because it has more room to add facilities than Weaverville "and we've got eager volunteers there to help."

Lockhart said that from plastics, wood and construction waste to paper, glass and tin cans "there's a recycling market for everything that isn't wet garbage."

The costs are in the process of separating the various waste streams and compacting them into containers that can be shipped out in sufficient quantities to make the system worthwhile for contractors. Diverting various waste streams from the garbage the county pays to haul and bury at the Anderson landfill would also benefit the county.

"What we need is a grant," Lockhart said, noting that is what Our Fair Share members have volunteered to help research.

In the meantime, Weiss said she is advocating for a short-term fix in Hayfork such as a temporary bin for the collection of cardboard and paper.