I have been unsuccessful in the past in making contact with the commercial sector. Are there any recommendations for making contact with businesses?

Direct Contact

Direct contact with the business community will ensure that the businesses are informed of the requirement to recycle. CalRecycle encourages jurisdictions to include information about the state requirement to recycle as part of any of the activities where the jurisdiction, hauler(s), and/or community organizations make direct contact with businesses.

Examples of direct contact include:

  • Having the hauler talk to the business
  • Presenting at business forums, such as the Chamber of Commerce
  • Providing technical assistance through waste assessments to explain the state requirement and how businesses can recycle in the jurisdiction

Community Group Interaction

Always provide a contact person that businesses can call to ask follow‐up questions. Community groups such as Heal the Bay and others may be able to assist with making direct contact with businesses. Community groups frequently engage in outreach to small businesses. They might be able to contact businesses in a particular area and meet one on one with businesses to explain how they can recycle in the community and inform the businesses of the state requirement to recycle.

Haulers

The jurisdiction’s hauler or haulers may already contact businesses directly through their sales staff or staff that conduct waste assessments for businesses. The hauler can also assist to inform the businesses that are not currently recycling about the state requirement to recycle and explain how they can recycle. The hauler can then report back to the jurisdiction on those businesses that are not currently recycling. In some jurisdictions the hauler may already be providing this type of information to the jurisdiction.

Communicate with Existing Businesses

Another approach is to determine if the jurisdiction’s staff may already be working with businesses and can provide information to businesses on the state requirement to recycle. For example, some communities may utilize their health and/or building inspectors to inform businesses as they are working with them on inspecting an establishment, or the local recycling coordinator may conduct waste assessments and can include information about the state requirement to recycle.

Show All Answers

1. Will my city/county need to adopt a mandatory commercial recycling ordinance?
2. What are the jurisdiction’s requirements in terms of providing education, outreach, and monitoring to businesses?
3. Would a jurisdiction be able to phase in education, outreach, and monitoring efforts or do jurisdictions need to ensure that efforts to address all businesses in the jurisdiction are already in place?
4. If a jurisdiction opts to phase-in education, outreach and/or monitoring, what would be an acceptable timeline for the phase-in period?
5. Is there a rural exemption in the current regulatory language? What are the general provisions that may be or are available to rural jurisdictions under the proposed regulation?
6. Do we need to have a franchise agreement for recycling collection services to comply with the regulation?
7. Will existing franchises need to be amended to comply with this regulation?
8. Under the proposed regulation, would these businesses be required to subscribe to the recycling service?
9. My hauler has indicated that it will need a significant rate increase to comply with the regulation. What additional requirements will be placed on the hauler that would result in cost increases?
10. Will there be any financial assistance available to help offset the costs associated with implementing the regulations?
11. Is there anything in the regulatory language that includes a stipulation that the jurisdiction would be required to provide a curbside program?
12. We have found residential and commercial recycling programs can be incongruent. How or will the rule-making process address these issues?
13. Do we need to develop a specific type of program (e.g., commercial food waste collection, on-site recycling collection, construction and demolition debris recycling) to comply with the regulations?
14. Do the regulations change the provisions of transformation as provided for in Public Resources Code section 41783?
15. How does a jurisdiction determine the amount of solid waste a business generates? Is it what the business subscribes to (a four cubic yard solid waste bin), even if it only fills the bin half full?
16. How should a jurisdiction determine the businesses that are subject to the legislation and regulations?
17. Are there any exemptions for temporary waste generating activities, such as filming locations, special events, seasonal store sites, etc.?
18. Can you clarify what is meant by authorizing a local agency to charge and collect a fee from a commercial waste generator to recover the local agency’s costs incurred in complying with requirements?
19. Is a webpage with information about the mandatory commercial recycling requirement enough?
20. How frequently should outreach information be provided to businesses?
21. I have been unsuccessful in the past in making contact with the commercial sector. Are there any recommendations for making contact with businesses?
22. How should a jurisdiction handle businesses that are resistant in providing information on self-hauling and other recycling activities not provided by the jurisdiction’s franchised/permitted hauler?