WASTE REDUCTION AND RECYCLING

Sec. 64.010: NAME. This Section of the Alameda County Charter shall be known and may be cited as the Alameda County Waste Reduction and Recycling Act of 1990 (hereinafter the "Act").

(Amendment ratified Dec. 20, 1990.)

Sec. 64.020: PURPOSE. The purpose of this Act is to:

A.

Provide for an Alameda County Source Reduction and Recycling Plan (hereinafter the "Recycling Plan") in conformance with new state law requiring all California cities and counties to plan, fund and implement a comprehensive source reduction and recycling program (Paragraph 64.040(B));

B.

Meet, by January 1, 1995, the state-mandated goal at reducing by at least twenty-five percent the refuse landfilled in Alameda County, then meet by January 1, 2000, the further state-mandated goal of fifty percent, and set longer-term goals starting at seventy-five percent (Paragraph 64.040(A));

C.

Ensure that the Recycling Plan provides for at least the following essential elements:

1.

An Alameda County-wide Source Reduction Program (Subsection 64.080) to minimize the generation of refuse;

2.

Residential Recycling Programs (Subsection 64.090) to provide each Alameda County residence with curbside pick-up of recyclable materials;

3.

Commercial Recycling Programs (Subsection 64.100) to reduce the refuse disposal costs of businesses and government agencies;

4.

An Alameda County-wide Recycled Product Market Development Program (Subsection 64.110) to create and strengthen stable markets for recycled materials; and

5.

A Recycled Product Purchase Preference Program (Subsection 64.120) to further encourage recycled materials markets by maximizing the amount of recycled products purchased by County government agencies;

D.

Fund the Recycling Plan by instituting a six dollar per ton surcharge on materials disposed of in Alameda County landfills (Paragraph 64.050(A));

E.

Create an Alameda County Source Reduction and Recycling Board (hereinafter the "Recycling Board") to coordinate the Recycling Plan (Subsection 64.130); and

F.

Prohibit the incineration of refuse within Alameda County (Subsection 64.140).

(Amendment ratified Dec. 20, 1990.)

Sec. 64.030: FINDINGS. The people of Alameda County find and declare that:

A.

The increasing consumption of single-use and environmentally harmful products depletes natural resources, produces huge quantities of refuse ( most of which is disposed of in ways that damage the environment ( and, ultimately, will injure future generations;

B.

The use of terms such as "garbage" and "solid waste" result from ( and serve to reinforce ( wasteful attitudes; the materials referred to by these terms retain their value as natural resources, and should instead be described and treated as "discarded materials" to be recycled rather than incinerated or landfilled;

C.

At least ninety percent of the discarded materials generated within Alameda County are landfilled as are vast quantities of discarded materials from neighboring counties; existing landfill capacity in the Bay Area will be exhausted in less than twenty-five years, while new landfills are increasingly difficult and expensive to site; landfill is neither a long-term, nor a sustainable, nor an environmentally safe option for disposal of discarded materials;

D.

Refuse incinerators are a poor alternative to source reduction and recycling; such incinerators damage the environment by wasting natural resources that could instead by recycled, by accelerating the release of greenhouse gasses ( which worsen global warming ( and by generating toxic substances;

E.

Each person discards materials and should therefore be involved in solving the problems caused by the disposal of such materials; this involvement must include changes in individual behavior resulting from each person's awareness of her or his role in creating or finding solutions to environmental problems; only through such changes can sustainable consumption and disposal patterns be established and the biosphere restored;

F.

The County government shares a responsibility with Alameda County cities and sanitary districts to provide a comprehensive source reduction and recycling program which will foster these necessary changes in individual behavior as well as ensure that the goals set by state law are met; and

G.

The best available method for funding the Recycling Plan is a surcharge on materials disposed of at landfills.

(Amendment ratified Dec. 20, 1990.)