Recycling

EDCO’s Bundled Collection Service

Commercial customers will subscribe to a bundled collection service which will include trash, recycling, and organics collection all under one collective rate.

EDCO will provide each commercial customer with one 96-gallon recycling cart for weekly collection of commingled recycling as a minimum service level. Additional commercial recycling collection service can be provided for an additional cost in variable size recycling carts and/or dumpsters, with the volume, collection frequency, and container type based on the individual needs of the business.

EDCO offers recycling programs that allow your employees and/or tenants to collect a variety of recyclable materials. To ensure program success, your EDCO representative can provide bilingual educational materials to support your program.

To get your recycling program going, we will:

• Evaluate the benefits and costs of a recycling program in your complex.
• Develop a recycling collection program to include: outside BLUE recycling containers and on-site recycling presentations.
• Once the program is in place, start recycling!

Commercial Recycling Can Save You Money!

EDCO’s recycling program makes doing the environmentally responsible thing easy and can likely reduce your waste disposal costs. How? If you implement a recycling program, your business may reduce the amount you currently pay for trash collection.

By recycling, commercial customers can divert recyclable materials into separate, lower cost containers and can potentially help reduce waste collection service and fees. A business with multiple weekly trash collection can typically save money by replacing more expensive trash containers with a lower cost recycling program. For example, if your business has two 3-cubic yard bins for waste serviced once a week, by adding a 3-cubic yard recycling bin to your service, you may be able to reduce your waste service to one 3-cubic yard bin once a week.

Here’s What You Can Recycle

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Please DO NOT recycle:

• Paper Plates
• Paper Cups
• Paper Towels
• Plastic Bags
• Ceramics
• Drinking Glasses
• Mirrors

• Tissue
• Carbon Paper
• Plastic Bags (NO plastic grocery sacks or newspaper delivery bags)
• Disposable Cups/Plates
• PVC Pipe
• Vinyl Siding
• Styrofoam Packing Peanuts

How much paper and cardboard is your business tossing into its trash container?

An average office worker can dispose of 1/2 pound of waste paper each day. Use the following equation to see how much paper you could be recycling:

___ number of employees x 0.5 lbs. of paper per day x 240 working days ÷ 2000

= ___ tons of paper your company discards annually

 

AB 827 – California’s Commercial Recycling and Organics (Green Waste) Container Mandate

Effective July 1, 2020, MCR and MORe covered businesses must provide organics and recycling containers for customers to collect waste generated from products purchased and consumed on the premises (AB 827, McCarty). These containers must be placed adjacent to trash and be visible, easily accessible, and clearly marked.

AB 827 requirements were added to existing AB 341 and AB 1826 requirements. The new law, passed in 2019, builds off existing requirements under these two laws.

• This law targets businesses that sell products meant for immediate consumption.
• Full-service restaurants do not have to provide properly labeled containers for patrons, but must provide properly labeled containers next to trash containers for employees to separate recyclables and organics for customers.

AB 1826 – California’s New Commercial and Multi-Family Organics (Green Waste) Recycling Mandate

In October of 2014 California adopted Assembly Bill 1826, requiring all businesses to recycle their organic waste beginning April 1, 2016. The phase-in of this mandate helps California to achieve its overall waste diversion (75% by 2020) and greenhouse gas emission reduction goals.

Requirements for Businesses: Businesses, including public entities, that generate organic waste (food or green waste) are required to arrange for organic waste recycling services. See Implementation Dates below.

Business Organic Waste Includes:

• Food, including but not limited to: fruit, vegetables, cheese, meat, bones, poultry, seafood, bread, rice, and pasta; coffee filters, tea bags, cut flowers and herbs.
• Green Waste, including but not limited to: grass clippings, brush, weeds, hedge trimmings, leaves, palm fronds, ice plant, ivy and nonhazardous wood, like branches, untreated wood and clean wood waste.
• Compostable Paper, including but not limited to: uncoated paper that is soiled with liquid or solid food waste, like napkins, paper towels and tissues, paper plates, and paper cups.

Requirements for Multi-family Properties: Multi-family properties of 5 units or more are required to arrange for organic waste recycling services.

Multi-family Organic Waste Includes:

• Green Waste, including but not limited to: grass clippings, brush, weeds, hedge trimmings, leaves, palm fronds, ice plant, ivy and nonhazardous wood, like branches, untreated wood and clean wood waste.

Implementation Dates:

April 1, 2016, Businesses generating 8 cubic yards per week of organics and multi-family properties of 5 units or more shall arrange for organics recycling service.

