Palo Alto, Calif., Ban to Divert C&D Debris from Landfill

Palo Alto, Calif., has announced that by July 2020, contractors will be banned from demolishing entire buildings in an effort for building materials to be reused or recycled.

The ban is in line with the city’s Zero Waste Plan, which includes a goal of diverting 95 percent of materials from landfills by 2030 as part of the city’s Sustainability/Climate Action Plan.

According to the Zero Waste Plan, “Deconstruction and Source Separation of Construction Materials” is a short-term program meant to increase “salvage/reuse to highest extent possible,” as well as “the amount and quality of recyclable materials for all construction and demolition [C&D] projects.”