April 23 - Resource Recycling Highlights CAW Recycling Market Development Bill

This week Resource Recycling takes a look at AB 199, legislation sponsored by Californians Against Waste that provides a sales tax exemption on equipment used to process recyclables as well as equipment used to manufacture new products with recycled material.

Teresa Bui, CAW Legislative Analyst for AB 199, told Resource Recycling that the bill supports in-state jobs, helps create a more robust recycling system and benefits the environment by reducing exports of materials overseas. According to CalRecycle, every year California exports 20 million tons of recyclable material. Often, these exports have unknown destinations, as well as outcomes in terms of whether they are actually recycled and under what labor and environmental regualtions they are recycled.

Authored by Assemblymember Susan Eggman (D-Stockton), AB 199 encourages the use of recyclable materials in the state's manufacturing economy to ensure safe and effective recycling and to create new jobs. CalRecycle estimates that meeting the state's goal of recycling 75 percent of solid waste by 2020 could create 110,000 new jobs. Currently, 125,000 people work in California's recycling industry.

AB 199 was recently approved by the Assembly Committee on Natural Resources and will next be heard in the Assembly Committee on Revenue and Taxation.