Within and limited to this chapter, the following words and phrases shall be construed as defined in this section, unless the context indicates otherwise.
(1) "Bin" means a detachable refuse container used in connection with commercial premises with a 1 to 8 cubic yard capacity, equipped with a lid, and designed for mechanical pick-up by collection vehicles.
(2) "Box" means a wheeled or sledded container or compactor, generally 7 to 50 cubic yards in size, suitable for the storage and collection of commercial solid waste or recyclable materials.
(3) "Cart" means a wheeled receptacle equipped with a lid, and designed for mechanical pick-up by collection vehicles.
(4) "City" means the government of the City of Palo Alto, defined in Section
1.04.050(1) of the municipal code, with a principal place of business at 250 Hamilton Avenue, Palo Alto, County of Santa Clara.
(5) "City manager" means the person referred to in Section
2.08.140 of the municipal code, or designee.
(6) "Collection agreement" means a contract with the City for the collection of refuse pursuant to Section
5.20.040.
(7) "Collector" means one or more persons authorized by Section
5.20.040 to provide the collection, processing and disposal of refuse pursuant to one or more written contracts with the city.
(8) "Commercial business owner" means any person holding or occupying, alone or with others, commercial premises, whether or not the person holds the title or is the record owner of the commercial premise.
(9) "Commercial premises" means any occupied real property in Palo Alto, except property occupied by federal, state or local government agencies which do not consent to their inclusion, and except residential premises as defined in subsection (33) hereof, and shall include, without limitation, any wholesale or retail establishments, restaurant and food service establishment, bar, store, shop, shopping center, office, industrial establishment, manufacturing establishment, service station, repair, research and development establishment, professional, services, sports or recreational facility, any place or premise where an animal is maintained or sheltered, construction or demolition site, a multiple dwelling that is not a residential premise, and any other commercial or industrial business facility, structure, site, or other establishment in Palo Alto.
(10) "Compostable materials" means organic materials designated by the City as approved for collection and processing, including, without limitation, yard trimmings, food scraps, soiled paper and compostable plastics, but excluding animal manure, sewage sludge, and human biological wastes.
(11) "Composting" means the controlled, biological decomposition of organic materials into humus for use as a soil amendment, conditioner or fertilizer or for any other similar use or purpose.
(12) "Construction and/or demolition site" means any real property in Palo Alto, at which a building or structure, or any portion thereof, is being constructed, assembled, erected or demolished, and during which construction or demolition waste which must be removed from the property.
(13) "Construction and/or demolition waste" means any waste generated as the result of construction or demolition work, including, without limitation, discarded packaging or containers and waste construction materials, whether brought on-site for fabrication or used in construction or resulting from demolition, excluding liquid waste and hazardous waste.
(14) "Container" means any bin, box, cart, compactor, drop box, roll-off box, or receptacle, used for the storage of solid waste, recyclable materials, compostable materials or other materials designated by the City for collection by the collector.
(15) "Director" means the person referred to in Section
2.08.190 of the Municipal Code, or the director's designee.
(16) "Disposal or processing facility" means a landfill facility, a recycling facility, a composting facility or a solid waste transfer or processing station.
(17) "EPA" means the federal Environmental Protection Agency or successor agency.
(18) "Food service establishment" means any establishment, located or providing food within Palo Alto, which provides prepared and ready-to-consume food or beverages, for public consumption, including, but not limited to, any retail service establishment, eating and drinking service (as defined in
Chapter 18.23), takeout service (as defined in
Chapter 18.23), supermarket, delicatessen, restaurant, food vendor, sales outlet, shop, cafeteria, catering truck or vehicle, cart or other sidewalk or outdoor vendor or caterer which provides prepared and ready-to-consume food or beverages, for public consumption.
(19) "Hazardous waste" means waste defined as hazardous by Public Resources Code section 40141, as it now exists or may be amended, namely, a waste or combination of wastes, which due to its quantity, concentration, or physical, chemical or infectious characteristics, may do either of the following: (i) cause or significantly contribute to, an increase in mortality or an increase in serious irreversible, or incapacitating reversible, illness; (ii) pose a substantial present or potential hazard to human health or environment when improperly treated, stored, transported, or disposed of, or otherwise managed. "Hazardous waste" includes extremely hazardous waste and acutely hazardous waste, and any other waste as may hereafter from time to time be designated as hazardous by the EPA or other agency of the United States Government, or by the California Legislature or any agency of the State of California empowered by law to classify or designate waste as hazardous, extremely hazardous or acutely hazardous.
