Mandatory Commercial Organics Waste and Recycle Law (SB 1383)

Diverting Organic Waste and Recyclables Now Mandatory Under New State Law SB 1383

 

Effective January 1, 2022, California state law Senate Bill (SB) 1383 Short-Lived Climate Pollutant Reduction Strategy, requires all businesses, residents, and multifamily properties, to separate organic materials (such as plant debris, food waste, food soiled papers, untreated wood waste) and recyclable materials from trash, and either subscribe to the required collection services or self-haul to an appropriate facility for diversion.

JUMP TO SECTIONS ON THIS PAGE:

The GOAL  |  The WHO  |  The WHAT  |  The HOW  |  The RESOURCES  |  The WHY  |  The ENFORCEMENT

The Goal of SB 1383

  • Reduce organic waste disposal 75% by 2025.

  • Rescue 20% of surplus edible food for those that need it by 2025.

SB 1383 Requirements and Timeline

Source: CalRecycle

WHO: Who Does This Affect?

  • Single-Family homes/Condos/Townhomes
  • Multi-Family properties with 5+ more units
  • Commercial Businesses*
  • Public/Private Schools

 

*Waivers:

Limited waivers will be considered if you can demonstrate that your business generates less than 20 gallons of organics per week. Select SB 1383 Organics Waiver Request to learn more about the qualifications and to access the SB 1383 Online Self Reporting Form.

WHAT: What Does This Mean?    

The SB 1383 law has expanded on the requirements of AB 341 – Mandatory Commercial Recycling and AB 1826 – Mandatory Commercial Organics.

The Changes:

  • This now impacts residents, not just businesses and multi-family properties – sorting of organics and recyclables is now mandatory.
  • Large food-generating businesses like Supermarkets and Wholesale Food Distributors are now required to contract with an edible food recovery organization to donate excess edible food to help feed people.

HOW: How Do I Participate?

Here are the law requirements for businessess and how you can participate to be compliant with the SB 1383 law:

 

BUSINESSES

1) Subscribe to Collection Service 

Subscribe to curbside organics and recycling service from your waste collection company. Depending on your city, these diversion services can usually be added at no additional cost.

2) Provide Containers for Organic and Recycling Waste

Businesses are also required to make organics and recycling collection containers available to customers for the waste materials generated in self-serve areas.

The containers must be green, blue, and black, or be labeled wtih “organics”, “recyclables”, and “garbage”.

Who to contact for collection service:

For businesses located in El Cerrito (for organics collection) contact East Bay Sanitary at (510) 237-4321.

For businesses located in El Cerrito (for recycling collection) contact City of El Cerrito at (510) 215-4350.

For businesses located in all other cities of West Contra Costa County, contact Republic Services.

3) Sort Waste Materials: Require employees to place organic waste only in organics containers

Effectively separate all waste materials your business generates. Building effective waste management into your standard operating procedures can help with staff satisfaction, sustainability marketing, and also possibly save you money.

4) Provide yearly information to employees about proper sorting of organic waste

Employee training, instructional resources, and free interior containers are available from your waste collection service company to help you to implement these programs.


(Select image below to help you identify what goes in each cart/bin/dumpster):

    

5) Periodically inspect organic waste containers for contamination

6) Allow access to the property for inspections from designated jurisdiction or state representatives

7) Implement Surplus Edible Food Recovery Program                                                     (Applies to large food generating businesses only)

Some large food-generating businesses (such as supermarkets and wholesale food distributors) are required to contract with an edible food recovery agency and track your recovered food.

If your business falls within with one of the categories below, you will need to implement a surplus edible food recovery program by the effective date.

 

As a Food Generator, here is what you need to implement in order to comply with the law:

  1. Partner with one or more food recovery organizations or services to pick up or receive your surplus edible food.
  2. Have a written agreement or contract with the edible food recovery organization(s) or service(s).
  3. Recover the maximum amount of surplus edible food generated.
  4. Track and maintain a record of the following information:
  • The types of food that will be recovered each month.
  • The established frequency that food will be collected.
  • The estimated quantity of food, measured in pounds recovered per month, collected or self-hauled to a food recovery organization or service.
    1. Provide records of food recovery upon request or inspection.

 

Resources for setting up a surplus edible food recovery program:

Contact a food recovery organization to arrange for the donation of your recoverable edible food and start helping your communities now. For your convenience, RecycleMore has prepared a list for your consideration, and you may also refer to CalRecycle.

RecycleMore – Edible Food Recovery Organizations

CalRecycle – Food Recovery Organizations

 

SB 1383 Edible Food Recovery Brochure

Download the RecycleMore Edible Food Recovery brochure (in partnership with Contra Costa Health Services):

CLICK HERE – English Version

CLICK HERE – Spanish Version (versión en español)

CLICK HERE – Chinese Version (西班牙语版  /  Xībānyá yǔ bǎn)

Inspection and Enforcement of Edible Food Recovery Programs

As part of the food recovery program requirements of state law SB 1383, local jurisdictions are required to inspect that you have a food recovery agreement in place and are donating your excess food.

Refer to the chart below for the start dates of when inspections and enforcement of Edible Food Recovery Programs begin:

 

Source: CalRecycle 

WHY: Why is This Important?

Complying with this state law helps combat climate change by recycling organic waste correctly. Organic waste is the largest waste stream in California and items like food scraps, yard trimmings, paper, and cardboard make up half of what Californian’s dump in landfills. When these organic materials are sent to a landfill, they generate methane, a powerful climate pollutant. Landfills are the third largest source of methane in the state and are contributing to the drought, wildfires, and flooding that we are seeing around the state and nation. In addition, air pollutants contribute to health conditions and breathing issues like asthma.

Landfillls are the Third Largest Source of Methane Gas in California

Source: CalRecycle

 

By diverting organic material to compost facilities, we are directly reducing the amount of climate pollutants generated by our waste materials.

Fighting Climate Change by Recycling Organic Waste

Source: CalRecycle 

ENFORCEMENT: Compliance Monitoring and Sorting

MONITORING OF PROPERLY SORTING WASTE

As a requirement of SB 1383, annual audits for Businesses must be performed to ensure waste is properly sorted.

Starting September 26, 2022, Republic Services will be conducting random inspections of containers (for Republic Services customers) periodically to identify contamination and encourage proper materials separation to accomplish this goal.

These inspections will involve minimal handling of your material and may include opening of bags to inspect container contents. Auditors will be wearing Republic Services’ reflective vests and may spend several minutes conducting their audit activities, in the early morning hours. If your containers have been inspected, you will be notified with a tag placed on your container with the outcome.

If you have any questions, please contact Republic Services Customer Service Department at (510) 262-7100.