Industrial Waste & Debris Box Service, Inc. v. Murphy

—This suit involves garbage and, more specifically, statements about garbage. Garbage, including its transport, handling and disposal, is heavily regulated. The Legislature enacted the California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989 (Pub. Resources Code, § 40000 et seq.; the Act) to address the fact that “landfills throughout the state were nearly filled, and we were figuratively awash in our own trash.” (Valley Vista Services, Inc. v. City of Monterey Park (2004) 118 Cal.App.4th 881, 886 [ 13 Cal.Rptr.3d 433 ] (Valley Vista); see Pub. Resources Code, §§ 40000, 40050.) “Its goals were to reduce, recycle and reuse solid waste to the extent possible. Local agencies such as cities which were responsible for waste disposal within their boundaries were obliged to enact comprehensive waste management plans that would eventually divert half of their trash from landfills.” (Valley Vista, at p. 886.) “A major component of the Act... is the substantial mandatory solid waste disposal diversion requirements imposed by [Public Resources Code] section 41780. That section provides in part that cities and counties, through solid waste reduction, recycling, and composting activities,…