BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó




                                                                  AB 900
                                                                  Page A
          Date of Hearing:   April 13, 2011

                           ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
                                Julia Brownley, Chair
                 AB 900 (Swanson) - As Introduced:  February 17, 2011
           
           ÝNote: This bill is double referred to the Assembly Natural 
          Resources Committee and will be heard as it relates to issues 
          under its jurisdiction.]
           
          SUBJECT  :  Public school campuses:  recycling and composting bins

           SUMMARY  :   Requires, on and after January 1, 2012, school 
          districts to maintain recycling and composting bins on the 
          campus of each public elementary and secondary school in the 
          state.  Requires school districts to determine the number of 
          bins to be located on a campus based on the size of the pupil 
          population and the surface area of that campus.

           EXISTING LAW  :

          1)Expresses the intent of the Legislature to accomplish all of 
            the following:

             a)   Every school district and schoolsite in this state will 
               be encouraged to implement source reduction, recycling, and 
               composting programs that would do all of the following:

               i)     Reduce waste and conserve resources.
               ii)    Provide pupils with a "hands-on" learning 
                 experience.
               iii)   Minimize the expenditure of taxpayer and education 
                 dollars on solid waste collection and disposal.

             b)   School districts and individual schoolsites will 
               cooperate with cities and counties in developing plans and 
               programs to meet and exceed the state's 50% waste reduction 
               and recycling mandate.

             c)   To the maximum extent feasible, school districts and 
               schools will utilize products and supplies made from 
               recycled materials.

          2)Finds and declares that it is the policy of the state to 
            conserve and protect its resources, to increase the public's 









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            awareness of the value of recycling and the need to recycle, 
            and to improve environmental quality by the recycling of paper 
            products.

          3)Establishes the paper recycling program and authorizes and 
            encourages school districts and California State University 
            and Colleges to establish and maintain a paper recycling 
            program in all classrooms, administrative offices, and other 
            areas owned or leased by the school district or college campus 
            where a significant quantity of wastepaper is generated or may 
            be collected.  

          4)Encourages local educational agencies to purchase recycled 
            paper if the supplier of recycled paper offers the paper at a 
            cost which does not exceed by more than 5% the lowest offer of 
            nonrecycled paper of comparable quality.

          5)Under the California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989, 
            requires the California Integrated Waste Management Board 
            (CIWMB) to do the following:  

             a)   Develop models and school waste reduction tools that may 
               be used by schools to implement waste reduction programs.

             b)    Provide training and ongoing technical assistance to 
               schools in implementing waste reduction programs.

             c)   Evaluate implementation of school waste reduction and 
               recycling programs (Public Resources Code 42630 et seq.).

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  Unknown

           COMMENTS  :  According to the California Statewide Waste 
          Characterization Study (December, 1999), education, as an 
          industry, produces 763,917 tons of waste per year, comprised 
          predominantly of organic materials (food, leaves and grass) and 
          paper products.  School waste reduction programs can have 
          economic, environmental and educational benefits.  

          Current law expresses the intent of the Legislature that schools 
          contribute to the efforts to assist local governmental entities 
          in reducing waste reduction and meeting recycling mandates.  
          Current law specifically encourages school districts to maintain 
          recycling programs and specifically, a paper recycling program 
          in all classrooms, administrative offices, and other school 









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          district property.  School districts are also encouraged to 
          purchase recycled paper and eliminate the purchase of paper and 
          paper products that could be potential contaminants of the 
          district's recycling program.  Pursuant to statutory 
          requirements, the California's Department of Resources Recycling 
          and Recovery (CalRecycle) (formerly the CIWMB) maintains on its 
          Web site information on school waste reduction and offers 
          resources and information on how school districts can initiate a 
          wide range of waste reduction and recycling efforts, including 
          environmentally friendly purchasing policies, paper reduction, 
          food disposal, textbook recycling, beverage container recycling, 
          and green school facilities.<1>  

