(A) The town finds that the State of California through its California Waste Management Act of 1989 ("Act"), Cal. Public Resources Code § 40000, et seq., as amended, supplemented, superseded and replaced from time to time), as implemented by regulations of CalRecycle, require the town to reduce, reuse, and recycle (including composting), solid waste generated in the town to the maximum extent feasible before any incineration or landfill disposal of waste, to conserve water, energy, and other natural resources, and to protect the environment. The Act and Alternative Compliance Act of 2008 (SB 1016, Statutes of 2008), requires that each local jurisdiction in the state to divert 50% of discarded materials from the landfill on a per capita basis.
(B) The town finds that every city and county in California, including the town, could face fines for not meeting the above mandated goal.
(C) The town finds that Mandatory Commercial Recycling was one of the measures adopted in the Assembly Bill 32 Scoping Plan by the Air Resources Board (ARB) pursuant to the California Global Warming Solutions Act (Chapter 488, Statutes of 2006). The Mandatory Commercial Recycling Measure focuses on increased commercial waste diversion as a method to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It is designed to achieve a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of 5,000,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalents. To achieve the measure’s objective, an additional 2,000,000 to 3,000,000 tons of materials annually will need to be recycled from the commercial sector by the year 2020 and beyond.
(D) AB 341 (Chapter 476, Statutes of 2011) that required any business that generates four cubic yards or more of commercial solid waste per week or is a multi-family residential dwelling with five or more units to arrange for recycling collection services.
(E) Assembly Bill 1826 of 2014 requires businesses and certain multi-family property owners that generate a specified threshold amount of solid waste, recycling, and organic materials per week to arrange for recyclable materials and organic waste collection services for that waste and requires the town to implement a mandatory commercial organics recycling program for designated commercial property owners.
(F) SB 1383 required CalRecycle to develop regulations to reduce organics in landfills and methane emissions. The SB 1383 Regulations require the town, residential households, commercial businesses, commercial edible food generators, haulers, self-haulers, food recovery organizations, and food recovery services to support achievement of statewide organic waste disposal reduction targets.
(G) The town continues to make progress in maintaining the disposal reduction requirements of the state recycling law, but additional efforts, particularly in the diversion of organic materials and the recycling of paper, cardboard, glass, and other recyclable materials generated by commercial businesses, will assist the town in maintaining and exceeding the goal of diverting waste from landfill disposal. The town desires to implement a program to further the Marin County Hazardous and Solid Waste Management Joint Powers Authority (JPA) goal to increase the diversion of materials from the landfill and transformation facilities to achieve an 94% diversion goal by 2025, ensure that resources are used to their highest potential, reduce upstream waste and reduce Marin's ecological footprint.
(H) The town finds that organic materials that are buried in the anaerobic conditions of landfills creates methane gas and leachate that may impact air and water quality. Reductions or capture of methane is critical as methane gas from the decomposition of waste is a source of renewable energy, but if not collected and controlled is at least 21 times as potent as carbon dioxide in contributing to climate change.
(I) The town finds that reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from solid waste management can be realized by recovering traditional recyclable materials from the waste stream to use in the manufacturing of products from these materials. Traditional recyclable materials have significant intrinsic energy value that displaces fossil fuel energy requirements when introduced back into the manufacturing cycle. Additionally, by remanufacturing products using recycled materials, additional reductions in greenhouse gas emissions are realized through reduced fossil fuel demands in transportation and avoided methane emissions at landfills.
(J) The town finds that efforts by the town and the private sector to encourage voluntary diversion of commercial and special event recyclables materials have not achieved desired levels of diversion.
(K) The town finds that mandatory commercial recycling programs in other cities and counties in California, similar to the one implemented by this § 8.08.130, have proven successful.
(L) The town agrees to be subject to the terms of this chapter for all of the town's commercial facilities and properties, including parks and town buildings, as well as town-sponsored or partnered special events.
(Ord. 772, passed 11-6-2013; Am. Ord. 859, passed 12-1-2021)