SACRAMENTO – A green economic stimulus bill by Assemblymember Wesley Chesbro (D-North Coast) that will create thousands of new recycling jobs in California has won approval from both houses of the Legislature and is on the governor’s desk awaiting his signature.

The bill would move California beyond the current 50 percent waste reduction standard toward a new 75 percent recycling goal.

“Recycling is a powerful fuel additive that helps propel California’s engine,” Chesbro said. “California’s commitment to recycling has already created 125,000 new jobs over the past two decades. The industry generates $4 billion a year in salaries and produces $10 billion worth of goods and services annually.

“My bill expands on the law passed 21 years ago that made California the nation’s leader in recycling. Not only do we create more green jobs, we protect the environment and reduce energy consumption by reducing the amount of waste that ends up in landfills.”

Chesbro’s AB 737 seeks to expand on AB 939, the California Integrated Waste Management Act passed in 1989 – ground-breaking legislation that set recycling standards for California that other states have since copied.

AB 939 made it possible for California to lead the nation in the amount of waste diverted from landfills, currently 58 percent, and to create those 125,000 jobs.

The bill will require local governments to implement local commercial recycling programs if not already in place. AB 737 also pushes the state toward meeting a goal of increasing the diversion rate to 75 percent by 2010.

“Recycling’s a proven job creator”, said Mark Murray, executive director of Californians Against Waste. “Assembly Member Chesbro’s AB 737 will bring local governments and the private sector together to divert recyclables from the 30 million tons of waste that the commercial sector and apartments still send to landfills every year. By cutting this waste in half, AB 737 has the potential to create more than 30,000 jobs in collection and processing and 75,000 jobs in manufacturing.”

The governor has until Sept. 30 to take action on the bill.

“In addition to the thousands of green jobs that diverting waste away from landfills creates, recycling saves natural resources, it saves energy and it reduces the amount of water and electricity needed in the manufacturing process,” Chesbro said. “By one estimate, the amount of energy saved last year alone across the United States from recycling beverage containers, newsprint and cardboard was equal to the annual electrical needs of nearly 18 million Americans.”