The Board of Supervisors of the City and County of San Francisco hereby finds and declares as follows:
(A) The California Integrated Waste Management Act (Public Resources Code § 40000 et seq.) requires all cities and counties to reduce their waste by 50% by the year 2000 or face potential penalties of up to $10,000 per day. The City must take a leadership role and act quickly and responsibly to implement the necessary measures to achieve this mandate.
(B) City departmental operations and activities have been found to contribute significantly to San Francisco's solid waste stream. The waste management and buy recycled provisions of this ordinance are necessary to help departments reduce their waste.
(C) On September 14, 1998, the President of the United States signed Executive Order 13101 Greening the Government through Waste Prevention, Recycling, and Federal Acquisition to "strengthen the role of the Federal government as an enlightened, environmentally conscious and concerned consumer." The State and Federal governments have strongly encouraged local governments to procure recycled and environmentally preferable products and services as a way to increase market demand for such products.
(D) Local agencies that use appropriated federal funds to procure $10,000 or more worth of a designated item in a given year are subject to the federal comprehensive procurement guidelines for recycled products.
(E) Pursuant to Board of Supervisors Resolution No. 246-99, Establishing Dioxin as a High Priority for Immediate Action for the City and County of San Francisco in Order to Restore Water Quality and Protect the Public Health and Enabling the San Francisco Commission on the Environment to Create a Task Force and Report Back on Strategies to Ensure that Less Toxic, Non-Chlorinated Sustainable Products and Processes are Actively Supported, each City department must report to the Board of Supervisors on strategies they are using to ensure that less-toxic, non-chlorinated products sustainable alternative products, such as chlorine-free paper and PVC-free plastics, are actively supported and used.
(F) The landfill capacity available to San Francisco at the Altamont Landfill is expected to last only until approximately 2012.
(G) The discard of useable or recyclable materials into the waste stream deprives the City of the economic benefit of the value of these materials while creating unnecessary expenses for collection and disposal.
(H) This Chapter applies the Precautionary Principle to the selection of commodities used in City operations that minimize impacts on natural resources by maximizing recycled content, recycling, and reuse.
(Added by Ord. 171-03, File No. 030422, App. 7/3/2003)
(Derivation Former Administrative Code Section 21A.1; added by Ord. 83-00, File No. 000392, App. 5/12/2000)