Action Alerts

Protect communities from toxic metal shredders

What's At Stake

SB 404 exempts metal shredders from vital hazardous waste protections, and frontline communities would pay the price. 

California lawmakers passed a bill that would remove metal shredding facilities—which release heavy metals and other toxic pollutants into the air, water, and soil—from California’s hazardous waste protections and instead allow them to largely self-regulate under a new, untested scheme. 

We need your voice to stop this. Tell Governor Newsom: Hazardous waste should be treated like hazardous waste — no exceptions. 

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What’s the problem? 

Metal shredder facilities break down massive piles of cars, appliances, steel drums, and other industrial scrap. In the process, they create enormous amounts of toxic waste which contains carcinogens like lead, cadmium, PCBs, copper, zinc, and arsenic. 

This waste pollutes the air, soil, and water in surrounding communities, with catastrophic consequences: 

  • The 2023 fire at Radius Recycling in Oakland caused hazardous air conditions across Alameda County and as far south as San Jose. 
  • Soil and groundwater contamination from shredders has been documented across the state 
  • Fires, explosions, and toxic releases are not rare accidents, they are foreseeable outcomes. Even California’s own Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) has admitted that large piles of metal shredder waste are highly combustible. 

What does SB 404 do? 

Instead of improving safety, SB 404 would weaken regulation by: 

  • Excluding metal shredder waste from California’s hazardous waste protections 
  • Creating a new, untested permitting structure that was crafted by industry and without genuine consultation with impacted communities 
  • Taking away existing enforcement authority from local governments and the public 
  • Allowing self-regulation by an industry that has repeatedly endangered the public 
  • In short: This bill puts polluters before people. 

Communities across California are already paying the price 

There are at least nine active metal shredders in California, including: 

  • West Oakland, where Radius Recycling has already released toxic metals into the Bay and surrounding communities 
  • Redwood City, Stockton, Bakersfield, Anaheim, Lancaster, Sun Valley, Colton, and Terminal Island 

SB 404 would make it harder to hold these facilities accountable and easier for them to continue polluting. 

Urge Governor Newsom to veto SB 404. Hazardous waste must be treated like hazardous waste. Public health and environmental safety must come first. 

A drone operated by an investigator for the nonprofit San Francisco Baykeeper captures a fire at the metal shredder now known as Radius Recycling, on August 9, 2023. (Credit: San Francisco Baykeeper)
A drone operated by an investigator for the nonprofit San Francisco Baykeeper captures a fire at the metal shredder now known as Radius Recycling, on Aug. 9, 2023. (San Francisco Baykeeper)

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Your Actions Matter

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We need you to join us — your specific experiences, knowledge, and voice are crucial to add to the Administrative Record through the comment periods.

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