A burning question

What does Long Beach’s trash problem mean for you? 

Long Beach lost its designation as a surfer’s haven a very long time ago when the breakwater was installed in the 1940s, but for the past 35 years, its status as SERRF city has been beneficial in other ways.

Of course, I’m referring to the Southeast Resource Recovery Facility, which is where the city has sent its trash to be burned since 1988. Oddly enough, the city had received recycling credit for this practice because the burned trash was converted into electricity that it sold to Southern California Edison.

However, both of those things have come to an end recently. Edison no longer buys electricity from the city and a state law passed in 2022 stripped the facility of its “recycling” credits. 

The latter was the result of a bill authored by former Assemblymember Cristina Garcia who ran against former Mayor Robert Garcia for one of the city’s two Congressional seats. She lost that race, but her bill became law, and now Long Beach is trying to pick up the pieces.

It’s led to a dip in the number of cities that are willing to pay the higher fees to burn their trash at SERRF because they no longer get the benefits of the credits, which in turn has made the facility a loss leader. It may be losing as much as $2 million per month according to a recent city estimate. 

So, Long Beach said this week that it’s planning to shutter the facility as soon as next month meaning that the 800 tons of trash the city sent there daily will have to go to landfills, something I expect will lead to a rate increase for residents, but I’ve yet to get an answer on that from Public Works.

We can do the math here. The city had paid about $60 per ton to burn trash at SERRF, and in the periods when SERRF was offline in recent months, due to failing equipment and other issues, it paid closer to $75-$80 per ton to send it to a landfill. 

The city’s model for service is to charge a rate that gives it “full cost recovery.” So, unless the city negotiates a far better landfill rate — that’s expected to be revealed at a February council meeting — or it subsidizes millions of dollars a year to send it to the landfill, rates are probably going up. 

If rates do increase, it would be the third time in a year that refuse rates have risen. The city raised rates twice in 2023, adding over $8 to the typical single-family home’s monthly bill. 

Those increases were meant to help the city pay for the purchase of new trucks and cans that it needs for the rollout of the state-mandated organic recycling program. That program is expected to launch later this year, and that’s coming with another rate increase.

I’ve been asking for the better part of two years what that cost increase could be, but all I’ve been able to get out of Public Works is that it’s going to be “significant” with the city expecting organic recycling to add millions to the city’s refuse collection costs.

The city has been working on a study to figure out what those rates should be. The results have yet to be released, but all rate increases require a City Council hearing and the significant increase is expected to happen sometime this year. 

So, in the interim, all of Long Beach’s trash will go to a landfill until organic recycling is fully rolled out. City officials estimate that about half of the city’s trash, if sorted perfectly, should go to an organic recycling center where it can be converted into things like condensed natural gas.

And you might want to sort your trash perfectly because part of the state’s law requires cities to enforce the sorting of organics with fines, or cities risk being fined by the state.

As for SERRF, the decommissioning process will begin next month with the full demolition of the site expected to take about 15 months. An organic recycling center could replace the facility, but it likely would be years before it’s operational. 

It’s a stinky situation and one that’s likely going to increase your monthly bill from the city. 

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW THIS WEEK:

Long Beach conducted its annual homeless count Thursday morning, which should provide an indicator if the last year-plus of a declared emergency to address the issue was beneficial. Last year’s count found 3,447 people living in some state of homelessness in Long Beach, but how many people were counted this year probably won’t be publicly released until April, according to the city. The count is conducted each year by hundreds of volunteers and is necessary for the city to be able to apply for some sources of funds to help address homelessness. Long Beach officials announced late last year that the city will likely end the declared emergency next month and create a new department that will dedicate its resources to the unhoused year-round.

PAY ATTENTION TO THIS NEXT WEEK:

Long Beach Pride is probably one of the most recognizable events held in the city next to the Grand Prix and marathon. Last year it celebrated 40 years in the city, but in order to get to 41, organizers asked the city for financial help this week to ensure the parade happens in May. The nonprofit that puts on the annual parade and festival has been steeped in financial issues for several years now and the city could step in to pay the roughly $130,000 it will take for this year’s parade to happen. Parades are typically supported by council members doling out tens of thousands of dollars, but this year the city will also contribute funds directly. Where will that money come from? The council will be presented with options in the coming weeks.