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Strategies and Actions Solid Waste What Are We Talking About? In California, 2 percent of total GHG emissions are generated from the disposal of waste. While it El may not be immediately obvious, reducing the amount of waste deposited into the landfill through material reuse, reduction, and recycling is an important strategy Redwood City residents can take to reduce GHG emissions. When organic material, including food and wood products, are sent to landfills they release methane as they slowly decay over time. While some landfills capture as much methane as possible and combust it for electricity generation, many landfills leak or "flame" methane, a potent GHG, directly into the atmosphere. How Are We Doing? Although composting programs have begun to decrease the amount of organic material sent to landfills, organic material still accounts for 37.4 percent of all materials sent to landfills in California. Because organic materials sent to landfills release methane directly into the atmosphere, increasing the percentage of organic materials that are sent to dedicated composting facilities is critical to reducing emissions in the waste sector. What Are We Trying to Achieve? W.1 Increase diversion of materials from landfills 90% reduction compared to 2005 How Do We Get There? To address the issues of escalating waste production, Assembly Bill 341, requires local jurisdictions to meet a solid waste diversion goal of 75 percent and includes requirements for mandatory commercial recycling. Assembly Bill 1826 passed in 2014 required businesses and multi -family residences to recycle their organic waste. Senate Bill 1383, passed in 2016, requires a 50% reduction of organic waste by 2020, a 75% reduction of organic waste by 2025, and a 20% reduction of currently disposed edible food to be recovered for human consumption by 2025. To meet State solid waste diversion mandates for local jurisdictions, the City will seek to raise the diversion rate over time by gradually implementing zero waste policies and programs for municipal operations in advance of communitywide programs and ordinances. Zero waste refers to an approach to minimizing solid waste through a variety of source reduction, reuse, recycling, and composting policies and programs. Actions would include, but are not limited to, establishing an Environmentally Preferred Purchasing Policy and a Zero Waste policy for municipal events, and continue requiring municipal recycling of construction and demolition debris. In addition to using the gradual establishment of municipal zero waste policies to promote communitywide waste reduction, recycling, and diversion, the City will seek to coordinate with San Mateo County phasing in implementation of the upcoming disposable food ware ordinance and food recovery programs in the short term; commercial recycling requirements as programs, reporting, and evaluation methods develop over the midterm; and other measures such as yard waste ordinances, pay -as -you -throw tiered rate structures, and community outreach programs such as the Zero Waste Party Pack program over the long term. While we may not be able to achieve a 90% reduction from the 2005 levels of waste going to landfills by 2030, the progress we make on our strategies will give us insight on strengthening our current measures and considering additional measures in future CAP updates. City of Redwood City Climate Action Plan 57