The Chico, California City Council has rejected a program to mandate significant recycling of construction and demolition waste at large projects in the city.
However, a spokeswoman for the city notes that the policy was rejected due to the already strong success the city has had with construction and demolition recycling in the city.
According to the proposal, the city would have required a minimum of 50 percent of the C&D waste generated at larger construction facilities be recycled. However, contractors in the area are already far exceeding that number, with the recycling rate for inert materials at job sites at 75 percent. The vote, held earlier this week, was 3-2 against the law.
The consensus by opponents to the ordinance was that the industry was already doing an effective job in recycling the material, and the city should devote more energy toward public education to boost the already successful recycling levels.
According to local press reports, the law under consideration would have required a developer, or possibly someone conducting large-scale renovations, to submit a recycling plan that estimates how much waste is likely to be generated by a project. It also would require an estimate of the maximum amount that could reasonably be recycled.
Furthermore, the party undertaking the work would have had to tell the city how much waste would go to the landfill. And after the project's completion, they would have had to submit receipts to the city verifying the amount recycled or taken to the landfill. A violation of the proposed law would have carried an indeterminate fine.