California reaches State recycling goal: State recycling office announces 50% waste diversion met, September 11, 2006, Press Release

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California cuts its trash by half: State awards Marin County and Marin Sanitary for leading the field--Company Launches State-of-the-Art Dual Sort System

SAN RAFAEL—Today, the California Integrated Waste Management Board came to the San Francisco Bay Area to announce that the State has exceeded the 50 percent statewide diversion goal, first set in 1989 when Californians routinely landfilled 90 percent of their garbage. Standing in front of state-of-the-art recycling technology at Marin Sanitary Service in San Rafael, the Integrated Waste Management Board lauded the company and the county for recycling over 72 percent of all its waste and being one of the leading jurisdictions in the state when it comes to solid waste diversion.

“When it comes to managing our wastes, California continues to lead the nation through perseverance and ingenuity,” said Board Chair Margo Reid Brown. “Achieving this goal was made possible with the long-term commitment of the private and public sectors and I deeply appreciate and celebrate what has been accomplished.”

After more than a decade of infrastructure and effort, early years of doubt and nay saying and a seismic shift in public opinion, California now diverts 46 million tons of the 88 million tons of solid municipal wastes it generates yearly. The official 52 percent statewide diversion rate meets a legislatively imposed mandate and places the state at the forefront of national efforts to reduce and recycle our trash.

“Our goal is zero waste,” said Joe Garbarino, co-founder of Marin Sanitary Service, Marin Resource and Recovery, and Marin Recycling. “From the day we opened our doors in 1956, our family has been relentless in the pursuit of that goal. We started the first countywide curbside recycling program in the nation; the first indoor resource recovery center and today we are launching a state-of-the-art dual sort recycling system. My philosophy is if you can’t make something that can be recycled, you shouldn’t be making it at all.”

The new waste diversion rate debuts just as California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger fought for passing the most significant global warming legislation in our nation’s history, which mandates a statewide reduction of global warming emissions. Landfills’ decomposing garbage is a primary source of man-made methane, a greenhouse gas 20 times stronger than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the earth’s atmosphere. Substantially reducing the amount of wastes landfilled has the potential to curb the overall production of methane and cut global warming emissions.

The state’s landmark Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989 charged the Board with implementing far-reaching provisions and moving cities and counties—and ultimately the state, itself—to higher waste diversion levels. In 1990, California diverted just 10 percent of its waste stream, causing consternation in some circles as to the remaining landfill capacity needed to meet disposal requirements.

The Act required individual cities and counties to cut their disposal rates in half, but left the mechanics for doing so largely up to each jurisdiction, in light of their individual needs and available resources. The Board provided sweeping State oversight, as well as technical guidance and financial assistance on programs to increase waste diversion.

Calculated through a series of comprehensive standards used by the State, the new rate reflects the impact of population and economic growth during the year. The Board reviews waste generation and disposal tonnages and annual reports submitted to the State by hundreds of cities, counties and regional waste management compacts. In addition, waste tonnages are calculated based on landfill disposal fees collected by the State Board of Equalization and paid to the Waste Board. The Waste Board receives approximately $1.40 for every ton of waste disposed in California landfills.

Today, California views the folly of throwing so much away in reminisce. Nearly 500 cities, counties and regional waste management compacts around the state contribute to a multi-million dollar infrastructure of waste handling options for residents and businesses alike.

Marin Sanitary Service has been at the forefront of this transformation. Founded more than 50 years ago by the Garbarino family, Marin Sanitary Service has led the field in recycling innovation and technology, and now achieves over 70 percent diversion rate. The family company started the first countywide curbside recycling program in the nation, opened the first and still largest (three football fields) indoor resource recovery center with a highly sophisticated sorting system, operates a hazardous waste recycling program, and today launched a dual sort recycling system with cutting edge technology including video screeners and other computer run devices to salvage materials.

Across the nation, curbside waste pickup services, recycling bins, waste sorting facilities, green waste composting, used oil collection centers, hundreds of permitted and active landfills, household hazardous waste amnesty days or centers, recycled content procurement practices, broadcast and written public education campaigns, electronic waste stewardship, waste tire tracking manifests, “green” buildings, public recognition awards and myriad other programs now abound, routing tons of salvageable materials to innovative markets that didn’t exist just a few years ago.

The outcome is a statewide municipal waste diversion record, a blossoming recycling-oriented economy and the creation and expansion of robust markets for recyclable materials that leads the nation by example. In California, waste recycling and management ranks on a scale comparable to the state’s vaunted entertainment industry in terms of produced yearly revenue and is responsible for the creation of thousands of jobs.

By reducing the trash thrown away and recycling it or reusing it, California has created a mainstream industry of statewide importance comprised of 5,300 establishments. Recycling now accounts for 85,000 jobs, generates $4 billion in salaries and wages and produces $10 billion worth of goods and services annually.

The environmental impacts of recycling are astounding. Each year recycling saves enough energy to power 1.4 million California homes and reduces water pollution by 27,047 tons. Furthermore, each year recycling saves 14 million trees and helps to reduce air pollution by 165,142 tons. All of these efforts are working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by an amount equal to taking 3.8 million passenger cars off the highway.

The California Integrated Waste Management Board is the State’s leading authority on recycling and waste reduction. It promotes a zero waste California in partnership with local government, industry, and the public. This means reducing waste whenever possible, promoting the management of all materials to their highest and best use, and protecting public health and safety and the environment.