A 2014 state-wide waste characterization report found that organic materials such as food scraps, leaves, grass, and branch trimmings made up 37.4% of the waste stream. Food was the single most prevalent material disposed, making up 18.1% of the entire waste stream by itself -- that's 5.6 million tons collected from one study. When these materials are disposed of in a landfill, they produce methane, which is a greenhouse gas 25 times more potent than CO2 and a major contributor to climate change. To address this issue, Governor Brown signed AB 1826 into state law in October 2014, mandating that commercial entities subscribe to an organic material hauling service or divert organic materials from the landfill through some other means.
Reduce
- Agency
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Policy & Regulations
- Disposable Food Service Ware and Polystyrene Foam Ban Model Ordinance
- Ordinance Forms
- Carryout Bags Ordinance
- AB 341: Mandatory Commercial Recycling
- AB 1826: Mandatory Commercial Organics
- SB 1383: Short-lived Climate Pollutants
- Extended Producer Responsibility
- Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP)
- More waste policies
- Residents
- Commercial
Recycle & Dispose
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Residents
- Curbside Services: Blue Recycle Cart
- Curbside Services: Compost Cart
- Curbside services: Motor oil and filter recycling
- Curbside Services: Garbage Cart
- What Happens to My Curbside Recycling?
- Bulky Item Pickup
- Electronic Waste Disposal
- Household Hazardous Waste: Common Examples
- Household Hazardous Waste: Facility
- Household Hazardous Waste: Collection Events
- Household Hazardous Waste: Rover Service
- Home Composting
- Commercial
Resources
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- Compost Giveaways
- For Kids
- Disposal Options & Facilities
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