What's New at CAW

-CAW-Sponsored Legislation Approach Legislative Deadlines. New bills must be out of their houses of origin by the end of May, which means that most CAW-sponsored bills must get out of Appropriations committees and pass off the floor this month. Be sure to send in your support letters by visiting our legislation page.

-CAW has Package of Plastic Litter Reduction Bills in Appropriations Committees. SB 1625 (Corbett) would expand California's model Container Recycling Law ("CRV") to include all plastic bottles, as well as ending several old programmatic exemptions, such as those given to paperboard beverage containers. AB 2058 (Levine) is the nation's toughest legislation on plastic bags. It would require retailers recycling 70% of bags by 2011, otherwise they would be required to charge a 25 cent per-bag fee. The bill would also require retailers to charge an equal fee on paper and would allow local governments to charge fees of their own.

-CAW Urges Policy Makers to Address E-waste Crisis. Even though California's E-waste Recycling Law (SB 20) helped establish an infrastructure for the recovery, reuse and recycling of one of the largest category of toxic electronics, the uncovered devices remain unregulated. Read more here.

-CAW Advocates for the Adoption of Recycling and Composting as Greenhouse Gas Reduction Strategies. Increased recycling should be a critical element in the implementation of the state's ambitious climate change goals. See what CAW is doing about this issue.

-CAW Continues its Campaign to Encourage Local Communities to Adopt Food Packaging Ordinances. Increasing the number of communities that require takeout food packaging to be recyclable or compostable would greatly reduce the amount of permanent plastic litter entering our streets, storm drains and marine environment. See our takeout food packaging brochure for more information.

Our Top Priority Legislation

SB 1625 (Corbett) Updating California's Bottle and Can Recycling Law
Summary. SB 1625 aims to update California's Bottle and Can Recycling Law by, among other measures, expanding the program to include all plastic bottles.

AB 2640 (Huffman) Compostable Organics Management
Summary. This bill is intended to promote the highest and best use of organic materials in California.

AB 2058 (Levine) Plastic Bag Reduction Benchmarks
Summary. Requires large groceries and pharmacies that distribute free plastic bags to meet phased plastic bag diversion and reduction benchmarks.

AB 218 (Saldaña) Toxic Electronics Phase Out
Summary. Phases out the use of specified hazardous materials in consumer electronics, consistent with the European Union's ROHs Directive.

Actions

Reduce the Harmful Materials in Electronic Devices
Please help us support requiring manufacturers to phase out the use of hazardous materials in all consumer electronics sold in California. This would model a directive currently in place in the European Union, that requires manufacturers of all electrical and electronic equipment to phase out the use of known toxic and carcinogenic elements from the design of their products.

TAKE ACTION!

Help Bring Recycling To All Californians
Most of California's communities have operating curbside recycling programs, but not all have these recycling programs available in apartments or multifamily dwellings. All the while, not all of the state's communities have reached the 50% diversion rate from landfills established by the Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989. TAKE ACTION NOW to Support AB 822!

Hot Issues

Plastic Bag Pollution

It may seem like a trivial thing, but those "free" plastic bags we get at the grocers, department stores and restaurants are actually contributing to a world wide pandemic of plastics waste. Only 1-4% of the 19 billion plastic grocery and merchandise bags used annually in the State of California are recycled. That means that nearly 600 bags per second are discarded in California--destined either for the landfill or our marine environment. Learn more about what you can do to help stop one of the most pressing litter threats our ecosystems face.

Update: Most Comprehensive Bag Reduction Law in World Nears Assembly Vote>>

California's E-Waste Disposal Crisis

California continues to lead the nation in electronic waste policy as the only state that has successfully curbed both the illegal disposal and export of the largest category toxic electronics, which includes TVs, computer monitors, and laptops through CA's SB 20. It's estimated that half will either be reused or recycled in California today. In addition, the California Department of Toxics Substances Control (DTSC) has recognized a wide array of consumer electronic products as hazardous, and, effective February 2006, they are prohibited from disposal in household trash, affecting thousands of consumer electronic devices.