Dec 15 - Alameda Co. One Step Closer to Ordinances on Bags & Commercial Recycling
Yesterday the Alameda County Waste Management Authority (Stopwaste.org) Board unanimously approved moving forward with a single-use bag ordinance.
Stopwaste.org’s bag ordinance would apply to large supermarkets and pharmacies in all 14 cities within the county as well as unincorporated Alameda County. Effective January 1, 2013, it bans single-use plastic bags and places a 10 cent minimum price requirement on reusable bags and paper bags. The minimum price requirement increases to 25 cents after two years.
A final reading and adoption of the ordinance is scheduled for January 25, 2012.
At the same meeting, the Board also moved forward with a mandatory commercial recycling ordinance. The ordinance proposes to divert 90% of all recyclable and compostable waste in the County by 2020. It has the potential to divert as much as 700,000 tons of paper, bottles, other recyclables and compostables from the landfill.
The recycling ordinance is stronger than statewide law on commercial recycling, AB 341 (Chesbro), because it includes organics recycling and smaller generators in its requirements.
Like the single-use bag ordinance, the mandatory recycling ordinance applies to all Stopwaste.org jurisdictions, with an option to opt-out, and is scheduled for a January 25 meeting.