Annual Reports

1995 Annual Report: The Quiet Revolution in Waste Management, Executive Summary

The 1995 annual report was the first available online.

The Executive Summary is available in HTML below, and you can also download the entire 1995 Annual Report from our publications catalog.

There was a time when most Californians thought of their trash as the exclusive property of the local landfill. Reduce, reuse, and recycle was the road less traveled; the waste stream, a current that flowed largely in the direction of disposal.

But then a funny thing happened on the way to the dump. People began to realize that while landfills are an important, necessary part of the state's infrastructure, indiscriminate disposal of waste was an imprudent strategy for California. Health risks, diminishing landfill capacity, and threats to the environment all combined with a recognition that there was market potential in much of what was being discarded. A mainstream response to the waste stream dilemma was taking shape.

That shape took on its clarity with passage of the Integrated Waste Management Act (AB 939) in 1989, which established the basis for a new approach to management of California's waste stream. The centerpiece of the act: mandated goals of 25 percent diversion of the state's waste from landfills by 1995, and 50 percent diversion by the year 2000.

The act also set the stage for a series of reforms affecting waste management at the state and local levels, and today, amidst all the changes California is experiencing as we approach the 21st century, a quiet revolution in waste management has begun to change the attitudes and infrastructure that frame California's response to its waste and recycling needs. Needless disposal is out. Reduce, reuse, and recycle is in.

The Integrated Waste Management Board is responsible for oversight of this far-reaching effort. We also play a central role in promoting achievement of our ambitious waste diversion goals. And we enforce provisions of law designed to protect the environment and the public's health and safety.

Fully aware that our goals will be achieved through local programs, the board has successfully forged a positive, productive working relationship with key elements of the public and private sectors. Indeed, partnership has proven essential to managing a changing waste infrastructure. An alliance of state and local governments; waste, recycling, and technology industries; environmental and public interest groups; and an involved public is bringing true integrated waste management to California. Here at the waste board, we call it "partnership in practice."

With our mission in full gear, the year 1995 produced results today, and progress for tomorrow.

Leaving Less Behind for the Future

Results Today

When the Integrated Waste Management Act became law, California was only diverting 12.5 percent of its waste from landfills. Reduce, reuse, and recycle was a concept far removed from practice, and 25 percent statewide diversion was a distant goal. Today, the three Rs are a way of life in the Golden State, and our first diversion threshold is being hurdled as we raise the bar once more. Projections estimate we have met and surpassed 25 percent statewide diversion.

This is a triumph of local leadership. Jurisdictions throughout California have collectively increased the number of diversion programs in the state by 155 percent since 1990. Localities are in compliance and leading the way: to date, more than 1,000 plans have been submitted to the board by local jurisdictions identifying how they will achieve diversion; all but a handful have received approval or conditional approval from the board.

This campaign to which the board is providing sound, consistent leadership is being won at the local level. The dynamic shift in how our state handles its waste, like so many other California success stories, is largely rooted in community response, and community spirit. A few examples:

• Just a few years ago, the waste diversion rates for the City of Victorville and the Town of Apple Valley were about 3.5 percent and 7.6 percent, respectively. Since then, they have responded to the challenge through a variety of diversion programs and a cooperative effort to build a material recovery and transfer facility designed to process source-separated recyclables, mixed waste, and green waste. Today, they are projected to meet the 25 and 50 percent diversion mandates.
• Calaveras County and the City of Angels Camp have really turned it around. In 1990, the city had a diversion rate of 4.8 percent, the county only 2.1 percent. But before the end of 1995, both had met the 25 percent goal. How did they do it? Through a combination of programs implemented by local government and private businesses. Some of these programs are buyback centers, curbside recycling, paper recycling in schools and government offices, a home composting program, yard waste collection sites, and landfill rate structures to encourage separation of inert construction materials.
• In December 1995, the West Contra Costa Integrated Waste Management Agency became the first regional agency to have a board-approved regional plan. This was the result of a working partnership between board staff and local jurisdictions. These jurisdictions, whose individual plans for achieving diversion had been disapproved in 1993, decided to work together and apply a regional approach to their objectives. They adopted a regional Source Reduction and Recycling Element detailing how they will cooperatively implement programs to achieve diversion mandates.
• The City of Oxnard has implemented a number of waste reduction programs, including an automated curbside recycling pilot program. A collection truck has been designed to collect both refuse and recyclables with a "split container" system. Residents place all their recyclables on one side and refuse in the other. Mechanically operated, the collection truck is designed to keep the materials separated for transportation to a recycling station and landfill. This curbside program allows all collections to be made with one truck, improving efficiency, reducing impact on local pollution and transportation, and increasing recycling participation.