(20) "Home composting" means the controlled decomposition of organic material, including, without limitation, yard trimmings and kitchen scraps, into humus by any person owning or occupying any place or premises in Palo Alto.
(21) "Manure" means the waste droppings of any animal.
(22) "Multifamily property" means any residential premise with three or more attached units with shared service.
(23) "Organic wastes" means "compostable materials."
(24) "Person" means any individual, or entity referred to in Section
1.04.050(5) of the Municipal Code and including any general partnership, limited partnership, limited liability partnership, or limited liability company.
(25) "Place or premises" means every residential premises and commercial premises, including any structure, apparatus, or portion thereof occupied or operated by any person and situated on an integral parcel of land undivided by a public street, highway, or railway.
(26) "Public solid waste or recycling receptacles" means any container for the collection of solid waste, recyclable materials or compostable materials that are both located on public property and intended for use by the general public.
(27) "Recyclable materials" means materials designated by the City as suitable for collection and transport to a material recovery facility for processing into a recycled content product, including, without limitation, newspaper, paper, cans, corrugated cardboard, glass and certain types of plastic, and metals.
(28) "Recycling" means the process of collecting, sorting, cleansing, treating, and reconstituting materials that would otherwise become solid waste, and returning them to the economic mainstream in the form of raw material for new, reused, or reconstituted products which meet the quality standards necessary to be used in the marketplace. This term does not include transformation as that term is defined in Public Resources Code section 40180.
(29) "Refuse" means and includes compostable materials, recyclable materials and solid waste.
(30) "Refuse room" means a room(s) located inside a building in which refuse containers are maintained and refuse is collected. Refuse rooms are typically located at the end of a hallway or on the ground level, but may be in other locations.
(31) "Refuse service" means the weekly or other periodic collection, processing and disposal of materials properly deposited in the collector-provided containers for solid waste, as well as weekly collection and processing of recyclable materials and weekly collection and processing of compostable materials.
(32) "Residential householder" means any person owning or occupying residential premises in Palo Alto.
(33) "Residential premises" means any residential dwelling unit in Palo Alto, including, without limitation, a multiple unit residential complex, such as a rental housing project, condominium, apartment house, mixed condominium and rental housing, and a mobile home park, except any multiple dwelling which, with the prior written approval of the director, receives commercial bin service.
(34) "Salvage" means the controlled removal of construction or demolition debris/material from a permitted building, construction, or demolition site for the purpose of recycling, reuse, or storage for later recycling or reuse. Examples include air conditioning and heating systems, columns, balustrades, fountains, gazebos, molding, mantels, pavers, planters, quoins, stair treads, trim, wall caps, bath tubs, bricks, cabinetry, carpet, doors, ceiling fans, lighting fixtures, electrical panel boxes, fencing, fireplaces, flooring materials of wood, marble, stone or tile, furnaces, plate glass, wall mirrors, door knobs, door brackets, door hinges, marble, iron work, metal balconies, structural steel, plumbing fixtures, refrigerators, rock, roofing materials, siding materials, sinks, stairs, stone, stoves, toilets, windows, wood fencing, lumber and plywood.
(35) "Solid waste" means solid and semisolid wastes, generated in or upon, related to the occupancy of, remaining in or emanating from residential premises or commercial premises, including garbage, trash, rubbish, ashes, industrial wastes, manure, animal carcasses, solid or semisolid wastes, and other solid and semisolid wastes. "Solid waste" shall not include liquid wastes or sewage, abandoned vehicles, hazardous waste, recyclable materials or compostable materials.
(36) "Solid waste enterprise" shall mean any person regularly engaged in the business of providing solid waste, recyclable materials or compostable materials handling services.
(37) "Source separated single recyclable materials" means recyclable materials that are separated from other recyclable materials or solid waste and placed in separate containers according to type or category of materials and directly marketed as a single commodity.
(38) "Yard trimmings" means plant trimmings generated from the maintenance or alteration of public, commercial premises or residential premises landscapes, including, without limitation, grass cuttings, yard clippings, leaves, tree trimmings, pruning, brush and weeds, excepting those materials which are prohibited under written rules and regulations promulgated by the director.
(Ord. 5475 §1, 2019; Ord. 5377 §1 (part), 2016; Ord. 4451 § 1 (part), 1997)
