BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1103
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 11, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
Das Williams, Chair
AB 1103
(Dodd) - As Introduced February 27, 2015
SUBJECT: Solid waste: organic waste
SUMMARY: Defines "food soiled paper" and "food waste" within
the Integrated Waste Management Act (IWMA).
EXISTING LAW, pursuant to the IWMA:
1)Requires local agencies to divert, through source reduction,
recycling, and composting, 50% of solid waste disposed by
their jurisdictions.
2)Establishes a statewide diversion goal of 75% by 2020.
3)Requires a commercial waste generator, including multi-family
dwellings, to arrange for recycling services and requires
local governments to implement commercial solid waste
recycling programs designed to divert solid waste from
businesses.
4)Requires generators of specified amounts of organic waste to
arrange for recycling services for that material.
5)Defines "organic waste" as food waste, green waste, landscape
AB 1103
Page 2
and pruning waste, nonhazardous wood waste, and food-soiled
paper that is mixed in with food waste.
THIS BILL defines the following terms:
1)"Food-soiled paper" as including food soiled napkins, towels,
egg cartons, pizza boxes, waxed cardboard containers, and
uncoated plates and cups.
2)"Food waste" as discarded solid, semisolid, and liquid food,
including fruit, vegetables, cheese, meat, bones, poultry,
seafood, bread, rice, pasta, and oils; coffee filters and tea
bags; cut flowers and herbs; and any putrescible matter (i.e.,
capable of rotting in a manner that causes a nuisance due to
odors, vectors, gasses, etc.) produced from human or animal
food production, preparation, and consumption activities.
Specifies that food waste includes food-soiled paper.
FISCAL EFFECT: Non-fiscal
COMMENTS:
1)Author's statement.
AB 1103 defines "food waste" to create a statewide standard
definition. Presently, there is no definition in state law
and there are scores of local definitions. The bill will
assist both California commercial generators and local
governments in clarifying what is meant by "food waste" in
order to help monitor what is being recycled and what is
being dumped in landfills, which is necessary to protect
AB 1103
Page 3
public health and safety.
2)Meeting the state's recycling goals. CalRecycle is tasked
with diverting at least 75% of solid waste statewide by 2020.
Organic materials make up one-third of the waste stream and
food continues to be the greatest single item disposed, making
up over 15% of materials landfilled. CalRecycle is also
charged with implementing its Strategic Directive 6.1, which
calls for reducing organic waste disposal by 50% by 2020.
According to CalRecycle, significant gains in organic waste
diversion are necessary to meet the 75% goal and implement
Strategic Directive 6.1. Recycling technologies for organic
waste include composting, anaerobic digestion, and other types
of processing that generate renewable fuels, energy, soil
amendments, and mulch.
Compost and other soil amendments that can be produced from
organic materials have been shown to improve soil health by
incorporating organic matter, beneficial micro-organisms, and
nutrients and reduce the need for chemical pesticides and
fertilizers. These products also conserve water by allowing
water to penetrate the soil more quickly decreasing runoff.
3)Waste reduction and GHGs. According to ARB, a total reduction
of 80 million metric tons (MMT), or 16% compared to business
as usual, is necessary to reduce statewide GHG emissions to
1990 levels by 2020. ARB intends to achieve approximately 78%
of the reductions through direct regulations. ARB proposes to
achieve the balance of reductions necessary to meet the 2020
AB 1103
Page 4
limit (approximately 18 MMT) through its cap-and-trade
program.
Recycling organic waste provides significant GHG reductions
over landfilling. Composting and other organics processing
technologies, including anaerobic digestion, reduce GHGs by
avoiding the emissions that would be generated by the
material's decomposition in a landfill. Landfill gas is
generated by the decomposition of organic materials such as
food, paper, wood, and yard waste. Fifty percent of landfill
gas is methane, a GHG that is 21 times more efficient at
trapping heat than carbon dioxide. While most modern
landfills have systems in place to capture methane,
significant amounts continue to escape into the atmosphere.
According to ARB's GHG inventory, approximately 7 million tons
of CO2 equivalent are released annually by landfills. That
number is expected to increase to 8.5 million tons of CO2
equivalent by 2020.
4)Suggested amendment. The committee may wish to amend the
definition of food waste to exclude agricultural materials
that are not part of the solid waste stream and to clarify the
types of materials that are "food" by making the following
changes:
(c) "Food-soiled paper" includes , but is not limited to, food
soiled napkins, towels, egg cartons, pizza boxes, waxed
cardboard or paper food and beverage containers, wrappers,
paper bags and coffee filters, tea bags, uncoated plates, and
cups that do not have a plastic coating .
(d) "Food waste" means discarded putrescible solid, semisolid,
and liquid food, including , but not limited to, fruit,
vegetables, legumes, cheese, meat, bones, poultry, seafood,
bread, rice, pasta, and oils, coffee filters and tea bags ; cut
AB 1103
Page 5
flowers and herbs, and any other putrescible matter produced
from human or animal food production, and preparation , and
consumption activities. Food waste includes food-soiled paper.
Food waste does not include any material that is required to be
handled only pursuant to the California Food and Agricultural
Code and regulations adopted pursuant thereto.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
Amador Valley Industries
America California Bank
Atlas Disposal Industries
BMS Technologies
Bay Counties SMaRT
Burrtec Waste Industries
CR&R Environmental Services
California Refuse Recycling Council
California Waste Recovery Systems
Consolidated Fabricators
Davis Waste Removal
Desert Valley Disposal
EDCO Waste and Recycling
East Bay Sanitary
Fremont Recycling and Transfer Station
Garaventa Enterprises
Garden City Sanitation
Gilton Solid Waste Management
Green Hasson Janks
AB 1103
Page 6
MarBorg Industries
Marin Sanitary Service
McConnell, Manit, and Trout Insurance Services
Mid Valley Disposal
Mission Trail Waste Systems
Napa Recycling and Waste Services
Northern Recycling and Waste Services
Olympic Wire and Equipment
Palm Springs Disposal Services
Pena's Disposal
Peninsula Sanitary Service
Pleasanton Garbage Service
Quackenbush Compost
RJ Proto Consulting Group
Rose, Andrew S., Attorney
South San Francisco Scavenger
Snider Leasing
Solid Waste Insurance Managers
South Lake Refuse and Recycling
Southern California Disposal and Recycling
Specialty Solid Waste and Recycling
Tracy Delta Solid Waste Management
Tracy Material Recovery
TruStar Energy
Turlock Scavenger
Upper Valley Disposal and Recycling
Varner Brothers
Waste Connections
Westhoff, Cone, and Holmstedt
Zanker Recycling
Opposition
None on file
AB 1103
Page 7
Analysis Prepared by:Elizabeth MacMillan / NAT. RES. / (916)
319-2092