Recycling and composting expected to be mandatory by year's end

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom is proposing a law that would make Recycling and Composting mandatory within the city. San Francisco already has the highest diversion rate in the country at 70% and city officials say that this law would be neccessary in order for it to reach their goal of 75%. Jacoba Charles of Plenty Magazine reports:

“We’ve already reached the people who know it’s the right thing to do,” says Thea Hillman with the San Francisco Department of the Environment. “Now we’re at the folks who need not so much the carrot but more of the stick.”

Although mandatory recycling ordinances are already in place in some U.S. cities, San Francisco would be the first to mandate composting.

A major area this law would address is the lower diversion rate for multi-family units. Apartment owners don't always supply recycling & composting bins for their tenants. The enactment of the ordinance would require landlords to provide these bins. This would have a significant impact on the rate since a majority of San Francisco residents are renters.

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CAW and Recycling/Composting:

Best Buy Co. announces a pilot e-waste collection program in 117 stores accross eight states. According to an article from the Associated Press, consumers will be able to bring in two items per day to one of the participating locations, even if they were not originally purchased from a Best Buy. The initial program will include stores located in Northern California, Minneapolis, Baltimore, and parts of North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Wisconson, Virgina, and Washington D.C. If successful, the company could expand the program to all 922 locations accross the United States.

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Best Buy locations in the program>>

E-waste may contain toxic substances like mercury, cadmium and lead. When e-waste is disposed into landfills, these toxins can be released into the atmosphere or seep into the soil. Additionally, most consumer electronics contain valuable materials like copper, gold and zinc that can and should be recycled.

CAW and E-Waste

• Our work on this issue
• Existing California E-Waste Laws
• Find a place near you to recycle your unwanted electronic items

While compact flourescent bulbs last longer and are more efficient than incandescent bulbs, proper disposal at the end of their life span is not so simple. The California Department of Toxic Substances Control has banned CFLs from dipsosal in landfills because they contain mercury which is harmful to human tissues. Thus consumers and municipalities are faced with the challenge of safe recycling and disposal methods for spent bulbs. Jennifer Olney of KGO San Francisco writes:

...there is no statewide plan for handling fluorescents when they burn out. You are supposed to recycle them. But you can't throw them in a cart with the rest of your recycling because they might break and the mercury would escape.

That means local governments are left holding the bag, trying to figure out how to make it convenient for people to recycle fluorescents -- and how to pay for it.

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CAW & CFLs

In 2007, CAW sponsored AB 1109 by Assembly Member Jared Huffman(San Rafael) was signed by the Governor. One provision of this bill required the Department of Toxic Substances Control to create a task force to make recommendations to be delivered to the Legislature by September 1, 2008 on the most effective and cost-effective method for collecting and recycling end-of-life light bulbs. CAW is a member on this task force.

Need to recycle your CFLs. Find a location here>>

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom is proposing the possibilty of making recycling mandatory in the city. This follows news that the city had attained a 70% solid waste diversion rate which ranks as one of the highest in the nation. A New York Times article details San Fancisco's aggressive waste reduction and recycling programs, which includes a residential green waste composting infrastructure.

Mayor Newsom feels that mandatory recycling is the only way for the city to achieve %75 waste diversion.

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What CAW is doing to increase residential recycling opportunities statewide>>>