RivCo Waste Wise Champion
Mission:
The Riverside County Waste Wise Champion Program hopes to achieve a cleaner environment by helping businesses integrate environmental responsibility into their operations in a manner that is sustainable as well as profitable and community driven. Sustainable business practices promote not only healthy environments, but also healthy communities.
Why Join?:
Environmental regulations and mandates in California are continuously changing, this sustainable plan is one step ahead of new laws while cutting costs and taking advantage of various benefits such as:
- Waste reduction strategies
- Attracting environmentally-conscious customers
- Improving efficiency of productions to cut costs
- Providing a safer environment to improve employee health and morale
- Free technical assistance from Riverside County Department of Waste Resources
- Free Sustainable Business marketing material as well as county-wide recognition
Who Can Join?:
Any business located within unincorporated Riverside County can be certified as a Riverside County Waste Wise Champion. Such businesses include, but are not limited to; office/retail, groceries/markets, restaurants, banks/financial institutions, hospitality, faith-based organizations, manufacturing/light industry/warehouse, nonprofits, and hospitals
Questions?:
Please direct all questions to wastecommunityoutreach@rivco.org and title the subject line “RivCo Waste Wise Champion.”
Resources:
Business Tiers
Resources for Businesses
MCR/MORe Compliance Form (English & Español)(Japanese )
Wasted Food - Food Waste Flyer (English)(Español)
CalRecycle Organics Recycling Guide for Business (English | Español)
Design Guidelines for Refuse & Recyclables Collection and Loading Areas
Regulations
Assembly Bill 341 (AB 341), commonly referred to as “The Mandatory Commercial Recycling Law”, set forth mandatory statewide commercial recycling requirements that became effective on July 1, 2012. This law requires businesses and multi-family residential dwellings (five or more units) to arrange for recycling services. Common mixed recyclables include, but are not limited to the following materials: plastic containers, cardboard products, paper products, metal products, glass, and other items.
A property owner of a commercial business or multi-family residential dwelling may require tenants to source separate their recyclable materials to aid in compliance with this section.
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Source separate recyclable and/or compostable material from solid waste they are discarding and either self-haul, subscribe to a recycling program through a waste hauler, and/or otherwise arrange for the pick-up of the recyclable and/or compostable materials separately from the solid waste to divert them from disposal.
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Subscribe to a service that includes mixed waste processing alone or in combination with other programs, activities or processes that divert recyclable and/or compostable materials from disposal, and yield diversion results comparable to source separation.
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Property owners of commercial or multi-family residential dwellings may require tenants to source separate their recyclable materials. Tenants must source separate their recyclable materials if required to by property owners of commercial or multi-family residential dwellings.
Organic wastes are recyclable through composting and mulching, and through anaerobic digestion, which can produce renewable energy. In an effort to achieve California's recycling and greenhouse gas emission goals, in 2016, the State began implementing AB 1826 Legislation (Mandatory Commercial Organics Recycling) in a tiered approach..
As of January 1, 2019, any business or multi-family residential dwellings of five units or more that generate four cubic yards or more of solid waste per week (total for trash, recycling and organics) must recycle their organic waste.
As of December 31, 2020, any business or multi-family residential dwellings of five units or more that generate two cubic yards or more of solid waste per week (total for trash, recycling and organics) must recycle their organic waste.
For detailed information on the requirements go to CalRecycle's website.
In September 2016, Governor Brown signed into law SB 1383 (Lara, Chapter 395, Statutes of 2016), establishing methane emissions reduction targets in a statewide effort to reduce emissions of short-lived climate pollutants (SLCP) in various sectors of California's economy. The following are the goals of SB 1383:
1. Achieve a 50 percent reduction in the level of the statewide disposal of organic waste from the 2014 level by 2020
2. Achieve a 75 percent reduction in the level of the statewide disposal of organic waste by 2025
The law also requires the state to increase edible food recovery by 20 percent by 2025.
The SB 1383 regulations go into effect on January 1, 2022. Please review the following dates:
January 1, 2020: The state must achieve a 50 percent reduction in the level of the statewide disposal of organic waste from the 2014 level no later than this date
January 1, 2022: CalRecycle's regulations to meet the organic waste reduction targets for 2020 and 2025 take effect and are enforceable on this date
January 1, 2024: Effective on this date, the regulations may require local jurisdictions to impose penalties for non-compliance on generators within their jurisdiction
January 1, 2025: By this date, the state must achieve a 75 percent reduction in the statewide disposal of organic waste from the 2014 level. Also, not less than 20 percent of currently disposed of edible food must be recovered for human consumption
For details information on the requirements go to CalRecycle's Website.
Riverside County Business Model
Business Name: Lake Skinner Recreation Area- Riverside County Parks and Open Space District
Riverside Waste Wise Champion: Gold Status
Business Address: 37701 Warren rd., Winchester, CA 92596
Current Environmental Initiatives:
Lake Skinner Recreation Area is driven to becoming the regional leader in improving lives by offering a place of outstanding scenic, recreational, and historic importance. Lake Skinner seeks to minimize its environmental footprint, consider the needs of present and future generations, and be aware of connections with the greater riverside area. We are taking steps to improve sustainability in park development, climate impact, community engagement, energy and water conservation, mind full purchasing, sustainable transportation, and waste reduction and recycling.
Specific actions taken in waste reduction include recycling beverage containers of nearly 400lbs per month. Actively removing cardboard from trash bins in favor of a recycling bin. Yard waste of grass clippings, tree trimming, and leaves are mulched and returned to the soil. Purchasing office and janitorial supplies containing recycled material where available. Reducing dependency on disposable dishes, utensils, and cups in the break room. Reducing paper usage by increasing electronic communication, printing two sided, and reusing scrap paper in arts and crafts projects at the nature center and ranger campfire programs.
Fill out the Intent to Register Form, and a Specialist will follow up with a Scorecard
Contact Information
If you have any questions, please call 951-486-3200 or email WasteCommunityOutreach@rivco.org to speak to a Specialist.