As detailed below, California's regulatory climate for recycling and diversion of waste is changing. Recent bills passed by the California State Assembly put into effect new laws that target planning guidelines for the widespread municipal diversion of organics for beneficial reuse. GHD is closely monitoring California's recycling initiatives.
AB 876 Compostable Organics--An act to add Section 41821.4 to the Public Resources Code, relating to solid waste.
This bill, passed on October 8, 2015 and commencing August 1, 2017, requires a county or regional agency to include in its annual report to the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) an estimate of the amount of organic waste in cubic yards (yd3) that will be generated in the county or region over a 15-year period, an estimate of the additional organic waste recycling facility capacity in cubic yards that will be needed to process that amount of waste, and areas identified by the county or regional agency as locations for new or expanded organic waste recycling facilities capable of safely meeting that additional need.
Up to this time, CalRecycle has tracked the State's recycling progress and infrastructure through voluntary reporting. AB 876 requires mandatory, annual reporting by all counties, cities, or regions. The report shall include the amount of organic waste generated, the capacity of existing recycling facilities, and locations for new or expanded recycling facilities. This is also an opportunity for counties to demonstrate their contribution to the state-wide goal to recycle 75 percent of their solid waste by 2020, which was required by AB 341, passed in 2011.
How can GHD help?
As an expert in recycling systems, particularly of organics (the current focus of legislation in California), GHD conducts technical design as well as engineering planning and development for our clients. Recycling and processing of food waste to produce bio energy and/or compost is a niche expertise base for GHD that was developed and perfected in our East Coast operations. Our firm has local experience and a large technical resource base, ongoing professional relationships with numerous counties in various environmental disciplines, working relationships with private waste management corporations operating locally, and experience in developing recycling initiatives in comparative jurisdictions experiencing similar waste diversion targets.