Berkeley Municipal Code Ch. 12.38 Recycling Policy

This chapter shall be known as the recycling policy ordinance. (Ord. 5625A-NS § 1, 1984)

A. On January 26, 1982, the Berkeley City Council adopted a goal of recycling at least fifty percent of Berkeley’s waste. The City Council majority has failed to develop a plan to attain this goal.

B. On November 2, 1982, Berkeley voters adopted an ordinance entitled the Five Year Moratorium on Garbage-Burning Plants, in which it was recommended that "the City Council complete its development of solid waste management programs that rely on safe, economical, and environmentally sound alternatives to burning garbage." The City Council majority has failed to follow this recommendation.

C. A comprehensive, coordinated, and integrated recycling system is a necessary and vital tool for resource and energy conservation and the cost-effective and environmentally sound disposal of waste. The City Council majority has interfered with the development and maintenance of such a system.

D. An up-to-date and effective solid waste management plan is crucial to the development of sound waste disposal practices. Berkeley’s current solid waste management plan, adopted in 1976, is obsolete, inadequate, and ineffective. (Ord. 5625A-NS § 2, 1984)

The purposes of this chapter are:

A. To establish by ordinance the goal of recycling at least fifty percent, by weight, of Berkeley’s waste.

B. To require that Berkeley develop and maintain a substantial, comprehensive, coordinated, and integrated recycling system for the efficient, cost-effective, and environmentally sound disposal of waste.

C. To require the development and implementation of a new solid waste management plan for Berkeley.

D. To help preserve the quality of the environment for Berkeley residents by preserving resources, conserving energy, and reducing waste.

E. To improve Berkeley’s economy by creating useful and rewarding jobs for its residents.

F. To protect and promote the health, safety, and well-being of Berkeley residents. (Ord. 5625A-NS § 3, 1984)

A. It shall be the goal of the City of Berkeley to recycle at least fifty percent by weight, of all waste generated in Berkeley.

B. The City Council shall ensure that the solid waste management system in Berkeley at all times includes, as an integral part, a substantial, comprehensive, coordinated, and efficient recycling system.

C. The City Council shall ensure that adequate land, facilities, and equipment are at all times provided for a substantial, comprehensive, coordinated, and efficient recycling system in Berkeley.

D. The City Council shall ensure that each portion of Berkeley’s waste stream is disposed of through recycling whenever, according to the best available estimates, recycling is the least expensive waste disposal method for that portion of the waste stream. (Ord. 5625A-NS § 4, 1984)

A. The City Council shall adopt a new Solid Waste Management Plan by May 1, 1986. This new plan shall be known as the 1986 Solid Waste Management Plan.

B. The plan shall include specific policies and programs leading to:

1. A substantial reduction in the amount of waste generated in Berkeley.

2. The recycling by May 1, 1991, of at least fifty percent by weight, of all waste generated in Berkeley.

C. The plan shall include, but need not be limited to, implementation of the following elements of a cost-effective and environmentally sound disposal system:

1. Waste reduction.

2. Source separation of recyclable materials.

3. Education and public awareness.

4. Legislative and financial incentives to encourage recycling.

D. The plan shall include, but need not be limited to, provisions for implementing, maintaining, or expanding the following components of a comprehensive recycling system:

1. Buyback.

2. Dropoff.

3. Source-separated residential collection.

4. Salvage.

5. Composting.

6. Commercial recycling.

E. The plan shall include, but need not be limited to, cost-effective measures for recycling the following portions of the waste stream:

1. Newspaper.

2. Corrugated cardboard.

3. Office paper.

4. Computer paper.

5. Low-value mixed paper and paper products, such as magazines, telephone books, and packaging material.

6. Glass containers.

7. Tin cans.

8. Aluminum.

9. Scrap metal.

10. Plastics.

11. Household and commercial goods.

12. Building materials.

13. Construction and demolition debris.

14. Plant debris.

15. Inert materials, such as pavement, rocks, and dirt.

F. The plan shall provide for an adequate long-term site for a plant-debris composting program.

G. The plan shall include specific measures for the identification and safe disposal of hazardous waste.

H. The plan shall include specific measures for the coordinated, harmonious, and efficient operation of the various components and elements of the waste disposal and recycling system.

I. The plan shall include specific measures for improvements in the execution of City policies relating to waste disposal and recycling, including but not necessarily limited to changes in organizational structure within the City administration.

