In 1989, the California Legislature adopted AB 939 which required California cities, by July 1, 1991 to prepare, adopt and submit a Source Reduction and Recycling Element (SRRE) to the County.   The SRRE included the following components: waste characterization; source reduction; recycling; composting; solid waste facility capacity; education and public information; funding; special waste (asbestos, sewage sludge, etc.); and household hazardous waste.  AB 939 required each city to divert 25 percent of all solid waste from landfill by January 1 1995, and 50 percent of all solid waste by January 1, 2000 through source reduction, recycling, and composting activities.  The City of El Cajon successfully met all mandates of AB 939.  Every single family residential unit in El Cajon enjoys curbside recycling.  

In 2011, the California Legislature adopted AB 341 requiring cities to implement a commercial solid waste recycling program that consists of education, outreach and monitoring of businesses.  The law requires businesses and multi-family residences with four or more units to provide recycling. 

California Assembly Bill 827 requires businesses provide customers with visible, easily accessible recycling receptacles that are adjacent to trash receptacles with educational signage. Be sure to make updates to your trash and recycling receptacles before June 2020 to remain in compliance with this new requirement. 

In 2014, the California Legislature adopted AB 1826, requiring businesses to recycle their organic waste on and after April 1, 2016, depending on the amount of waste they generate per week. This law also requires that on and after January 1, 2016, local jurisdictions across the state implement an organic waste recycling program to divert organic waste generated by businesses, including multifamily residential dwellings that consist of five or more units. Organic waste refers to food waste, green waste, landscape and pruning waste, nonhazardous wood waste, and food-soiled paper waste that is mixed in with food waste. This law phases in the mandatory recycling of commercial organics over time. In particular, the minimum threshold of organic waste generation by businesses decreases over time, which means an increasingly greater proportion of the commercial sector will be required to comply. With the implementation of the new refuse and recycling agreement in January 2021, all residents and businesses will be able to recycle food waste along with landscape trimmings in the green waste bin.