          In 2003, the CIWMB, pursuant to the School Diversion and 
          Environmental Education Law<2>, conducted a survey of school 
          districts to assess their level of efforts in implementing waste 
          reduction programs.  Forty-two percent of school districts 
          responded to the survey, representing 55% of all schools.  The 
          survey found that "92% of districts appear to be participating 
          in some level of recycling programs.  Of the districts that 
          reported participating in recycling activities, the most 
          commonly recycled materials include:  aluminum cans, white 
          paper, and cardboard.  Based upon survey results, implementation 
          of a formalized district-wide recycling program appears to 
          relate to school district size.  A greater percentage of larger 
          school districts reported having the district coordinate 
          district-wide recycling activities as well as having a service 
          contract for collection of recyclables than reported by smaller 
          districts."  The survey also indicated that 44% of school 
          districts had some type of composting program, with the most 
          common type of composting material being grass clippings, 
          landscape trimmings and garden trimmings.    

          This bill requires school districts to provide all elementary 
          and secondary schoolsites with recycling and composting bins.  
          The bill, however, does not specify the type(s) of recycling or 
          composting bins required to be placed on each schoolsite.  

           Recycling  :  Maintaining recycling programs entails more than 
          just obtaining bins.  Depending on the type of recycling (paper, 
          ---------------------------
          <1> As part of the fiscal year 2009-10 budget, SB 63 (T. 
          Strickland), Chapter 21, Statutes of 2009, eliminated the CIWMB 
          and transferred its duties and responsibilities to the newly 
          recreated CalRecycle.  
          <2> SB 373 (Torlakson), Chapter 926, Statutes of 2001.








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          beverage containers, glass, plastic, aluminum, etc.), school 
          districts will have to arrange for collection of the recycled 
          materials with various types of collection agencies.  A related 
          prior bill, SB 1321 (Correa), introduced in 2008, would have 
          required a school district, only to the extent that it does not 
          incur costs, to consult with a local Community Conservation 
          Corps or another recycler to provide and maintain a sufficient 
          number of beverage container recycling bins at each school site 
          and district office.  The bill was held in the Assembly 
          Appropriations Committee suspense file.  In order to help school 
          districts understand the intention of this bill, the author 
          should consider specifying the type or types of recycling 
          districts are required to maintain.     

           Composting  :  Composting is the process through which organic 
          materials such as leaves, grass and food scraps are decomposed 
          into soil-like material.  There are a variety of composting 
          systems.  According to the CalRecyle, food scraps composting is 
          different than other types of composting. "Food scraps can be 
          heavier and contain more putrescible material than yard 
          trimmings and must be handled appropriately.  To avoid odor or 
          health and safety concerns, it should be collected and composted 
          in a timely and efficient manner.  A frequent collection 
          schedule must be followed."  It is also important to ensure that 
          nonacceptable food scraps such as meat waste, fish waste, and 
          dairy products are kept out of composting bins.  These type of 
          food waste breakdown slowly and create an imbalance in the 
          otherwise nutrient-rich structure of other food and vegetation.  
          The challenges for schools in maintaining a composting program 
          include locating the space that is required to compost material 
          or locating service providers for regular collection.  The city 
          of San Francisco has a mandatory composting law and provides 
          composting bins free to city residents.  The garbage collection 
          company collects composting material on a weekly basis and 
          transfers the material to food scrap compost facilities to 
          convert into compost.  According to the CalRecycle, only nine of 
          California's 58 counties have authorized facilities to accept 
          food scraps, although some of those companies may provide 
          service to neighboring counties.  Food scrap composting can also 
          be incorporated into a school garden program; however, not all 
          schools have gardens, especially urban schools where land is 
          scarce.  The following is an example of a successful composting 
          program utilizing school gardens:

