Video showing new sorted waste bins dumped together sparks backlash online

In this screengrab from a video posted on Nextdoor by Ken Simpson, a Mill Valley Refuse Service worker is seen dumping presorted trash, recycling and compost bins in downtown Tiburon into the same can before then dumping that can into his truck. The video sparked controversy online, while the company says the worker made a mistake and has been retrained.

A video posted online showing a refuse collector emptying downtown Tiburon’s separate trash, recycling and compost bins into a single container has sparked controversy among residents, though contractor Mill Valley Refuse Service says the incident was an isolated mistake.

Posted on Nextdoor June 2 by Belvedere resident Ken Simpson, the video has drawn more than 50 comments, with many questioning whether waste-separation efforts are meaningful.

“Unbelievably repugnant. A complete lack of efficiency on all sides. How many parents have taught our kids to properly sort and save our environment to then see this complete incompetence?” Juliette Decker Rodenbeck of Belvedere posted in reply.

“Thank you for posting this,” wrote Eliza Jewett-Hall of Strawberry. “I’m horrified and disheartened.”

However, Mill Valley Refuse CEO Gene Della Zoppa called the employee’s actions an “isolated incident.” He said the worker noticed contamination in the recycling and compost bins and collected everything as trash with “good intentions.”

“The driver was trying to be helpful,” Della Zoppa said. “However, he didn’t follow proper procedures. We have to have that contamination reported to our office.”

Della Zoppa said the employee was assigned only to collect landfill trash that day, not recyclables and compost, and that the worker has since received additional training.

“Internally, we’ve addressed this and reinforced training and protocol reminders with our team to prevent future issues,” he said.

Della Zoppa added that contamination of recycling and compost bins is common in public locations.

“Unlike residential or commercial bins, public city cans are accessible to everyone — so that includes people out of town,” he said. “So even with the labeling that’s in place, we still see food that’s in the trash bin that’s supposed to be in the compost bin, or we’ll see plastic bottles in the trash. … In general, public city cans are difficult to service. It’s an ongoing challenge.”

Video sparks trash talk

In his initial post on Nextdoor, Simpson suggested his video was evidence of “another recycling scam” and asked, “Who profits from this?”

In follow-up comments, he went on to criticize the waste-management system.

“(The bins) certainly do not do what reasonable people expect. They’re deceiving,” he wrote. “If everything is going to be mixed in the truck and resorted later, then the only reason for their existence is to make people think they are performing a civic duty, when in fact, which bin they put their bottle in is irrelevant.”

Strawberry resident Megan Heller, who said she previously worked as a “green team leader” for Zero Waste Marin, also expressed frustration.

“It was so disheartening,” she wrote. “We did so much education and got every single kid diligently sorting daily, and I watched Mill Valley Refuse just chuck it all into the truck. I followed up with them and they claimed it’s different for commercial accounts, and that they sort it at the facility. But that makes no sense to me. If that’s the case, why wouldn’t they sort residential at the facility too. Something’s definitely not right.”

Tiburon Town Councilmember Alice Fredericks was quick to jump in, posting 14 comments asking residents to consider alternative explanations, including that commercial and residential waste is sometimes collected differently.

She followed up again after speaking with Mill Valley Refuse.

“(The) employee was sent out on a non-regular pickup day to empty trash only. He was not well briefed,” she wrote.

“This was a rogue employee who has been re-educated,” she said elsewhere. “All waste in sorted cans will continue to be collected in appropriate bins.”

In an interview, Fredericks criticized the tone of some comments.

“Instead of asking a question, those conversations got into a conspiracy theory,” she said. “I wish there was a way for people to share questions, not paranoia.”

Despite those concerns, Fredericks said the video sparked meaningful discussion.

“I think that video had a great role in providing an opportunity to raise awareness,” she said.

The receptacles were installed in September 2023 as part of a partnership with the nonprofit Painted Bins initiative, founded by Belvedere resident Kathy Huber, with funding from Zero Waste Marin. The project aims to reduce food waste in public areas and educate people on the benefits of composting.

There are seven bins in Tiburon and one in Belvedere Community Park, some dual-sort for trash and recyclables and some tri-sort for composting. The Painted Bins project has further partnered with the Reed Union School District and the Belvedere-Tiburon Library for an environmentally themed poster contest, where the latest round of 50 student works was on display May 31-June 1. An independent jury is selecting 23 winners to for display on the bins.

“The whole idea was to have separate bins, because in parks and public places there isn’t traditionally the opportunity to sort waste into all three bins — compost, recycling and trash,” Huber said in an interview.

“I do think that was probably a mistake because if it’s done correctly for the residential cans, there’s no reason they couldn’t do it in public areas as well,” she added.

Creator remains skeptical

Simpson, however, didn’t buy Mill Valley Refuse’s explanation about the employee spotting contamination, using an expletive to call it a “deflection excuse.”

“The guy didn’t even look in the bins,” Simpson said. “You can see in the video. He didn’t inspect it, he just dumped it in.”

Simpson also doubted the company’s claim that the employee was assigned only to collect landfill waste.

“If he’s only supposed to get the trash, what’s he doing diving in the compost and recycling bins to see if they’re contaminated?” he said. “It doesn’t make any sense.”

Simpson said he witnessed the employee repeat the same process with three 90-pound bins behind a restaurant after filming the video, combining landfill, recycling and compost into one pile in the truck.

Della Zoppa said the disposal process is different for different waste streams. Landfill goes to Redwood Landfill and Recycling Center and compost to Earthcare, both in Novato and operated by Waste Management. Recycling is processed at Marin Resource Recovery Center in San Rafael.

Mill Valley Refuse tracks diversion rates — the percentage of waste kept out of landfills. According to the U.S. EPA, the national diversion rate was 32.1% in 2018. Tiburon’s overall diversion rate is 63%, with residential diversion at 65%.

“That’s great,” Della Zoppa said. “A lot of that is from the services that we do provide … making sure the compost is being diverted and making sure that we’re handling the recycling streams correctly and the compost streams correctly.”

Consumer behavior affects diversion rates, Della Zoppa said.

“Part of that percentage is really going to rely on consumers properly source separating,” he said. “And also if a lot of customers have a lot of compost bins too, and we’re accepting a lot of material, that’s going to drive that number up.”

Reach Tyler Callister at 415-944-4627.