Waste Recycling

AB341

In October of 2011, Assembly Bill (AB) 341 set a 75% recycling goal for California by the year 2020. This law mandates that all commercial businesses and public entities that generate four cubic yards or more of solid waste per week, and multi-family complexes with five units or more, are subject to mandatory recycling and required to do one of the following:

• Separate recyclable materials from the solid waste that is discarded, and either self-haul or arrange for separate collection of the recyclables; or
• Subscribe to a service that includes mixed waste processing that provides diversion results comparable to source separation.

AB1826

In October of 2014, Governor Brown signed into law Assembly Bill (AB) 1826 requiring all businesses, including multi-family complexes, to recycle their organic(*) waste that is landfill bound. The full scope takes five years to implement, first targeting the largest waste generators. The implementation schedule is as follows:

• April 1, 2016: Businesses and multi-family complexes generating 8 cubic yards per week of organic waste
• January 1, 2017: Businesses and multi-family complexes generating 4 cubic yards per week of organic waste
• January 1, 2019: Businesses and multi-family complexes generating 8 cubic yards per week of solid waste

(*) Organic waste includes food waste, green waste, landscape and pruning waste, nonhazardous wood waste, and food-soiled paper waste that is mixed with food waste.