May 13 - Experts Talk to Waste 360 About Two Upcoming CAW Organic Waste Recycling Laws

Waste 360 talks to experts about how two organic waste recycling bills sponsored by Californians Against Waste will impact the state now that they've been signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown.

AB 1826 requires businesses like grocery stores and restaurants to recycle their organic waste starting April 1, 2016. Lance Clug, public information officer for CalRecycle, said told Waste 360 that mandatory recycling of organic waste is the next step toward achieving California’s recycling and greenhouse gas emission goals. Klug also pointed out that “this law also requires that on and after January 1, 2016, local jurisdictions across the state implement an organic waste recycling program to divert organic waste generated by businesses, including multifamily residential dwellings that consist of five or more units.”

AB 1594 prohibits landfills from counting the use of green waste as alternative daily cover starting in 2020. Currently, lanfills can cover trash with green waste to reduce air pollution and count that green waste as part of its effort to comply with a state mandate to divert 50 percent of its solid waste. Bill Camarillo, CEO of Agromin and executive committee member for the California Compost Coalition, told Waste 360 that AB 1594 will "“require them to seek alternative methods of diverting green and wood waste such as composting. The biggest benefit will be greenhouse gas emission reductions by not putting more organic materials in the landfills and generating methane gas.”

For more information on these bills, visit www.Waste360.com.  Click below for a video on AB 1594 and the issue of alternative daily cover produced by the California Assembly Speaker's Office of Member Services.