          In 2000, the CIWMB conducted a pilot food scrap diversion 









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          program and awarded up to $50,000 in grant funds to various 
          public entities.  The Davis Joint Unified School District 
          received one of the grants and implemented food waste diversion 
          projects at three elementary schools.  Two schools reduced their 
          total waste by 40%.  The program combined composting and 
          vermicomposting (composting using worms) systems with the school 
          garden program to integrate composting with the education 
          program.  The District has since entered into a local 
          partnership called DavisRISE (Recycling is Simply Elementary) 
          that includes the City of Davis, Davis Farmers Market, 
          environmental consulting groups, and others that support 
          recycling efforts in Davis schools.  The District has maintained 
          and expanded the composting program to 10 of the 12 schools in 
          the Davis Joint Unified School District with the assistance of 
          DavisRISE.   With funds saved from waste diversion efforts, the 
          District is able pay for DavisRISE coordinators to be placed at 
          every schoolsite to oversee the lunch-time waste diversion 
          efforts.  The RISE coordinator or student volunteers would 
          collect the food scraps at lunch and deposit them in the compost 
          pile.  The garden coordinator then tends to the pile, using 
          students to help add layers and turn the pile.  Some schools 
          also utilize vermicomposting.  

          This example and programs at other schools indicate that having 
          coordinators to lead recycling efforts contributes to the 
          success of a program.  It is not known how many districts have 
          recycling coordinators and whether those that do not will have 
          capacity to hire one.  

          While recycling is certainly important, CalRecycle also 
          emphasizes reducing and reusing as important components in waste 
          management efforts.  This may include using reusable utensils 
          instead of plastic utensils, serving only the amount of food 
          students will consume, using recyclable products, and using both 
          sides of papers.  

           Committee amendments  :  Because composting may be a challenge for 
          schools that do not have school gardens or collection facilities 
          in their geographical areas,  staff recommends  requiring 
          districts to maintain composting only to the extent feasible.  

          The bill currently requires implementation on January 1, 2012, 
          the date the bill would take effect if it is signed into law 
          this year.   Staff recommends  moving the implementation date to 
          the beginning of the 2012-13 school year to provide districts 









                                                                  AB 900
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          time for planning and implementation. 

           Arguments in Support  .  The author states, "By requiring 
          recycling and composting bins to be made available at each 
          public elementary and secondary school in the state, our state 
          will benefit from the reused materials and our planet's over 
          extended landfills will not be further compromised."  This bill 
          is a result of a "There Ought to be A Law" contest held by 
          Assemblymember Swanson.  This proposal came from a student from 
          Piedmont High School.  

           Prior Related Legislation  .  ACR 128 (Emmerson), Resolution 
          Chapter 48, Statutes of 2010, encourages school districts to 
          engage in recycling programs and to promote awareness of 
          available state resources for this purpose.  

          AB 747 (Emmerson), introduced in 2009, authorizes and encourages 
          school districts and California State University and Colleges to 
          establish and maintain a beverage container recycling program in 
          all classrooms, administrative offices, and other areas owned or 
          leased by the school district or college campus where a 
          significant quantity of beverage containers is generated or may 
          be collected.  The bill was held in the Senate Rules Committee.

          SB 497 (Correa), held in the Senate Appropriations Committee 
          suspense file in 2009, requires school districts to maintain a 
          sufficient number of beverage container recycling bins at each 
          campus and public office of the district, but only to the extent 
          that the district incurs no costs.

          SB 1321 (Correa), which was held in the Assembly Appropriations 
          Suspense file in 2008, requires a school district, only to the 
          extent that it does not incur costs, to consult with a local 
          Community Conservation Corps or another recycler to provide and 
          maintain a sufficient number of beverage container recycling 
          bins at each school site and district office.

           REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :   

           Support 
          
          Californians Against Waste

           Opposition 
           









                                                                  AB 900
                                                                  Page G
          None on file
           
          Analysis Prepared by  :    Sophia Kwong Kim / ED. / (916) 319-2087