The short version
- 65% of nonhazardous C&D waste recycled or salvaged for reuse, by weight or by volume but not both (CALGreen 4.408.1 and 5.408.1).
- Or a landfill total under 3.4 lb per sq ft for low-rise residential, 2 lb for other residential, and 2 lb for nonresidential new construction.
- Soil and land-clearing debris are left out of the 65%. Nonresidential jobs must reuse or recycle 100% of it.
- A plan before the permit and proof before the final: usually weight tickets from every facility.
- Your city can ask for more than CALGreen, and some add deposits and forms.
Run your own numbers in the diversion calculator. It prints the arithmetic, so you can hand it to the building department and they can check it.
Where the 65% comes from
CALGreen is Part 11 of Title 24, California's building code. The 2025 edition took effect on January 1, 2026. Two sections carry the construction waste rule: 4.408 for residential buildings and 5.408 for nonresidential buildings. The Department of Housing and Community Development publishes the residential checklist; the California Building Standards Commission publishes the nonresidential one.
Section 4.408.1 reads: "Recycle and/or salvage for reuse a minimum of 65% of the nonhazardous construction and demolition waste," through a plan, a waste management company or the waste stream reduction alternative. A more stringent local construction and demolition ordinance can apply instead. Section 5.408.1 says the same for nonresidential work.
| Building | Covered work | Section |
|---|---|---|
| Residential | New buildings, and additions or alterations that increase the building's conditioned area, volume or size | 301.1.1 |
| Nonresidential | New buildings, additions of 1,000 sq ft or more, and alterations with a permit valuation of $200,000 or more | 301.3 |
CALGreen's section is written for new work. A city can apply its own C&D ordinance to demolition permits as well; Laguna Niguel's covers demolition projects.
Two ways to comply: the percentage or the pounds
The usual path is the percentage: tons recycled or reused, divided by all the nonhazardous C&D waste. The other path skips the percentage and caps what went to landfill, measured against the building area. A 3.4 lb limit on a 2,000 sq ft house allows 3.4 tons to landfill; at 2 lb, the same area allows 2.0 tons.
| Project | Landfill no more than | Section |
|---|---|---|
| Low-rise residential | 3.4 lb per sq ft of building area | 4.408.4 |
| Other residential | 2 lb per sq ft of building area | 4.408.4.1 |
| Nonresidential | 2 lb per sq ft of building area | 5.408.1.3 |
HCD's 2025 checklist marks the 3.4 lb figure for low-rise residential projects and states the 2 lb figure for other projects. The nonresidential 2 lb path covers new construction and applies "as approved by the enforcing agency."
Soil is its own rule. Excavated soil and land-clearing debris are an exception to the 65% on both residential and nonresidential jobs. On nonresidential jobs section 5.408.3 then requires "100 percent of trees, stumps, rocks and associated vegetation and soils resulting primarily from land clearing" to be reused or recycled. The exception is vegetation or soil contaminated by disease or pest infestation.
What a waste management plan contains
Where a city has no C&D ordinance of its own, CALGreen's plan (section 4.408.2 for homes, 5.408.1.1 for everything else) has to:
- Name the construction and demolition materials to be diverted, by reuse on the project, recycling or salvage.
- Say whether they'll be sorted on site (source-separated) or hauled mixed (single stream).
- Name the facilities that will take them.
- Name the construction methods used to cut the waste produced (residential plans).
- Say whether diversion is calculated by weight or by volume, but not by both.
The other route is a waste management company, approved by the enforcing agency, "which can provide verifiable documentation" that the diversion was met (4.408.3, 5.408.1.2). Either way, documentation goes to the building department (4.408.5, 5.408.1.4), and on nonresidential jobs the plan stays on site, updated, for inspection.
Weight tickets and city rules
The weight ticket is the proof: the facility's record of a load and what it weighed. Cities decide what documentation they accept, and add their own layer on top of CALGreen:
| City | What it asks for | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Laguna Niguel | At least 65%, new buildings and demolition projects included. Weight tickets and a diversion report, or weight tickets from the recyclers. Refundable deposit: $1,000 for new buildings and demolitions, $750 for qualifying additions | City C&D page and packet (updated Apr 17, 2026) |
| Dana Point | A C&D waste reduction and recycling plan, including demolition-only work. Weight receipts showing the material came from Dana Point, taken to a city-certified C&D facility. A security deposit with a 2% non-refundable service fee | City plan form |
Find your city on our service area pages.
Keep every ticket from the first load
A missing ticket is a load you can't count. If a mixed load went to a sorting facility, ask for its diversion report too: that's where the recycled and landfilled split comes from.
AB 939 and SB 1383: why cities enforce it
AB 939, the Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989, made every California city and county responsible for diverting 25% of its solid waste by 1995 and 50% by 2000. Later legislation made the 50% an every-year requirement.
SB 1383 (2016) set a 2025 target of 75% less organic waste sent to landfills. Its regulations reach construction sites directly: 14 CCR §18989.1 requires every city and county to adopt an enforceable requirement for CALGreen sections 4.408.1 and 5.408.1 "for organic waste commingled with construction and demolition debris." The regulations define organic waste to include "green material, landscape and pruning waste" and "lumber, wood" (14 CCR §18982), so the wood and green waste on a job fall under it. That requirement has been operative since January 1, 2022.
How to hit 65% on a real job
The rate is counted in tons, so the heaviest material decides it. In the calculator's worked example, a 2,000 sq ft house with 12 tons of concrete kept separate reaches 67.8%. Put that same concrete in with the mixed debris and the rate drops to 16.3%. Nothing else changed.
- Concrete, dirt and brick: keep them clean and in their own bin. No wood, trash, roots or rebar mixed in.
- Metal: set it aside as it comes out.
- Wood: keep it apart from drywall and trash where the job allows.
- Green waste: its own load. It's also the organic waste SB 1383 is aimed at.
- Everything else: mixed debris, weighed and counted against you unless a facility's diversion report says otherwise.
| Load | Price | Terms |
|---|---|---|
| Debris, trash | $650 | 3 tons & under. $135 each additional ton. |
| Clean brick | $950 | Flat fee. |
| Green waste | $650 | 3 tons & under. $135 each additional ton. |
| Clean concrete | $775 | 10 cubic yards (fill line inside dumpster). No rebar, no brick. |
| Clean dirt | $775 | 10 cubic yards (fill line inside dumpster). |
| Mixed load: dirt & concrete | $950 | 10 cubic yards (fill line inside dumpster). |
From our rate sheet: "All mixed loads are dumped at the landfill and charged by weight." And: "Any debris/trash combined in a dumpster with dirt, concrete, brick or green waste will be weighed and billed at debris/trash rates." Ask us where each clean load goes and what paperwork comes back, before the job, so your plan names the right facility. See pricing and the concrete and dirt calculator.