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San Diego City Council Approves City Recycling Ordinance

On November 13, the San Diego City Council approved the City Recycling Ordinance (CRO) in its second reading, with the support of the San Diego Chamber of Commerce.  Recycling is now required at home and at work in San Diego. We have all been looking for an opportunity to show we are responsible businesses, and are committed to our beautiful city, its people and the environment. The CRO, which is a product of a collaborative work between the City and many organizations such as ours, will allow us to do just that.

Examples of recyclable items

The ordinance is important to our community for a number of reasons:

1) Extending the life of the Miramar Landfill. At current capacity, the City-operated Miramar Landfill is expected to close in 2012. More recycling will help extend the life of the landfill.

2) Reducing the risk of State fines. The State of California mandates that we recycle a minimum of 50% of our waste or face possible fines of $10,000/day.

3) Improving our local and global environment. Recycling is essential in saving natural resources and energy, and significantly reduces greenhouse gas emissions.  It takes less energy to produce recycled products than products made from virgin materials;

and manufacturing recycled products generates less water, air and land pollution.

4) Projecting and solidifying our image as an environmentally-conscious and committed business community.

The CRO requires businesses to recycle all their paper, cardboard, metal cans, and plastic and glass bottles and jars.  Each business can also recycle other materials based on what they generate.

Businesses will have to start complying with the ordinance on February 11, 2008. The ordinance will be phased-in as follows:

Businesses that generate six cubic yards or less per week of solid waste are exempted from the ordinance.  Businesses can also apply for exemptions based on lack of space for recycling or alternative recycling efforts. An exemption request form and a $130 fee must be submitted to the City’s Environmental Services Department.

The recycling ordinance also brings a great opportunity for economic savings to businesses. Studies show that approximately 75% of the waste generated by businesses can be recycled. Haulers generally charge 50 to 25% less for recycling services than for trash collection services. By diverting recyclable materials from the trash bins into recycling bins, businesses can reduce their trash bin size and/or quantity, and the frequency of collection, reducing the cost for trash services. These savings can offset the costs for recycling and even reduce the overall waste management bill.      

In order to help businesses implement this ordinance, the City of San Diego will provide educational materials as well as technical assistance from a recycling specialist. Property owners and managers will soon be able to easily download the following items from the City’s website:

• A tool kit for property owners and managers on how to implement a recycling program with:
• examples of different types of containers that can be used in offices;
• a list of vendors and manufactures of recycling containers;
• lists of the City of San Diego franchised trash haulers and certified recyclers;
• templates of signs to promote the recycling program at your business;
• templates of signs for dumpsters, containers, enclosures and chutes; and
• a variety of other useful tools.
• The exemption request form with fee information
• A summary and a full version of the ordinance

Making products from recycled content material produces less pollution than making products from virgin materials. For example, if all business in the City recycled all their cardboard, it would reduce greenhouse gas emission an amount equivalent to removing 29,000 cars of the roads for a whole year.

The San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce is committed to making this recycling program work, and we are counting on you to join us in our efforts to reduce waste, preserve resources, decrease pollution in the City, and at the same time, save the City’s valuable Miramar Landfill.

For more information, please call The City of San Diego Environmental Services Department at

(858) 694-7000 or visit www.sandiego.gov/environmental-services