Palo Alto, Calif., to Require Color-coded Trash Bags in 2020

Beginning July 2020, Palo Alto, Calif., will require businesses to color code their trash bags in an effort to help them sort waste more efficiently.

The City Council recently approved an ordinance requiring businesses to use clear trash bags for landfill-bound waste, blue bags for recyclables and green bags for commercial and residential customers that compost.

According to a Palo Alto Online report, the new program is one of 48 initiatives in the Zero Waste Plan the City Council accepted last August. The plan aims to reduce the amount of local waste that goes to landfills by 95 percent by 2030. Staff say the measure for colored bags will help monitor and sort through waste to prevent contamination.

Palo Alto Online has more details:

As part of an effort to reduce waste, Palo Alto will soon require businesses to use colored bags to separate recyclable items from those bound for the landfill.

The City Council approved on Monday a new ordinance that will require commercial businesses to use clear trash bags for landfill-bound trash and blue tinted bags for recyclables starting July 1, 2020. In addition, both commercial and residential customers who compost would have to use green compost bags, according to the new ordinance.

The goal of the compost requirement is to reduce the amount of plastic in the city-generated compost, according to staff from the city's Zero Waste program.

Read the full article here.