Fifty Percent or Bust

The city of San Diego is developing a program to help construction and demolition companies voluntarily recycle debris from work sites, according to a report in the San Diego Union-Tribune.

City officials have been working with the local building industry to develop the voluntary program for months in response to pressure from the state to decrease the amount of material diverted to landfills, according to the paper.

The Union-Tribune reports that excess C&D material has tripled in the last decade, making up 35 percent of the one city-run landfill.

State regulations established 15 years ago required cities to recycle 50 percent of their excess material by 2000¾a mark San Diego still fell short of in 2002, despite a two-year extension, according to the paper.

The Union-Tribune reports that if San Diego cannot meet state requirements, it faces up to $10,000 of fines per day.

The city has approached many groups about changing the amount of C&D material they send to landfills, including branches of the U.S. military. The Navy has been one of the city’s success stories, according to the paper. It now requires building and demolition crews to file a waste management plan before work begins, requiring companies to consider recycling before the project starts, Leslie McLaughlin, an integrated solid waste program manager for the Navy Region Southwest, tells the Union-Tribune.