Summer 2003 infoCycling

Waste reduction efforts at public venues and events are underway

Sports stadiums, zoos, museums, concert halls, golf courses, racetracks, convention centers, amusement parks, municipal parks, fairgrounds, food festivals, and cultural events…the list of large public venues and events in California is seemingly endless.

Although there is no State law mandating local and private venue facilities to reduce and recycle, the sheer number of large venues and events in California and the significant quantity of waste they generate makes them likely candidates for assisting cities and counties in meeting and/or maintaining 50 percent waste reduction mandated by the Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989.

Recreational facilities can also provide a prime opportunity for educating the public about waste reduction, reuse, and recycling.  According to a survey performed by the California State Parks Department, more than 74 percent of California households visit museums and historic sites each year, and 66 percent visit zoos and arboretums (tree and shrub exhibits).

A preliminary survey of venues conducted by CIWMB staff in April of 2002 confirmed that most private and locally operated venues do not have formal waste reduction programs in place, and few of those with programs do more than recycle cans, bottles, and cardboard. One reason so few programs exist may be that venues and special events represent a complex ownership, management, and operational structure that can make implementing a waste reduction program challenging. 

Although a jurisdiction may own a venue property, an independent board or private management company frequently operates the venue itself.  A single facility such as a convention center may host a hundred different events or groups in a single year, each with its own separate event promoter, and a different mix of vendors and concessionaires.

To address the largely untapped waste reduction potential these events and facilities present, the CIWMB is working to make waste reduction tools and resources available to everyone involved in venues and events—from the jurisdiction where the venue or event is located, to owners and managers, concessionaires and vendors, and the public.  

The tools are available on the CIWMB’s Venues Web site. The Web site is a “portal” directing public and private users to existing CIWMB topics and resources of special interest, as well as to downloadable tools such as sample ordinances and policies, calculation spreadsheets, case studies, and links to government and industry resources such as recycled-content suppliers and recycled materials buyers.  Also included on the site will be downloadable guides and brochures that can be distributed by local governments with event and municipal park permits or during facility inspections.

These resources complement the information already available on the CIWMB’s State Agency Web site. This Web site assists State government waste reduction and recycling coordinators and procurement officers in their efforts to reduce, reuse, recycle, and buy recycled as mandated by Chapter 764, Statutes of 1999 (Strom-Martin, AB 75). 

This act requires that by January 1, 2002, each State agency and large State facility divert from landfill disposal or transformation facilities at least 25 percent of all solid waste it generates.  On and after January 1, 2004, the mandated diversion rate becomes 50 percent.  Included in the mandate are State-run public venues such as fairgrounds and parks. 

The CIWMB in coordination with the new Venues and Special Events Recycling Council (VSERC) of the California Resource Recovery Association (CRRA) will be providing regional workshops and opportunities for networking with venues and events industry and professionals. 

The first workshop was conducted in conjunction with the annual CRRA conference in Ontario on July 21, 2003, and the second workshop will be conducted at the 22nd District Agricultural Association’s annual Enviro Fair on November 7, 2003, at the Del Mar Fairgrounds.

For information about the CRRA workshop, contact the CRRA Web site.  Look on the Web for more information about the Enviro Fair. For questions about the CIWMB’s large venue and event waste reduction project, please contact Chris Schmidle at (916) 341-6210.

Last updated: December 28, 2007