![]() Long Beach began recycling last December to comply with state law. Cities must reduce their trash flow 25% by 1995, and 50% by 2000, to conserve scarce landfill space. ![]() “If people don’t participate because of scavengers, then it’s a problem for us,” said James R.Ĭities that don’t meet those goals could face fines of up to $10,000 per day. Technically, it has long been illegal to pick through trash in Long Beach. ![]() The maximum punishment is a $500 fine and six months in jail. But the law was rarely enforced before the new recycling program.Ĭity officials say they do not usually cite scavengers who take cans and other recyclables from trash cans, but those who pilfer recycling bins do so at their own risk, said recycling spokeswoman Rita Hooker. Police recently began writing $135 citations, although no one has kept track of how many. So far, no one has been arrested and jailed, officials said. Some of the scavengers begin as early as 3 a.m., but most start around sunrise. Guadalupe Estrada, 68, moved down the street on a recent morning seeking his livelihood in the trash cans and recycling bins of a central Long Beach neighborhood.Įstrada, wearing a straw hat and hauling a bag of cans, bypassed the bin in front of Betty Marshall’s home. She was out watering her lawn at about 7:30 a.m. Some people yell at him as if he were a common thief. “I am a very humble man,” said Estrada, who lives alone and buys food and other necessities with the money he earns scavenging, about $5 a day. Juan Medina headed out at 5:30 on another morning in search of recyclables with his daughter and 13-year-old grandson. The three hurried through the alleys behind the homes surrounding Junipero Avenue. Medina and his daughter used tools made from broom handles to fish bottles and cans out of the trash. The boy, out of school for summer break, pulled a homemade plywood wagon. They stopped to search a large trash bin while a transient covered with flies slept a few feet away. A trio of kittens nipped at scraps and darted in and out of drain pipes. ![]() Medina said he was unemployed, and the $5 to $10 a day they received for their efforts helped keep a roof over the family’s head and food on the table. Right now, there’s no other way to get food.” “We’re not working right now,” said the daughter, who declined to give her name or details about how they make ends meet. On another morning, in another alley a few miles away, Fleming Robinson scavenged to supplement his $315 monthly welfare check. Robinson, 57 and unemployed, said he has worked the streets of Long Beach seven years, taking in about $100 a week. Trash bins are usually full of bottles and cans after Friday, which is payday for many people. The first to the 10th of the month also is prime time-just after welfare and Social Security checks arrive. Robinson drives to neighborhoods throughout Long Beach and then sets out on foot. He usually avoids affluent areas like Belmont Shore. “I go there once in a while,” said Robinson, who lives in an apartment on Martin Luther King Jr. “But you have to watch where you park, and people think you’re doing something wrong. The scavengers interviewed by The Times said they resist taking cans and bottles from recycling bins. It just takes too many cans to cover a $135 citation-about 3,900 at current recycling rates.
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