California exceeds waste diversion
goal
Recycling now generates $4 billion in salaries
and wages
California now diverts 52 percent of the 76 million
tons of solid municipal wastes it generates yearly.
The official 52 percent statewide diversion rate
meets a legislatively imposed mandate and places the state at the
forefront of national efforts to reduce and recycle trash.
The California Integrated Waste Management Board
announced that the goal first set in the Integrated Waste Management
Act of 1989 has been reached, reversing a time when residents and
workplaces routinely landfilled 90 percent or more of their garbage.
The Act required individual cities and counties
to cut their disposal rates in half, but left the mechanics for
doing so largely up to each jurisdiction.
By reducing the trash thrown away and recycling
it or reusing it, California has created a mainstream industry of
statewide importance comprised of 5,300 establishments. Recycling
now accounts for 85,000 jobs, generates $4 billion in salaries and
wages and produces $10 billion worth of goods and services annually.
The environmental impacts of recycling are astounding.
Each year recycling saves enough energy to power 1.4 million California
homes and reduces water pollution by 27,047 tons. Furthermore, each
year recycling saves 14 million trees and helps to reduce air pollution
by 165,142 tons. All of these efforts are working to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions by an amount equal to taking 3.8 million passenger
cars off the highway.
The California Integrated Waste Management Board
is the State’s leading authority on recycling and waste reduction.
It promotes a zero waste California in partnership with local government,
industry, and the public. |
