Countywide : Supervisors OK Recycling Policy

The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved a policy to encourage employees to participate in a paper recycling program and use white paper whenever possible because colored paper cannot be recycled.

The new policy, proposed by Supervisor Gaddi H. Vasquez, also asks county vendors to submit bids on white recycled paper.

The county sends out about 7,500 bid notices a year, said county purchasing manager Michael Kolodisner.

For each notice, the county receives an average of three bids. From now on, each bid notice will carry a recycling message.

“I’m sure if the county says it would like to see the bids on recycled paper, the bidders would comply,” Kolodisner said.

Determined to save more trees and lighten the load in the county land dumps, Vasquez said in his proposal that the county can set an example for other major employers in the county by adopting a recycling program.

“As a major paper purchaser, county government can make a difference in the market by developing a policy of purchasing white recycled paper for the majority of its needs,” Vasquez said.

The county already operates a pilot desktop recycling program, which encourages employees to dump white paper in recycling bins rather than in the wastebasket.