RESIDENTS NOW HAVE OPTIONS FOR DISPOSING
OF CERTAIN HOUSEHOLD HAZARDOUS WASTE

Kensington residents may now use the El Cerrito Household Hazardous waste drop-off center. This facility is only open TUESDAYS 9am to 4pm (closed for lunch 12 to 12:30) and is located at 7501 Schmidt Lane. At this time the expanded service at the drop-off center is for HAZARDOUS WASTE only. 

Seniors and Residents requiring assistance, need to contact Bay View Refuse for collection of material.

Items not accepted at any time:

No hazardous waste from businesses

No explosives, ammunition, medical waste, radioactive waste

No treated wood waste or contaminated soil

No refrigerators

Residents may continue to use the West County Household Hazardous Waste facility at 101 Pittsburg Ave, Richmond. Hours of operation are Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturdays 9am to 4pm, closed for lunch 12:00 to 12:30pm. Check their website for a full list of materials they accept.
http://recyclemore.com/hazardous-waste/hhw-facility-info/

We ask residents to contact Bay View Refuse at 510-237-4614 or info@bayviewrefuse.com to obtain an authorization prior to visiting either facility.

This expanded service is in cooperation with Bay View Refuse Service, Republic Services, Supervisor John Gioa’s office, Recyclemore
and the City of El Cerrito.

MANDATORY COMPOSTING, IMPROVED SORTING, STANDARDIZED COLORED THREE BIN SYSTEM

Bay View Refuse and Recycling has been working with the Kensington Community Services District on complying with a new State regulation, SB 1383. Your current bill in part reflects an increase to provide for services related to this compliance. Details about SB 1383 are provided below in this letter (effective February 1, 2022).

SB 1383 focuses on the elimination of methane gas created by organic materials in landfills and requires that clean streams of organic material be collected, recovered, and recycled into new end-products like compost or biofuel. The quality of the end-product is determined by the quality of the material collected, so residents and businesses must properly sort materials, and containers are required to be monitored for contamination.

All State jurisdictions are required to provide:

Standardized colors of residential and business containers with labels on all containers. We will be instituting a NEW three-container, color coordinated collection system that will help Kensington to comply with SB 1383. Bay View will be providing these Carts to residents in January as part of your service.

You will now have the following containers picked up weekly:

No Pet Litter, Plastic Bags, Waste, Dirt, Rocks or Hazardous Waste in the GREEN or BLUE carts

• Green Container: Limited to food waste, yard waste, green waste, other organic materials all in one container weekly! Yes weekly no more schedule!
• Blue Container: Allows for traditional recyclables, such as bottles, cans, and plastic, and other recycled material such as paper and flattened cardboard. Additional cardboard needs to be broken down, tied or taped in bundles no bigger than 2’ x 2’ and placed next to the blue bin on collection day.
• Gray Container: Waste that is not organic or recyclable that is taken to the landfill.

Customers will receive a “gray” landfill cart appropriate to the current service level. Larger carts are provided to accommodate Recycling and Organics. If you would like to request information regarding the size of the (blue) recycling or (green) organics cart please contact our office at 510-237-4614 or email us info@bayviewrefuse.com.

In the three-container system, residents and businesses in Kensington must separate organic waste, traditional recyclables, and items to be landfilled. In short, SB 1383 makes it unlawful to throw food waste in the garbage, and imposes requirements on the district, its businesses, residents, and the hauler, including record keeping, labeling, contamination monitoring and education and outreach

What to Expect Next

Kensington’s current green waste collection program will be expanded to cover all organic material including food waste with green waste, which will now be collected WEEKLY (there is no change to the amount of green waste you may place out for collection). Bay View Refuse is providing these carts to all residents, for the standardized color collection system requirement of SB 1383. Carts have been arriving and we expect to be delivering to residents in mid-January. Additional information will be provided with the cart delivery. There will be no changes to collection procedures by Bay View Refuse.

Customers may continue to place containers in their traditional location as they are now. Carts should be placed out by 6:00 am on your regular scheduled day. We will work with customers as needed who may have questions as we move forward. After your new carts are delivered, Bay View can haul away your old can/s to be recycled, and the plastic can be used in the production of new carts.

Use your new green cart for all organic waste, including food waste. As of January 2022, SB 1383 makes it mandatory to do so. As a reminder, organic waste refers to food waste (including vegetable and fruit scraps, eggshells, meat, dairy, bones and rotting food), food soiled paper, (including soiled pizza boxes, coffee filters, and paper napkins) and yard trimmings.

No more calendar, it is a weekly collection on your regular trash day.