Palo Alto is developing the ordinance specifics through a process that uses data from communities that have enacted such ordinances combined with public meetings and community discussion for brainstorming and vetting ideas. This site will be updated with details from each step of the process.

WHAT’S HAPPENING NOW?

Update 5/11/10
The Policy and Services Committee has recommended that staff continue to develop for Council consideration an ordinance restricting the placement of recyclables and compostables in the garbage, with a phased implementation plan for the commercial and residential sectors. View the City Manager's Report to Council discussing the Recycling and Composting Ordinance's development.

Update 3/23/10
The Recycling and Composting Ordinance survey is now over. Thank you to everyone who participated. Staff is currenlty compiling the findings from both the survey and the second round of public meetings and determing next steps.

Update 3/16/10
This FAQ document  addresses the common questions from the recent community meetings.  

Update 3/9/10
Help create the new Recycling and Composting Ordinance. Please take a few minutes to complete this survey regarding the proposed ordinance elements. Results will help to further refine the ordinance elements and create the draft ordinance. Before taking the survey, please review the white paper and presentation.

Update 3/8/10
View the Recycling and Composting Ordinance presentation or the more detailed white paper. They describe the proposed elements for the ordinance and were derived from the ideas generated at the four community meetings held in late January and early February combined with research on similar ordinances from other cities.

Update 2/25/10
Public Meetings March 4-9
Attend the 2nd round of public meetings to review the ordinance outline.  Learn how the outline reflects the feedback received by the City from the first round of public meetings in late January and early February and how it incorporates best practices learned from other jurisdictions. Participants will also be able to discuss the outline details and give their feedback.

The meetings have been separated into two categories, residential and commercial, to be able to address the differing needs and concerns of these segments of our community:

Commercial Meetings
Thursday, March 4
2:30 – 4 p.m.
Wilson Sonsini
650 Page Mill Rd., Palo Alto

Tuesday, March 9
9 – 10:30 a.m. .
City Hall, Council Conference Room
250 Hamilton Ave., Palo Alto

Residential Meeting
Saturday, March 6
10 - 11:30 a.m.
Lucie Stern, Ballroom
1305 Middlefield Rd., Palo Alto

Tuesday, March 9
7 - 8:30 p.m
Lucie Stern, Community Room
1305 Middlefield Rd., Palo Alto


Update 2/23/10
The first round of public meetings is over and staff has compiled the findings. Click here for a list of the ideas generated at the meetings.




ORDINANCE CREATION PROCESS

Timeline
Date	Item
Jan 27 – Feb 6	1st round of public meetings
Early Feb	Compile results
End of Feb	Complete white paper on ordinance and ordinance outline
March 4 - 9	2nd round of public meetings
March 8 - 22	Online survey on ordinance outline
Spring	Continue development process - gather additional feedback
	Draft the ordinance
	Take ordinance to Council

1st Round of Public Meetings
The first round of public meetings were held in late January and early February targeting both the business and residential community.

Staff has compiled the results from the first public meetings. They are posted above.

White Paper on Ordinance
The next step in the ordinance creation process is to create a white paper incorporating the compiled meeting data, information from communities that have such ordinances and best practices gathered from other City work groups. From the white paper, an ordinance outline will be created. 

The white paper and ordinance outline will be posted here when they are ready.

2nd Round of Public Meetings and Online Survey
The second round of public meetings and an online survey will be held in early March. The meetings will discuss the ordinance outline, how it reflects the feedback from the previous public meetings and how it incorporates the best practices and lessons learned from other jurisdictions and City staff. Participants will be able to give feedback on the ordinance outline at the meetings and in the online survey.

Draft Ordinance
The next step is to write an ordinance that reflects the feedback from the public meetings and online survey. The draft ordinance will then go through the City review process. It is tentatively scheduled to go to Council in early May.

BACKGROUND
Palo Alto has been recycling for over 38 years and has achieved 62 percent diversion of waste from landfills. This is an excellent start. However, Palo Alto has only another 12 years to reach our Zero Waste goal and we need to reduce our waste by an additional 37 percent to get there. 

In 2007, Palo Alto conducted an inventory of its greenhouse gas emissions and set goals to reduce them. The inventory indicates that the emissions from our waste stream are not only significant as currently reported, but also that they are undoubtedly larger than stated due to lack of information for many products, materials and processes.  

Palo Alto Community Goals:

• Zero Waste (no waste to landfills) by 2021
• 15% reduction of community greenhouse gas emissions by 2020

Both Zero Waste and Climate Protection are long term goals based on changing many of our basic behaviors, lifestyles and social systems. These changes will take time, effort and resources. However, we can take a significant step toward our goals today by simply maximizing our use of our current recycling and composting programs. Approximately 43 percent of what we throw away in the 'garbage' is actually recyclable and an additional 29 percent is compostable. By simply placing items in the appropriate container, we can further our goals without a significant outlay of resources. To address this, the City is creating a new Recycling and Composting ordinance to restrict recyclables and compostables from the garbage.

The ordinance is tentatively scheduled to go before City Council in late April or May and go into effect July 1, 2010. Meant to be more of an educational tool than a punitive measure, the ordinance will initially focus on outreach and education to the community about the new requirements, aimed at helping create new systems, processes and behaviors to keep recyclables and compostables out of the garbage. The ordinance will apply to the whole community, recognizing that different services are currently offered to the residential and commercial sectors.

The Palo Alto community is invited to attend public meetings to develop the specifics of the new ordinance. The meetings have been separated into two categories, residential and commercial, to be able to address the different needs and concerns of each of these segments of our community. 

Additional community input will be gathered throughout the spring through an online survey, follow-up meetings, or by contacting the Zero Waste Program at (650) 496-5910.