As the legislature enters the final 4 weeks of the legislative session, CAW is actively engaged in strengthening California's waste reductions policies amid a climate of cuts. In these final weeks, the legislature has the opportunity to strengthen the Bottle Bill, divert addtional materials from landfills, and reduce hazardous waste.
Bottle Bill Fix:
The Department of Conservation was forced to address the imbalance in the Beverage Container Recycling Fund by proportionally reducing most Bottle Bill expenditures, including handling fees to recyclers and payments to cities and counties. Instead, Californians Against Waste has been working on a package of solutions that would balance the fund while strengthening recycling by expending unencumbered funds, accelerating CRV payments, prioritizing non-core recycling funding, and expanding the scope and CRV amount of covered containers. TAKE ACTION! Tell the legislature to support the environmental, local government and recycler coalition solution that would prioritize Bottle Bill funding.
Landfill Diversion:
Many readily recyclable materials continue to be disposed by California businesses. Large office buildings, for instance, divert only 7% of their waste, compared with a statewide average of 58% diversion. AB 479 (Chesbro) would require the state to adopt programs to increase statewide diversion to 75% by 2020 and addresses recycling in the largely under-served commercial and multi-family sectors. TAKE ACTION!
Multi-Family Recycling:
While nearly 70 percent of Californians living in single family homes have access to curbside recycling, no more than 40 percent of those living in multifamily dwellings have access to a residential recycling opportunity-and many of those are unaware of it. AB 473 (Blumenfield) would provide a residential recycling opportunity for more than 7.1 million Californians residing in more than 2.4 million multifamily dwelling units. TAKE ACTION!
Paint:
Post consumer paint is the single largest source of Household Hazardous Wastes (HHW) generated in this state, costing over $16 million total to local programs annually. AB 1343 (Huffman) will reduce the financial burden on local governments and protect the environment by requiring manufacturers to take responsibility for establishing and financing a safe and reliable system for the recovery and proper management of residential post-consumer paint. TAKE ACTION!
Waste Board Dissolved
The California Integrated Waste Management Board was dissolved as part of the budget deal and its functions are being moved to the Natural Resources Agency effective Jan 1.
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