The Waste Stream is Changing
Most of the companies who design and sell the products you buy aren’t paying to recycle them and actually design their products for disposal. State disposal bans do nothing to reduce the toxicity or total volume of waste. Local recycling strategies are not enough to reduce the tons of waste disposed in California annually. California local governments spend over $100,000,000 a year collecting and properly managing household hazardous products alone. It’s time to change that.
 Hundreds of products make our lives easier... until we don’t need them anymore. Then, if they’re not disposed of responsibly, the acids, mercury and other heavy metals they contain become a danger to our health and the environment.
A century ago, when local governments assumed responsibility for solid waste, it
consisted mostly of coal ash left over from heating and cooking. The rest was
mainly food, with a small amount of simple manufactured products like paper and
glass. Today, manufactured products and associated packaging make up 75% of
what we throw away.
Local Governments Can't Afford to Comply with California Waste Bans
As more and more products are being deemed "hazardous" the state's response is to ban them from disposal. Products banned from disposal include arsenic-treated lumber, hypodermic needles, and universal  waste. Universal wastes are products that are so universally used, like batteries and fluorescent lamps, that they have their own category. These universal wastes were banned from disposal in the normal household trash as of February 8, 2006. Treated lumber was banned in January 2007, and needles and other “sharps” will be banned in September 2008. Pharmaceuticals are expected to be added soon.
Unfortunately, the state-mandated bans must be enforced by local governments.
And they don’t have the money to do it.
It’s the classic unfunded mandate—a government directive without the resources to enforce it. The intentions were good, but the responsibility is misplaced onto local governments.
Production Disconnected from Disposal
We currently operate under two completely separate and disconnected system: one system designs, manufactures and sells products to us and then effectively rides off into the sunset.
Once the consumer is done with those products, the other system is engaged when local governments — and their taxpayers — become financially responsible for managing the disposal of these private goods, many of which are toxic and disposable by design.
These two systems don’t communicate with each other. Local governments don’t have any input into how toxic or durable the products are, and manufacturers don’t have to design creative and safe ways to dispose of them at the end of their useful life.
Products in Stormwater & Wastewater
Areas where
stormwater connects with EPR, and where stormwater agencies have been or will likely be pushing for what we call “true source control” (i.e., addressing the source of the water pollution problem as far upstream as possible) are:
- Active ingredients in pesticides – Stormwater agencies have done and will continue to do a lot on this through USEPA and DPR
- Copper in brake pads – Stormwater agencies are doing something about this through the Brake Pad Partnership with friction material companies
- Mercury in bulbs and switches – Newer concern for stormwater agencies and limited by where we have TMDLs in the state for mercury, which is Bay Area and greater Sacto / Delta area
- PCBs in products – There may be some remaining product-based sources that we will worry about; concern limited by where there are TMDLs in the state for PCBs, which is mostly or maybe only in Bay Area
- Marine debris / trash / litter – Concern about this is reaching critical point across the state, especially in coastal area and even more so in places with heavily used beaches (i.e., southern California)
- Pharmaceuticals - A recent study by the U.S. Geological Survey found pharmaceuticals in 80% of the streams they tested. Half the streams had seven or more drugs.
What's the Solution?
Producer responsibility. Read about Extended Producer Responsibility and what you can do to help.
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