To bolster the efforts of local government, the IWMB continues its state-local partnership program. Through contracts with the League of California Cities, California State Association of Counties, and other local organizations, the IWMB has extended its waste prevention and public education efforts. For example, the board developed Closing the Loop: Integrated Waste Management Activities for School and Home, a waste management curriculum for K-12 schoolchildren, and trains teachers to incorporate this curriculum as part of their ongoing environmental and science education programs. The Cupertino Union Elementary School District in Santa Clara County and the Round Valley School District in Mendocino County have embraced the Closing the Loop program, which has found huge success with the schoolchildren. The board has implemented a community pilot program to determine the success of waste prevention programs such as this.

Finally, a study conducted for the board revealed one of the lesser publicized benefits of increased diversion: expanded landfill capacity. We know that diversion is bringing us resource conservation, a cleaner environment, and enhanced public health and safety. But thanks in large part to successful diversion occurring around the state, materials that landfills once absorbed are making their way to secondary markets. As a result, the report, Toward Ensuring Adequate Landfill Capacity indicates that years of remaining statewide capacity increased from 13-18 years in 1990 to as much as 28 years by 1993-an increase of about 43 percent. During the same period, per capita waste disposal declined from 7.9 pounds per day to 5.9 pounds per day, resulting in a decline in annual statewide disposal from 42.5 million tons in 1990 to 34 million tons in 1993. The findings of this report show that expanded diversion and preserved capacity are two sides of the same coin.

Progress for Tomorrow

Recognizing the challenge local governments have accepted, the board is already looking ahead to 50 percent diversion by the year 2000. To date, the IWMB has developed more than 100 separate tools and resources to assist those working to increase diversion around the state. Among these are guidelines, standards, models, research reports, media events, seminars, public education curricula, grants, loans, and direct technical assistance.

The board has also begun a series of workshops to identify ways to achieve 50 percent diversion and, perhaps more importantly, the obstacles to reaching 50 percent diversion and how the board can help to eliminate them. These workshops, involving affected parties from the public and private sectors, again demonstrate the board's commitment to keeping intact the "partnership in practice" that has propelled us this far; a partnership that unlocked the door to 25 percent diversion, and holds the key to 50 percent.

Paving a Path to the Marketplace

Results Today

All the good intentions and great ideas to spur reduction, reuse, and recycling of waste are for naught if there are insufficient markets for secondary materials. Responding to the call for leadership on this front, the board has pursued an assertive yet thoughtful approach to stimulating markets for waste. Our efforts have been helpful; marked by creativity, responsiveness and, just as important, an adherence to the guiding principle of limiting government's role in the marketplace.

In the past, we have reported on the progress of our Recycling Market Development Zone (RMDZ) Program, which provides assistance to start-up and expanding recycling businesses. Forty zones have been established throughout California, where businesses are eligible for financial assistance, including low-interest loans and tax credits, to build and run their recycling operations. Through this program, nearly 650 jobs have been created or saved, and 1.5 million tons of waste are being diverted annually from landfills for reuse.

While the board has proven it can do much to help stimulate markets for secondary materials, California's markets belong to California's businesses and consumers. In 1995, the board adopted its Private Buy Recycled Strategy to encourage business, industrial, and residential consumers to purchase products manufactured with or packaged in recycled materials.

The centerpiece of the strategy is the formation of "alliances" involving private industry, local governments, and others to overcome barriers to the purchase of recycled-content products. Some of the barriers being addressed are pricing, availability, quality and performance standards issues. Alliances with whom the board has initiated work include the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers and the Recycled Paper Coalition (RPC).

