AB 1857 (C. Garcia)

OVERVIEW

AB 1857 will remove the diversion credit for municipal solid waste incinerators and redefine incineration as disposal. Burning trash is not recycling or reducing our waste, and this bill stops that false narrative that has been in California Law since the 1980’s.

THE ISSUE

The Integrated Waste Management Act (“Act”) (AB 939 in 1989) mandates that jurisdictions must divert at least 50% of their waste away from landfills and into source reduction, recycling, reuse, and composting activities. However, the Act permits jurisdictions to count up to 10% of the waste (“Diversion Credit”) that they send to municipal solid waste incinerators towards their obligation to divert at least 50% of their waste away from landfills.

The Southeast Resource Recovery Facility (SERRF) and Covanta Stanislaus are the last two municipal solid waste incinerators still operating in California. They are both over 30 years old, making them incredibly dirty and expensive to maintain. In 2018 the Long Beach City Council approved $8.7 million in upgrades to keep SERRF running through 2024.

Despite the public health and environmental harm from these incinerators, the State of California incentivizes jurisdictions to send their waste to SERRF and Covanta Stanislaus to claim Diversion Credit. SERRF and Covanta Stanislaus pollute the environment and harm public health by converting waste into harmful air emissions and toxic ash. Further, the incinerators release large amounts of greenhouse gasses. While SERRF and Covanta Stanislaus claim to be “waste-to-energy” facilities, they produce very little energy and emit more carbon dioxide per unit of energy than coal-fired power plants.

Position: Sponsored by Californians Against Waste
Contact: Nicole Kurian & Nick Lapis

BILL SUMMARY

AB 1857 will close a loophole in state law that allow incineration to be count as “diversion“ for purposes of local government recycling mandates. Under the law, material sent to incineration will be classified as disposal.

Status: Signed by the Governor
Current language, analysis, and votes:  AB 1857