The nearly 20 year history of the California Bottle Bill has demonstrated that the combination of consumer recycling incentives and a convenient recycling infrastructure will result in greater recycling.

Since 1988, Californians have recycled more than 10 million tons of aluminum, glass and plastic beverage containers. No other recycling program or policy in this state has resulted in higher recycling levels, and no program of its kind in the country has been found to be more cost effective.

Press Release: California Has Record-High Recycling Rates>>

California continues to lead the nation in electronic waste policy as the only state that has successfully curbed both the illegal disposal and export of the largest category toxic electronics, which includes TVs, computer monitors, and laptops through CA's SB 20. It's estimated that half will either be reused or recycled in California today. In addition, the California Department of Toxics Substances Control (DTSC) has recognized a wide array of consumer electronic products as hazardous, and, effective February 2006, they are prohibited from disposal in household trash, affecting thousands of consumer electronic devices.

Greenhouse Gas: Meaningful Emission Reduction through Waste Prevention and Recycling

To help prevent the public health and environmental threats posed by Global Warming, California has committed to an aggressive series of green house gas (GHG) emission reduction goals. Every sector of the state will be called upon to reduce their GHG emissions, including the waste management sector.

Track what the waste sector is working on to reduce GHG emissions in our Climate Change Blog.

New policies are needed to deal with the increasing amount of plastics litter polluting our ocean. Studies have shown that in the some areas of the Pacific plastic outweighs plankton by a factor of 46!  The majority of this oceanic plastic comes from urban litter.

Plastics are the fastest growing component of the waste stream.  Plastic does not biodegrade in the natural environment. When littered, items that had been designed for useful life of minutes at most (like plastic bags and polystyren to-go cups) degrade the environment for a lifetime as litter. Plastic litter has killed thousands of marine birds and mammals and threatens endangered species like sea turtles that mistake them for food.  Local governments collectively spend millions to clean up plastic litter out of impaired waterways.  Plastics have historically suffered from a low recycling rate.