Right now, builders voluntarily recycle things like wood-waste, asphalt and concrete. But city officials want to make it mandatory. Marty Strauss is Sacramento’s Integrated Waste Planning Superintendent. 

“The purpose is to avoid putting it into landfills, to help meet the state mandate of 50% and to help stabilize and maintain our disposal cost.” 

California law requires local governments to divert at least 50% of their waste away from landfills. Under the proposed ordinance, construction projects worth $100,000 or more would have to submit a waste management plan to the city.

But advocates for the construction industry say that puts a burden on small building companies. Joshua Wood is with the Sacramento Builder’s Exchange. 

“There’s not a lot of stuff that you can do for less than $100,000. Really what we’re pushing for is that they move the threshold from $100,000 to $250,000 so at least you get some of those small projects out of the way.” 

The City Council is expected to vote on the issue next week.