AB 1103
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Date of Hearing: May 11, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
Das Williams, Chair
AB 1103 (Dodd) – As Introduced February 27, 2015
SUBJECT : Solid waste: organic waste
SUMMARY : Defines "food soiled paper" and "food waste" within the Integrated Waste
Management Act (IWMA).
EXISTING LAW , pursuant to the IWMA:
1) Requires local agencies to divert, through source reduction, recycling, and composting, 50% of solid waste disposed by their jurisdictions.
2) Establishes a statewide diversion goal of 75% by 2020.
3) Requires a commercial waste generator, including multi-family dwellings, to arrange for recycling services and requires local governments to implement commercial solid waste recycling programs designed to divert solid waste from businesses.
4) Requires generators of specified amounts of organic waste to arrange for recycling services for that material.
5) Defines "organic waste" as food waste, green waste, landscape and pruning waste, nonhazardous wood waste, and food-soiled paper that is mixed in with food waste.
THIS BILL defines the following terms:
1) "Food-soiled paper" as including food soiled napkins, towels, egg cartons, pizza boxes, waxed cardboard containers, and uncoated plates and cups.
2) "Food waste" as discarded solid, semisolid, and liquid food, including fruit, vegetables, cheese, meat, bones, poultry, seafood, bread, rice, pasta, and oils; coffee filters and tea bags; cut flowers and herbs; and any putrescible matter (i.e., capable of rotting in a manner that causes a nuisance due to odors, vectors, gasses, etc.) produced from human or animal food production, preparation, and consumption activities. Specifies that food waste includes foodsoiled paper.
FISCAL EFFECT : Non-fiscal
COMMENTS :
1) Author's statement.
AB 1103 defines "food waste" to create a statewide standard definition. Presently, there is no definition in state law and there are scores of local definitions. The bill will assist both California commercial generators and local governments in clarifying what is meant

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2) Meeting the state’s recycling goals . CalRecycle is tasked with diverting at least 75% of solid waste statewide by 2020. Organic materials make up one-third of the waste stream and food continues to be the greatest single item disposed, making up over 15% of materials landfilled. CalRecycle is also charged with implementing its Strategic Directive 6.1, which calls for reducing organic waste disposal by 50% by 2020. According to CalRecycle, significant gains in organic waste diversion are necessary to meet the 75% goal and implement Strategic Directive 6.1. Recycling technologies for organic waste include composting, anaerobic digestion, and other types of processing that generate renewable fuels, energy, soil amendments, and mulch.
Compost and other soil amendments that can be produced from organic materials have been shown to improve soil health by incorporating organic matter, beneficial micro-organisms, and nutrients and reduce the need for chemical pesticides and fertilizers. These products also conserve water by allowing water to penetrate the soil more quickly decreasing runoff.
3) Waste reduction and GHGs . According to ARB, a total reduction of 80 million metric tons
(MMT), or 16% compared to business as usual, is necessary to reduce statewide GHG emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. ARB intends to achieve approximately 78% of the reductions through direct regulations. ARB proposes to achieve the balance of reductions necessary to meet the 2020 limit (approximately 18 MMT) through its cap-and-trade program.
Recycling organic waste provides significant GHG reductions over landfilling. Composting and other organics processing technologies, including anaerobic digestion, reduce GHGs by avoiding the emissions that would be generated by the material’s decomposition in a landfill.
Landfill gas is generated by the decomposition of organic materials such as food, paper, wood, and yard waste. Fifty percent of landfill gas is methane, a GHG that is 21 times more efficient at trapping heat than carbon dioxide. While most modern landfills have systems in place to capture methane, significant amounts continue to escape into the atmosphere.
According to ARB’s GHG inventory, approximately 7 million tons of CO2 equivalent are released annually by landfills. That number is expected to increase to 8.5 million tons of
CO2 equivalent by 2020.
4) Suggested amendment . The committee may wish to amend the definition of food waste to exclude agricultural materials that are not part of the solid waste stream and to clarify the types of materials that are "food" by making the following changes:
(c) “Food-soiled paper” includes , but is not limited to, food soiled napkins, towels, egg cartons, pizza boxes, waxed cardboard or paper food and beverage containers, wrappers, paper bags and coffee filters, tea bags, uncoated plates, and cups that do not have a plastic coating .
(d) “Food waste” means discarded putrescible solid, semisolid, and liquid food, including, but not limited to, fruit, vegetables, legumes, cheese, meat, bones, poultry, seafood, bread, rice, pasta, and oils, coffee filters and tea bags; cut flowers and herbs, and any other putrescible matter produced from human or animal food production, and preparation, and consumption activities. Food waste includes food-soiled paper. Food waste does not include any material

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REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Amador Valley Industries
America California Bank
Atlas Disposal Industries
BMS Technologies
Bay Counties SMaRT
Burrtec Waste Industries
CR&R Environmental Services
California Refuse Recycling Council
California Waste Recovery Systems
Consolidated Fabricators
Davis Waste Removal
Desert Valley Disposal
EDCO Waste and Recycling
East Bay Sanitary
Fremont Recycling and Transfer Station
Garaventa Enterprises
Garden City Sanitation
Gilton Solid Waste Management
Green Hasson Janks
MarBorg Industries
Marin Sanitary Service
McConnell, Manit, and Trout Insurance Services
Mid Valley Disposal
Mission Trail Waste Systems
Napa Recycling and Waste Services
Northern Recycling and Waste Services
Olympic Wire and Equipment
Palm Springs Disposal Services
Pena's Disposal
Peninsula Sanitary Service
Pleasanton Garbage Service
Quackenbush Compost
RJ Proto Consulting Group
Rose, Andrew S., Attorney
South San Francisco Scavenger
Snider Leasing
Solid Waste Insurance Managers
South Lake Refuse and Recycling
Southern California Disposal and Recycling
Specialty Solid Waste and Recycling
Tracy Delta Solid Waste Management

Tracy Material Recovery
TruStar Energy
Turlock Scavenger
Upper Valley Disposal and Recycling
Varner Brothers
Waste Connections
Westhoff, Cone, and Holmstedt
Zanker Recycling
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Elizabeth MacMillan / NAT. RES. / (916) 319-2092
AB 1103
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