Those of us who work at Waste Management’s Simi Valley Landfill and Recycling Center have been out in the community a lot over the last few weeks, engaging with the public about our modernization and expansion project.

When I’m talking with community members about the proposed landfill modernization and expansion project, the question I most commonly hear is, “If you get the expansion, does that mean you’ll take L.A. trash at your landfill?”

To set the record straight—we take waste from L.A. County into the Simi Valley Landfill today . We are a regional facility, and our proposed expansion of the facility won’t change our role.

At the landfill, we see about 500 trucks, including pickups, per day come across our scales. These trucks are filled with trash, like the trash you generate at home and at work, construction and demolition materials (that we recycle) and green waste/wood waste (that we also recycle). We also receive curbside recyclables at our G.I. Hauling Facility off Madera Road.

Today, about a third of the waste that comes to the landfill comes from communities outside of Ventura County. To put it in perspective, Los Angeles County generates about 10 times the amount of waste that Ventura County generates, and the Simi Valley Landfill receives less than 2 percent of all that waste.

Although some L.A. County trash goes into the Simi Valley Landfill, we depend on the regional support of other communities to manage the different wastes that require additional handling. As a matter of fact, more than 60 percent of our waste leaves this community.

For example, materials including recyclables, green waste, biomedical waste, tires, automobiles, oils, paints, electronics and hazardous waste are shipped out of Ventura County.

Whether we realize it or not, we do rely on many surrounding communities for our day-to-day essentials, including employment, utilities, airports, entertainment, medical, education, goods and services.

For the homeowners who live in Simi Valley, they pay among the lowest rates in Ventura County. Fees generated by trash contributes to the $3.6 million that WM pays each year to fund Ventura County services like police and fire protection.

With local government revenues continuing to shrink, it is absolutely critical to keep all sources of funding in place here in our community.
Scott Tignac
Simi Valley

Tignac is the district manager for Waste Management’s Simi Val ley Landfill and Recycling Center.