New data shows less rubbish went to California landfills in 2011. The state agency CalRecycle said Californians threw away nearly 30 million tons of garbage.
It's a modest decrease from the previous year, and down from a high of 42.5 million tons in 2005. Mark Oldfield with CalRecycle attributed part of the decline to the economic downturn.
"Construction and demolition, for example, are a fairly significant portion of the waste stream,: explained Oldfield. "So when there's fewer houses being built, fewer cars being bought - that means fewer cars perhaps being disposed of - there's less material being produced at the front end and at the back end, less waste going to landfills."
Oldfield said Californians currently recycle about sixty-five percent of their waste. A new state law sets a target of seventy-five percent by the year 2020.
CalRecycle is working on a plan to achieve that goal, which includes expanding recycling facilities