In particular, the Central Valley Chapter of the RPC has been designated as a regional paper alliance, composed of companies like Bank of America, Aerojet, and Coca-Cola and recycling organizations like Business for the Environment and Global Futures. They are continuing to add new members, and soon we will begin providing them with assistance in setting purchasing goals, measurement, and reporting progress on purchases.

Progress for Tomorrow

The board has recognized that one of the keys to reaching 50 percent diversion by the year 2000 will be the development of long-term markets for compost. After all, yard waste is the single largest component of California's waste stream. In 1995, we helped to achieve a major breakthrough in developing markets for compost from urban green material and other feedstocks by coordinating development of voluntary compost quality guidelines for agricultural applications (by far the largest end use for compost). The guidelines, developed by a steering committee convened by the board comprising agricultural and compost industry representatives in California, are now being implemented by an industry trade group.

We have also been successful in promoting one of the important benefits of composting: building up our soil resources. Throughout the state, people are beginning to understand that "compost makes soil sense."

To extend our efforts to the field, we provided funds for five compost demonstration projects in key agricultural areas around the state. Each project involves local growers, compost producers, agriculture extension agents, and local government. The projects will enable us to assess how these operations run most effectively, and how they can best accommodate an expanding compost recycling effort in California.

We are also moving forward on other market development efforts. We plan to update our market development plan in 1996. We also expect to continue our Rigid Plastic Packaging Container Program study to develop a methodology for measuring recycling rates for plastic containers; again, our "partnership in practice" is demonstrated by our convening of a broad-based advisory group to develop the methodology. Finally, recognizing that recovery, or supply, of high quality postconsumer materials must expand or the increasing demand by manufacturers will stall, we will be shifting some of our emphasis to increasing recovery.

The Private Buy Recycled Strategy discussed earlier is an excellent example of our philosophy on market development: building networks and partnerships where businesses, state agencies and others can share approaches, problems and solutions, and using this knowledge to meet the challenge of developing reliable, stable and competitive markets for all products made from diverted waste.

A Reasoned Regulatory Approach

As California reaches 25 percent diversion and begins its advance toward 50 percent, an ever-expanding list of innovative recycling and reuse techniques are being developed. For the past few years, the board has proactively sought to review and revise its regulations to promote the development of these new industries and to assist local jurisdictions in developing plans necessary to achieve the waste diversion mandates.

The board has already made significant reforms to California's solid waste regulatory process over the past two years, eliminating duplication and conflict with other agencies, streamlining reporting requirements, and simplifying the permitting process. A 10 percent reduction in state fees for landfills took effect in 1994, and the cap on future fees has been lowered by 20 percent. Most of our reforms accomplish the dual objectives of relieving burdens on business and strengthening our position relative to achieving 50 percent diversion. All of our reforms preserve the highest standards of health and environmental protection for which California is so well known.

Results Today

Landmark legislation in 1993 began efforts between the IWMB and the State Water Resources Control Board to overhaul existing landfill management programs in order to eliminate the duplicative and often conflicting regulatory requirements, site review, and enforcement practices of the two agencies. Fee programs were immediately restructured to consolidate existing fee collection and further reduce the overall dollar amount assessed to industry. Subsequent representative workgroup meetings identified broad areas for regulatory/policy revision.

Over the past year, we have spent considerable resources rewriting all regulations affecting landfill management to eliminate overlap, duplication, and conflicting requirements. In order to gain support for this fundamental shift in the landfill management program, draft regulations were circulated for interagency review, including all regional water boards and local enforcement agencies (more than 70 entities) for review in the latter part of 1995. We are continuing to receive comment and make changes from that initial informal review in order to begin the next round of review by all interested parties in the spring of 1996.

Beginning with a series of "Permit Reform Workshops" in 1994, the board sought to replace the one-size-fits-all permit with a tiered approach to regulatory oversight. Working with all interested parties, we have developed a system that is both flexible and responsive, in which facilities will be permitted commensurate with the nature of their operation.

