San Francisco moves toward mandatory recycling, composting

By Michael Pistorio and Hank Drew
The Public Press

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted 9-2 to pass the mandatory recycling and composting ordinance.

The ordinance requires all San Francisco residential and commercial building owners to sign up for composting and recycling services. Violators will be charged a $500 fine.

The lone dissenter, District 7 Supervisor Sean Elsbernd, said the measure seemed too intrusive.

"There’s potential to for this to be skewed by everyone, the mayor, supervisors, inspectors," Elsbernd said. "There’s no way in the world I would support this."

District 1 Supervisor Eric Mar said the ordinance will get the city closer to "zero waste."

District 8 Supervisor Bevan Dufty said he had initial reservations on mandatory recycling, but sees the value of this legislation as a tool.

San Francisco already recycles 72 percent of its garbage, which is one of the highests recycling rates in the nation. City officials are aiming to recycle 100 percent by 2020.


UPDATE: The ordiance will be sent to Mayor Gavin Newsom for signature after a successful second reading and final vote by the board of supervisors next week.


CORRECTION: The Public Press incorrectly reported the vote tally at the board of supervisors Tuesday. The actual vote was 9-2 in favor of the ordiance with Supervisor Carmen Chu joining Elsbernd in dissention.

 

 

 

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