California City Approves C&D Ordinance

The City Council in Irvine, Calif., has approved an ordinance that encourages builders to recycle construction and demolition debris, according to a report in the Orange County Register (Santa Ana, Calif.).

The law includes a provision that allows the city to impound unauthorized waste bins at construction or demolition sites.

The city already requires builders of large projects to submit recycling plans, but the new ordinance includes means to verify that developers are following through on those plans, according to the report. Companies will have to pay a material diversion deposit to the city under the new ordinance that will be refunded after the project is complete, according to the report. At least 75 percent of concrete and asphalt and 50 percent of other C&D debris must be taken to material recovery facilities for a company to get its deposit back, according to the report.

Projects subject to the new regulations include those involving more than one residential unit; nonresidential structures 5,000 square feet or more and nonresidential properties that are 10,000 square feet or more.