Bills passed by the California State Assembly put into effect new laws that target planning guidelines for the widespread municipal diversion of organics for beneficial reuse. GHD is closely monitoring California's recycling initiatives.
AB 876 Compostable Organics--An act to add Section 41821.4 to the Public Resources Code, relating to solid waste.
This bill passed on October 8, 2015 and commencing August 1, 2017 requires a county or regional agency to include in its annual report to CalRecycle an estimate of the amount of organic waste in cubic yards (yd3) that will be generated in the county or region over a 15-year period, an estimate of the additional organic waste recycling facility capacity in cubic yards that will be needed to process that amount of waste, and areas identified by the county or regional agency as locations for new or expanded organic waste recycling facilities capable of safely meeting that additional need.
Up to this time, CalRecycle has tracked the State's recycling progress and infrastructure through voluntary reporting. AB 876 requires mandatory, annual reporting by all counties, cities, or regions. The report shall include the amount of organic waste generated, the capacity of existing recycling facilities, and locations for new or expanded recycling facilities. This is also an opportunity for counties to demonstrate their contribution to the state-wide goal to recycle 75 percent of their solid waste by 2020, which was required by AB 341, passed in 2011.
AB 1826 (2014) – Mandatory Commercial Organics Recycling
AB 1826 requires businesses to recycle their organic waste. The bill also requires local jurisdictions to implement an organic waste recycling program to divert organic waste generated by businesses, including multifamily residential dwellings that consist of five or more units. There are different implementation thresholds depending on the amount of waste generated per week.
|
Implementation Date |
Thresholds |
|
April 1, 2016 |
> 8 yd3 of organic waste per week |
|
January 1, 2017 |
> 4 yd3 of organic waste per week |
|
January 1, 2019 |
> 4 yd3 of solid waste per week |
|
Summer / Fall 2021 |
> 2 yd3 of solid waste per week (if further reduction is needed) |
AB 1594 (2014) – Alternate Daily Cover
Beginning January 1, 2020, green material used for alternate daily cover (ADC) will no longer be considered diverted from landfill disposal.
SB 1383 (2016) – Short-Lived Climate Pollutants (SLCP)
SB 1383 establishes statewide emissions reduction targets for SLCPs, including reduction in methane by 40% below 2013 levels by 2030. As it pertains to solid waste, the bill includes targets to reduce landfill disposal of organics by 50% from 2014 levels by 2020 and 75% by 2025.
To meet SB 1383 goals, the law mandates that all organic waste generators – residents and businesses – must receive and actively participate in organic material collection programs. While most of the state’s jurisdictions already require mandatory residential organics collection service, that is not the case with respect to commercial collection services. This shortfall of compulsory organics collection programs, particularly for the commercial sector, underlines the need to enforce SB 1383’s mandatory service requirement.
Jurisdictions will be required to adopt enforceable ordinances or other mechanisms to ensure that all covered residential and commercial generators are compliant with SB 1383 regulations. Such mechanisms will enable jurisdictions to enforce the regulations and assess noncompliance penalties on generators and haulers, beginning in 2024. In addition to mandating that jurisdictions provide and enforce organics collection service to all generators, SB 1383 regulations include the following additional program requirements: three acceptable options for solid waste container systems with defined allowable number of containers, container colors, and labeling; contamination monitoring; record-keeping; and education and outreach.
How can GHD help?
As an expert in recycling systems, particularly of organics (the current focus of legislation in California), GHD conducts technical design as well as engineering planning and development for our clients. Recycling and processing of food waste to produce bio energy and/or compost is a niche expertise base for GHD. Our firm has local experience and a large technical resource base, ongoing professional relationships with numerous counties in various environmental disciplines, working relationships with private waste management corporations operating locally, and experience in developing recycling initiatives in comparative jurisdictions experiencing similar waste diversion targets.
Contact our team at GHD for more information on these laws and what it means to municipalities and the industry. Learn more about our waste capabilities.