Dive Brief:

• The National Waste & Recycling Association (NW&RA) spoke to two regulatory agencies about proposed initiatives in California that center on recycling goals and waste truck safety.
• NW&RA spoke to the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle), and said that it seems that plans surrounding the state recycling goal are vague, and lack insight into how the proposal will translate into higher recycling rates.
• The organization also addressed the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board (Cal/OSHA) in regard to a proposal to reduce the speed on right-side drive collection trucks. 

Dive Insight:

In regard to CalRecycle, Chaz Miller, NW&RA’s director of policy and advocacy, said the plan did not include specifics about packaging materials, and that the organization rejects a proposal that would require extended producer responsibility for manufactures, in addition to a potential ban on disposing of recyclables in landfills.

The NW&RA said that OSHA’s proposal doesn’t follow American National Standards Institute’s (ANSI) best practices for the trucks and drivers and “undercuts ANSI safety standards,” according to David Biderman, the NW&RA's vice president of government affairs.