Environmental Quality Commission Considering Mandatory Recycling Ordinance

The Environmental Quality Commission will discuss ways to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases that emanate from Menlo Park Wednesday night, including the implementation of a mandatory commercial recycling ordinance.

The rationale for this recommendation?

"This strategy is especially important because methane released from the decomposition of waste/organic waste is 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide in its global warming capacity,” states the city's Climate Action Plan, which the commission will be assessing.

The plan is a compilation of strategies that that were designed to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases that the city exudes, as well as anything that contributes to that aura such as waste. The goal is to meet the targets set by the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, one of which is to get greenhouse gas emissions back to the levels they were at in 1990 by the year 2020.

The CAP, which the City Council approved in 2009, is reviewed periodically as new ways to reach these targets arise. You will find an electronic copy of the June 2010 CAP attached to this article.

It will be one of the items on the Commission’s agenda when they meet at 6:30 p.m. in the Cypress Conference Room of the recreation center, which is located at 700 Alma Street. 

The meeting is open to the public. 

Other items on the agenda:

• A sustainable building policy
• Heritage trees
• Pest management