J. The plan shall contain specific provisions for its immediate implementation or the immediate beginning of phased implementation upon adoption by the City Council. (Ord. 5625A-NS § 5, 1984)

A. The Solid Waste Management Commission shall prepare a draft recommended solid waste management plan by January 1, 1986.

B. The commission shall hold at least one public hearing on the preparation of this draft between January 1, 1985 and January 1, 1986.

C. The commission shall submit a recommended 1986 Solid Waste Management Plan to the City Council by March 1, 1986.

D. The City Council shall hold at least one public hearing on this recommended plan between March 1, 1986 and April 16, 1986.

E. The City Manager shall provide sufficient qualified staff assistance expertise, and information, including expert financial analysis and complete and accurate data on the composition of Berkeley’s waste stream, to the commission and the council to ensure that the plan is effective, economical, attainable, and realistic. (Ord. 5625A-NS § 6, 1984)

A. The Solid Waste Management Plan Commission shall hold a public hearing on progress in implementation of the 1986 Solid Waste Management Plan and on any proposed amendments to the plan each February during 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990 and 1991.

B. The commission shall submit to the City Council a report on progress in implementation of the plan and any recommendations for amendments to the plan each March during 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990 and 1991.

C. If after May 1, 1989, the City Council determines, for good and sound reasons, that the fifty percent recycling goal is unattainable by May 1, 1991, the council is hereby empowered to establish a new date for attaining the fifty percent goal.

D. The council is hereby empowered to establish a higher recycling goal than fifty percent at any time.

E. With the exception of provisions relating to the fifty percent recycling goal, the City Council may amend the 1986 Solid Waste Management Plan at any time after its adoption. (Ord. 5625A-NS § 7, 1984)

The following interim measures shall be effective immediately upon adoption of this chapter and shall remain in effect until May 1, 1986:

A. The City Council shall take all reasonable and cost-effective steps to ensure that each of the following kinds of recycling programs remains in operation in Berkeley:

1. Buyback.

2. Dropoff.

3. Salvage.

4. Source-separated residential collection.

5. Plant-debris composting.

B. The City Council shall neither make nor require any substantial changes in existing recycling or other solid waste management programs without first holding a public hearing on the proposed changes.

C. The City Council shall take steps to ensure the efficient, coordinated, and cooperative use of all premises, improvements, and equipment contracted, leased, licensed, or otherwise provided by the City for recycling.

D. No contract or other agreement for recycling services entered into by the City of Berkeley with a recycling program shall include any provision that requires the recycling program to sell or otherwise turn over its recyclable materials to any buyer or other receiver of materials specified by the terms of the contract or agreement. (Ord. 5625A-NS § 8, 1984)

A. All monies spent by the City for solid waste management and recycling shall be allocated from the refuse collection and disposal fund.

B. The City Council shall not allocate any monies from the general fund to implement the provisions of this chapter.

C. This section does not prevent the City from using monies from the general fund to subsidize low income residents to help them afford waste collection. (Ord. 7860-NS § 1, 2023; Ord. 5625A-NS § 9, 1984)

A. "Recycling" includes the recycling, salvaging, composting, or other reuse, retrieval, collection, processing, and/or marketing of materials so that they are returned to use by society. "Recycling" does not include disposal of goods or materials through landfilling or burning.

B. "Waste" includes solid waste; garbage; animal, fruit, and vegetable refuse; offal; leaves and cuttings; trimmings from trees, shrubs, and grass; inorganic refuse and rubbish; and anything else thrown away as worthless, useless, or undesirable, including, but not limited to, furniture, batteries, plastics, chemicals, and construction debris.

C. "Recycling program" includes any program, operation, business, group, organization, person, or other entity engaged in the recycling of goods or materials generated at two or more locations.

D. "Buyback" includes any recycling program for the purchase of recyclable waste materials from those who generate or collect them.

E. "Dropoff" includes any recycling program that accepts without charge or payment recyclable waste materials from those who generate them.

F. "Source-separated residential collection" includes any recycling program for the collection of separated recyclable waste materials from residences.

G. "Salvage" includes any recycling program that intercepts waste goods and materials otherwise destined for disposal at a transfer station, landfill, or garbage-burning plant.

H. "Composting" includes any program to transform by natural decomposition such organic waste material as plant debris into such useful and valuable products as soil amendments.

I. "Commercial recycling" includes any recycling program to collect or receive waste goods and materials primarily or exclusively from commercial, industrial, or institutional establishments. (Ord. 5625A-NS § 10, 1984)