Market Development Home

Market Development Plan

Meeting the 50 Percent Challenge: Recycling Market Development Strategies Through the Year 2000

1. Introduction
2. The 1996 Market Development Plan Update Process
3. Market Development for Recyclable Material and Recycled-Content Products

I. Introduction

The passage of the Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989 (AB 939) challenged Californians to adopt a new approach to waste management, involving the creation of less waste and maximizing the use of recyclable materials. AB 939 mandated the state's cities and counties to divert from landfills 25 percent of their 1990 waste streams, as adjusted for population growth and local economies, by 1995 and 50 percent by 2000. Californians have made significant progress toward achieving these goals. Major achievements include local governments' implementation of new prevention and collection programs, resulting in a 25 percent statewide diversion rate in 1995 and establishment of many new and expanded markets for recyclable materials. However, the challenge of AB 939 has not yet been fully met.

To meet the 50 percent diversion mandate, collection programs must be expanded and new and enhanced markets developed for an additional 13 million tons of materials by the year 2000. If the challenge is to be met, waste prevention, material collection, and market development actions must be sufficient to divert a total of 25 million tons of recyclable materials by the year 2000. This planning document, Meeting the 50 Percent Challenge: Recycling Market Development Strategies through the Year 2000, describes activities the Integrated Waste Management Board will undertake to assist local governments and the private sector in achieving that reduction goal.

Although this challenge is daunting, developing markets for recyclable materials and products made from them offers significant opportunities. Many materials in the waste stream can be used as raw materials by new and existing industries. Manufacturing products made from recyclable materials lessens the environmental impacts of solid waste disposal, increases California's manufacturing capacity, creates new job opportunities, and conserves natural resources. Consumer acceptance and purchase of the new products will ensure that recycling becomes a sound business strategy that will continue to provide incentives to further improve collection, processing, and remanufacturing technologies. Achievement of these opportunities requires unique partnerships between State and local governments; the waste management, recycling, and manufacturing industries; and the public. This plan relies heavily on the establishment, expansion, and achievements of those partnerships.

II.  The 1996 Market Development Plan Update Process

The Board adopted its first plan for market development (Meeting the Challenge: A Market Development Plan for California) in 1993. By late 1995, the Board recognized that changes in the state's economy and recycling industry infrastructure, as well as in the needs of local government, made revision and update of the 1993 market development plan a necessity. Additionally, developing and maintaining a market development plan had become a mandated activity with the passage of AB 1909 in 1993 (Public Resources Code §42005-42009). The Board's previous plan provided general guidelines for implementing the Board's market development programs.

To begin the update process, Board staff prepared reports on major secondary materials markets and conducted workshops to gather public comments and suggestions on priorities the Board should establish for its market development programs. The final 1996 market development plan is the result of these activities.

This 1996 plan has been prepared with extensive public input. The proposed plan was circulated to interested parties for public comment, and two public workshops were held on June 14 and June 19, 1996. Based on comments received, the plan was revised to better meet the needs of local governments and businesses. The plan was then adopted by the Board at its publicly noticed August 28, 1996, meeting.

III.  Market Development for Recyclable Material and Recycled-Content Products

The premise of the 1996 plan is that market development must address three closely interrelated activities, each of which is extremely sensitive to factors primarily affected by the private sector:

• Collection and processing of materials.
• Manufacturer use of recycled feedstock.
• Product marketing and consumer use.

For many secondary materials and products, market development is affected by industry's relative inexperience with recycled feedstocks. Thus, manufacturers' specifications, consumer preferences and perceptions, perceived and actual feedstock and product quality, and public policy decisions all impact the supply and demand of secondary materials and products made from them.

The Board's market development program must consider how these complex and interrelated factors affect each other. The Board has consistently sought comments and suggestions from all participants in the market development community when developing and evaluating programs. Additionally, the Board directs that its market development programs should:

• Promote partnerships among State government, business, and local governments for stimulating market development for recycled materials.
• Encourage manufacturing of value-added products whenever possible.
• Develop or expand self-sustaining businesses that will not be dependent on long-term government support.

The Board's 1993 market development plan identified efforts the Board could pursue to overcome market development barriers for each of three targeted "priority materials" (paper, plastics, and compostables). Decreasing revenues and other resource constraints limited the Board's ability to aggressively implement all priority action items in that plan. However, the Board has made significant progress on many of them. The revised plan builds on such successes and relies heavily on other policy documents approved by the Board. These include:

• Statewide Waste Prevention Plan
• Recycling Market Development Zone (RMDZ) Evaluation and Marketing Strategy
• RMDZ Loan Program Evaluation Report
• Construction and Demolition Report and Update
• Nonyard Wood Waste Report
• Base Closure Report (draft)
• Integrated Waste Management Disaster Plan (draft)
• Private Buy-Recycled Strategy
• Board agenda item 43, April 24, 1996: "Consideration of the status of the R-Team"

The 1996 plan incorporates the Board's earlier approved actions and strategies for each of these reports. The identified programs will continue to be implemented.

Back To Top

Last updated: November 01, 2007