City working on construction and demolition ordinance to force
recycling of cement, sheet rock
Gilroy – Homebuilders, demolition companies and homeowners planning major renovations will have to recycle cement, sheet rock and other building debris under a proposed ordinance.
City staff are in the earliest stages of crafting the law and have yet to decide what percentage of building materials must be sorted and recycled, or the type of projects that the ordinance would cover.
“The construction and demolition ordinance will not apply to everybody,” said Lisa Jensema, Gilroy’s environmental programs coordinator. “We haven’t yet come up with a threshold for projects that fall under the ordinance. Let’s say somebody is remodeling a family home and knocking out a wall – that’s not a significant threshold.”
Projects would likely fall under the ordinance based on a certain dollar amount or square footage, according to Jensema, who has been studying similar laws in Bay Area cities.
A model ordinance endorsed by the Alameda County Waste Management Board, for instance, requires 50 percent of all debris to be recycled on new construction or renovations valued at $50,000 or more, or demolition projects worth $25,000 or more. Alternatively, it requires recycling 50 percent of debris for projects that are 1,000 square feet or more in size.
Local developer Gary Walton favored the idea but worried about the cost to homebuilders.
“A lot of times I think that we do throw too much away,” Walton said. “I think that it may encourage people to do more rehabilitation of properties rather than just tear them down. … New construction generates a lot of waste in terms of lumber, dry wall. The big concern I would have is where it’s going to have to be taken.”
Many local builders now haul their waste to South Valley Disposal & Recycling in San Martin, where they pay set fees for every ton of material dropped off. Builders pay a higher fee to have South Valley sift through unsorted debris and divert recyclables to appropriate facilities.
A new ordinance requiring contractors to do the sorting and hauling would be redundant or worse, according to Randy Kirk, a San Martin homebuilder working on a dozen homes in south Gilroy.
“We do recycle to a certain degree,” Kirk said. “Oftentimes (subcontractors) will take a lot of the debris like the sheet rock, but as far as the miscellaneous clean-up around here, that would be a nightmare. If we had to sort that out, you’d have to assign somebody solely for that job.”
In coming months, Jensema will consult with building officials to pinpoint the best way to enforce the ordinance. Under one variation, builders would have to pay a deposit that would not be released until they showed receipts from recycling centers. Or city inspectors could simply refuse to give final approval on a project until builders show proof of recycling. Jensema is also looking at a variation that would place the onus for recycling on waste haulers who work in tandem with homebuilders.
The push to re-use construction debris comes in response to state laws requiring cities to recycle at least half of the waste produced within their borders. The state keeps tabs on local jurisdictions by tallying reports on the source of waste from landfills and other waste facilities across the state. Gilroy produced nearly 100,000 tons of waste in 2000, the year the state laws went into effect, according to the California Integrated Waste Management Boards. Since then, the city has typically come close or exceeded the 50 percent recycling goal with the help of “credits” awarded for conservation efforts.
Mayor Al Pinheiro touted the construction ordinance as another way to ensure Gilroy meets its environmental obligations.
“I think that anything we can do to keep away from the landfills is a positive thing,” he said.
Developers, homebuilders and other stakeholders will have a chance to comment on the ordinance in coming months at a public hearing. Council members are expected to review the ordinance by the end of the year.
Recycling Record
Gilroy produces a yearly average of nearly 100,000 tons* of construction and other waste. The following percentages reflect the amount of that waste the city has recycled in recent years.
Listed by Year recycled and % of waste
– 1998 23
– 1999 N/A
– 2000** 49
– 2001 50
– 2002 45
– 2003 54
– 2004 50
*This figure is larger than actual amount of waste produced, since it reflects “credits” for various conservation efforts
**State law took effect requiring cities to recycle 50 percent of construction waste
Source: California Integrated Waste Management Boards
