What does 4,000 tons of organics, recycling and garbage look like and how does it get processed in one day? If you are a Castro Valley Sanitary District (CVSan) resident or business owner find out for yourself and see what happens to your organics, recycling, and garbage once it leaves your curb.
Registration is open for Castro Valley Sanitary District residents and business owners to attend the free September 20th tour of the Davis Street Transfer Station (DSTS) in San Leandro. Groups are welcome too!
Register for the 2013 Davis Street Transfer Station Tour offered by CVSan.
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| The Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) | Residents and Business Owners on a Tour |
Davis Street processes 4,000 tons of materials a day with 4 state of the art processing facilities, including:
- A brand new Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certified organics building.
- A single stream materials recovery facility (MRF) that houses a high-tech optical sorter which uses infrared light and manual sorters that separate materials with precision and speed.
- A construction and demolition debris MRF (materials from construction and large remodeling jobs.
- A new public area MRF where residents can drop off materials and Davis Street can now sort them even faster, up to 20 tons of construction and demolition debris per hour for example.
Most attendees find the 3 hour tour engaging and very interesting and can’t wait to walk through the processing facilities and ask those “Where do I put this?” questions of DSTS and CVSan staff.
Also, to reduce vehicle emissions and make the tour more enjoyable, CVSan provides transportation to the facility free of charge.
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| Manual Sorting | The Optical Sorter |
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The New Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified Gold Organics Building |
Fun Facts About Davis Street
Did you know that, in one year, Davis Street Transfer Station processes:
- 296 million pounds of yard debris and food scraps (that's like 900 million pizza boxes or 600 million oranges)
- 44 million pounds of paper (that's like 4.4 billion sheets of standard office paper)
- 26 million pounds of wood
- 21 million pounds of inerts (toilets, sinks, concrete, asphalt, bricks and cinder blocks)
- 14 million pounds of plastic
- 12 million pounds of metal (that's like 360 million soda cans)
- 9 million pounds of glass
- 125,000 batteries for recycling off-site
- 70,000 pounds of e-waste for recycling off-site (locally, not overseas)
- 3,000 appliances
In conjunction with StopWaste.Org, Davis Street also houses an education center for the county's 4th and 5th graders. Approximately 20,000 of Alameda County's students visit the iRecycle@School education center every year!
Want to know what's in our recycling?
Well, Davis Street services many local cities and jurisdictions like CVSan in the area and they find that:
- 83% is fiber/paper (office paper, junk mail, newspaper and cardboard)
- 8% is glass
- 4% is aluminum
- 2% is plastic
- 1.5% is metal
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Notes and Reminders for the Tour
*Please take into consideration that this is a walking tour consisting of uneven surfaces, obstacles, up and down steep stairs, inclines, and elevated areas (see photos below). If you are not physically able to participate, it is recommended that you contact the District to discuss an alternate tour option.
*For safety reasons, it is mandatory that attendees wear long pants or skirts and closed toed shoes- you will not be allowed on the tour otherwise. Also, attendees must be 18 years of age or older.
*Free transportation to DSTS will be provided. For those who wish to drive their own vehicle to the tour, you may do so but please contact CVSan staff. There is limited parking. It is preferred that attendees ride in the free shuttle transportation provided.
If you do not receive a confirmation within 5 business days of the tour date, contact us at 510-537-0757 to ensure that you are registered to attend the tour. Registration confirmation is required to attend and participate in the tour. Visitors who arrive at CVSan offices or the DSTS facility unregistered will not be able to participate in that day’s tour.
So sign up today for this fun experience with our easy web registration form below