The regulatory tiers became effective in March 1995, now providing five levels of oversight, ranging from exclusion to a full permit. The next step; placement of the varying waste management operations within the tiers; began in 1995 as well. Compost operations were placed within the tiers first; industry, environmental interests, and local governments lauded both the process and the product. We then addressed contaminated soils operations, and placed them successfully in the tiers in March 1996.

Progress for Tomorrow

Using the methodology developed, the board will continue its work on the regulatory tiers in 1996, focusing on material recovery facilities, transfer stations, and recycling operations as one package. Other facilities that will be taken up later include those which handle special wastes like sewage sludge and construction/demolition debris.

For local jurisdictions, successful integrated waste management requires building programs uniquely configured to meet their own needs. Seeking to help with this task, we have begun work on a cost model that will provide information to allow comparison of various types of diversion programs. Some of the information will include costs related to construction, operation, and maintenance; funding sources; staffing needs; siting issues; and types and amounts of material handled. This information, which will be objective, current, and easily accessible, will serve as a planning tool that local governments can use to select the right mix of programs to meet their waste diversion goals.

The board developed its response to the Governor's Executive Order on Regulatory Improvement (W-127-95) by soliciting from the regulated community and all other interested parties recommendations on where board regulations could be further simplified, streamlined or even eliminated. The overwhelming response was that the board had done so much in the past four years to address concerns about its regulations that few areas of concern remained to be addressed. Commentors pointed to the change in calculation of diversion achievement from the point of generation to the point of disposal as well as the creation of the tiered regulatory structure as some of the most significant and cost effective reforms undertaken.

The board has submitted a plan of future regulatory and legislative efforts to further streamline its processes and continue the dialogue with affected parties to bring about even greater improvements during 1996. By spring of 1996, a series of regulatory actions will begin to eliminate any unnecessary regulation that has not yet been acted upon. By summer, additional workshops and actions will be announced to streamline processes in the areas of local planning, solid waste facility management, used oil program administration, waste tire management, and household hazardous waste program administration.

Protection of California's People and Resources

While we have worked hard to expand markets for recycled materials and forge a workable regulatory system, we have never swerved in our efforts to protect California's environment and the health and safety of its citizens.

Where oversight is critical, our scope has been focused. Where action is called for, our response has been forceful.

In just the past two years, the board, under the Solid Waste Disposal and Codisposal Site Cleanup Program adopted in 1993, has identified and approved funding for cleanup of 32 sites around the state. By the end of 1995, 20 of those sites had been remediated.

These are sites that the responsible party is unable or unwilling to remediate or has abandoned and the owner cannot be found. Without our involvement, cleanup of these sites would not occur--and the threats they pose would continue to loom over nearby citizens and the environment. Instead, these communities have benefited by the elimination of health and safety dangers from sources such as soil contamination and pollution of surface waters.

We also made significant contributions last year to resolving the problem of waste tire stockpiles in California, which often results in nuisance, pollution or injury to the public health and safety. Through our Tire Recycling Management Fund, we are providing resources to perform cleanup, abatement, or remedial work at waste tire sites where responsible parties have failed to take appropriate action. During 1995, we awarded more than $500,000 to clean up eight waste tire stockpiles; all of which border residential areas.

A cornerstone of the state's enforcement program is the mission of the Local Enforcement Agencies (LEA), who enforce solid waste laws and conduct landfill inspections within their jurisdictions. The board has adopted a process for evaluating the performance of the 57 LEAs around the state. In addition to performance evaluation, we provide LEAs with additional tools to ensure they are on track, including training, technical assistance, and financial assistance.

Our focus here remains twofold: to promote the highest caliber of LEA performance and to maximize the effectiveness of our own role. For instance, while in the past year we have been able to document areas most in need of improvement where LEA performance is concerned, we have also found that we must work harder to provide clear guidance on new and developing board policies which affect the role and duties of LEAs.

Poised for Tomorrow

Driven by a worthwhile mission; a staff devoted to a responsible, balanced regulatory approach; and an alliance of public and private sector interests committed to consensus, the Integrated Waste Management Board built a record of success for 1995, and laid the groundwork for even greater achievements in 1996 and beyond.

Publication #520-96-006 (html version)
April 1996

Last updated: July 10, 2008