Plastic Packaging Ordinance--St. Paul, Minnesota; 1990 
Prohibits the use of some environmentally detrimental packaging materials by retail food and drink establishments. 

Prevention of Waste in County Government--Kitsap County, Washington; 1999
An ordinance to decrease waste in Kitsap County government operations by promoting the efficient use of resources, replacing toxic products with less toxic alternatives, the purchasing of environmentally-preferred products, and establishing recycling as the preferred solid waste management practice for all County operations.

Recycled Products Procurement--San Diego, California; 1992 
Mandates preferential purchasing procedures for recycled materials in city offices. 

Federal Biobased Products Preferred Procurement Program--2002
The Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 provided for development of a preferred procurement program for biobased products under which federal agencies are required to purchase biobased products.

Executive Order 13101: Greening the Government Through Waste Prevention, Recycling and Federal Acquisition--1998
This executive order is designed to improve the Federal Government's use of recycled products and environmentally preferable products and services.

City Recycling Ordinance--Phoenix, Arizona; 1992 
Mandates preferential purchasing procedures for recycled products and encourages procedures designed to reduce waste in city offices. 

Ban on Disposal of Recyclables--Durham, North Carolina; 1997
An ordinance which makes it unlawful for residents, businesses and industries to throw away steel cans, aluminum cans, glass bottles and jars, newspaper, and corrugated cardboard. They must be reused or recycled, instead.

Commercial and Multi-Family Recycling Ordinance--Austin, Texas
The City of Austin requires that all businesses with 100 employees or more and multi-family properties with 100 units or more must provide on-site recycling services.

Mandatory Recycling Ordinance--Cambridge, Massachusetts; 1991
This ordinance requires owners or occupants of all buildings in the city to separate all designated recyclable materials from other refuse.

Operation Separation-- Onondaga County, New York; 1990
This program, operated by the Onondaga County Resource Recovery Agency, mandates recycling of plastic, metal, glass and gable-top containers, corrugated cardboard, paper and paperboard. The program has reduced community trash generation by more than 67%.

Sample C&D Waste Diversion Documents--California
The California Integrated Waste Management Board provides sample documents (ordinances, contract language, and permit conditions) and links to programs used by California cities or counties to encourage the diversion of C&D materials from landfills.

Construction Site Solid Waste and Recycling Collection--Portland, Oregon; 1996 
Mandates recycling of construction site waste for any building project with a total job cost over $25,000 as well as requiring recycling programs for businesses and multifamily dwellings. 

Construction and Demolition Debris Model Ordinance--Alameda County, California; 1999
This model city ordinance addresses the diversion of construction and demolition debris from landfills as part of a strategy to comply with the California Waste Management Act of 1989, which requiree that each local jurisdiction in the state divert 50% of discarded materials.

Model Recycling Ordinance--Passaic County, New Jersey; 1989
This model was developed to aid local officials comply with the 1987 New Jersey Statewide Mandatory Source Separation and Recycling Act. It requires source separation and recycling for glass, aluminum, newspaper, yard waste, cardboard and office paper.

Integrated Waste Management Program and Recycling Policy--San Jose, California; 1979 
Describes San Jose's programs to encourage sustainable uses of resources. 

Publications

State Recycling Laws Update
This monthly publication from Raymond Communications reports on recycling laws in all U.S. states, as well as tracking legislation in process. Issues covered include packaging mandates, green labeling, electronics recovery, ISO 14000, and an annual survey of state recycling managers.

Last updated: February 20, 2004

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