Watchdog groups have accused the state of not promoting markets for recycled products aggressively enough, although some are already saturated. Some city waste management officials, meanwhile, say businesses are to blame. We need to increase efforts there. The law places a seemingly unfair burden on cities and counties, board spokesman Schmidle said. But through an aggressive use of ordinances, cities can force private companies to reduce or recycle their waste, he said.
Some hotels say they have already taken steps to reduce their waste.
Beverly Hills-based Hilton Hotels Corp. is one. Its hotels in the Bay area recycle glass, plastic, aluminum, office paper and cardboard, said Jim Hart, a director with Hilton San Francisco. They donate leftover food to shelters and have shipped old mattresses to Central America for flood relief. An undercount can reduce a state's tax revenue and political clout, Davis audience is told. Writer Uncle Sam is about to embark on the most ambitious census ever undertaken since the U.S. government did its first one in 1790.