January 1, 2017, Businesses generating 4 cubic yards per week of organics shall arrange for organics recycling service.

January 1, 2019, Businesses generating 4 cubic yards of commercial solid waste shall arrange for organics recycling service.

Assembly Bill (AB) 1826 requires all businesses, public entities, and multifamily dwellings with five (5) units or more, that generate four (4) cubic yards of commercial solid waste per week, to arrange for organics recycling service. The definition of commercial solid waste was further clarified through AB 1398 and includes the total amount of trash, recycling, and organics generated on a weekly basis.

EDCO can conduct free on-site visits to help businesses and multifamily properties comply with the state’s new mandatory recycling requirements. Contact our Customer Service office by phone or submit a fast and easy online request to arrange for organic waste recycling services.

Currently in San Diego County, there is adequate capacity for recycling landscape and clean wood; however, the infrastructure needed to meet the demand for diverting all food waste is still under development. Therefore, we will be working closely with food waste generating customers through the following tiered approach:

• Prevention of Food Waste: First and foremost this helps your business improve your bottom line.
• Donation of Edible Food: Nearly one in seven San Diego County residents (approximately 500,000 people annually) do not know where their next meal is coming from. Regionally, almost 500,000 tons of food waste is sent to the landfill. EDI can assist you in setting up systems to donate food to help end hunger throughout San Diego County.
• Collection of Non-Edible Food: After all possible means of food waste prevention and donation of edible food have been pursued, remaining food waste material will be collected for recycling.

Food Waste Prevention

CLICK HERE for tips on food waste diversion.

In the United States alone, a shockingly 40% of food is uneaten, wasted and thrown out. This results in an unfortunate misuse of resources needed to grow, process and transport food while wasting money and accelerating climate changes. We as consumers are the largest producers of food waste, believe it or not, exceeding the grocery stores and restaurants combined! So, the smallest changes we make add up and make a huge difference. Preventing food waste in the first place typically offers the most significant financial and environmental benefits. Below are some food waste prevention tips from Save The Food:

• Shop wisely: Plan your meals for the week in advance. Shop with a list. Stick to the list and avoid impulse buys.
• Proper portions: Don’t buy or serve more than you need.
• Love your leftovers: While you’re planning your meals, prepare for nights when you’re likely to go out to eat and when you might have leftovers from earlier meals. Get creative to give leftovers another life. They are the start of a casserole or soup the day after.
• Freeze it: Frozen food will keep longer. Almost anything can be frozen! But portion out, label and date your food so that it’s easy to serve later.
• Shop your kitchen before the store: Check the fridge, freezer, and pantry for items that need to get used up before you splurge on new things.
• Don’t fall for date labels: Food doesn’t immediately spoil as soon as the date on the package has passed. Sell-by, use-by, and best-by dates are generally manufacturers’ suggestions for when an item is likely to be at its peak quality.
• Spread the word: Engage friends, family, community, and businesses in food-saving practices. Share your favorite tips with your friends and family. Encourage your local restaurants and grocery stores to avoid excessive portions and package sizes, and tell them it is ok if they run out of an item at the end of the day (so that they can avoid over-purchasing). Teach kids to value food and not to waste it.

AB 341 and the County of San Diego Solid Waste Ordinance

AB 341 and the County of San Diego Solid Waste Ordinance require that businesses and public entities that have trash service levels of four cubic yards or greater, or multi-family units with four or more units, shall arrange for recycling service. Hospitality businesses (those that sell food or drinks, either to-go or to be consumed on premises) are required to recycle regardless of the service level.

You may also donate or sell your recyclable material, however, if you do not use a county-approved franchise hauler for recycling service, you must provide the County with proof that you are participating in a recycling program. Please contact the County’s Recycling Section at (858) 694-2463 for details. County of San Diego Solid Waste Ordinance (Section 68.571) requires that residents and businesses shall only place designated recyclables in a recycling container and keep them separate from trash.

Global Recycling Crisis Puts Greater Focus on Recycling Contamination

Over the past year, there have been global concerns over recyclable material quality and these expectations are not going away.

Nearly 60% of recyclable materials generated in California are currently exported to China and other Asian markets. As a result, processing mills throughout the country and the world are demanding recycling facilities ship only recyclables with less than one percent contamination which is a significant change in material requirement standards. A minimal amount of contamination such as garbage, green waste or other debris can ruin a complete load of recyclable material. Quality of recyclable material can impact your costs should contamination require recycling being dumped as trash.

Please help us prevent and reduce contamination of recyclable material by reviewing the guidelines above and seeing what materials are accepted in our residential recycling program.