The raw materials that will be turned into compost are unloaded by a tractor-trailer. The law requiring Californians to separate their organic waste from the rest of their trash will take effect on January 1. The Los Angeles Times is owned by Gary Coronado.
The new year will see the unfurling of a law that will change how Californians dispose of their organic waste, particularly leftover food and kitchen scraps.
Senate Bill 1383 requires all residents and businesses to separate green waste from other trash, but the program will be rolled out gradually for homes and businesses in the coming months, with the actual startup date varying depending on the location of your home or business.
Failing to separate organic refuse from other trash can result in fines. The charges are not scheduled to begin until 2024. CalRecycle has a lot of information about the new requirements on its website.
CompostableLA, which provides a home pickup service in some neighborhoods, and LA Compost, which gives instructions on home composting, are two of the other composting solutions.
Residents and business people should check with their local governments and waste haulers to find out the rules for their community. Los Angeles County Public Works and the Los Angeles City Bureau of Sanitation have answers to some frequently asked questions about the new requirements.
Garbage is just garbage. Why are we required to separate organic waste from the rest of the trash?
Scientists have found that organic waste dumped into traditional landfills can create methane, a super pollutant with as much as 80 times the Earth-warming power of carbon dioxide.
The state wants the material to be diverted to composting centers or Anaerobic digestion facilities, where it can help sink carbon into the Earth or capture natural gas for power trash trucks.
When do I need to separate my kitchen waste from other trash?
Depending on where you live, the opening date for organics diversion varies. San Francisco, Berkeley, Costa Mesa and other communities have been recycling kitchen waste for years. Yard trimmings can be accommodated in those bins.
Notices will be sent to homes in unincorporated Los Angeles County in the first half of 2022, telling them when and how to separate their food waste. Some businesses in L.A. County already have voluntary recycling of food waste, a program that will become mandatory over the course of the new year.
In Los Angeles, the Bureau of Sanitation will present a plan early next year to expand food waste recycling from 18,000 homes to the remaining 730,000 customers. The program should start next summer. In the meantime, residents can throw their kitchen waste in their regular trash bins. They have the option of composting in their yards, even though the city composting workshops have been closed due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.
In March, the Bureau of Sanitation will work with a nonprofit to collect food scraps at 25 neighborhood farmers markets. The locations will be announced later.
What if I live in a building?
The rules for multi-unit housing in unincorporated L.A. County are still being finalized. It is expected that some waste haulers will allow food waste to be mixed with other trash to be separated later at processing facilities so it can be recycled.
The recycLA program encourages the recycling of food scraps in Los Angeles. To subscribe to the program, residents need to contact their service provider.
Reducing food waste can be used to curb climate-warming gases.
Yes. The deputy director of Los Angeles County Public Works encourages residents and businesses to shop, store, and preserve food.
There are alternatives to having the kitchen and yard waste trucked away.
Yes. Food scraps can be composted at home or taken to friends or family who compost. L.A. County offers free webinars to teach residents how to compost their own waste. Compost bins are discounted.
What about food that is still usable? Where should it go?
The amount of food that supermarkets and other large outlets preserve is proposed to be increased by 25%. Residents and small businesses don't have to recycle food. The surplus is given to food banks. FoodDropLA.com can help businesses learn more about donations.
Will fruits and vegetables be the only food waste for the green bin once my local waste hauler gives the green light?
No. All possible parts of food will be acceptable, including cooked meat, bones, fish, soups and small amounts of grease. A properly licensed digester will be able to break it all down. All food waste will be accepted once the curbside pickup begins.
Some residents in L.A. have already put food scraps in their green bins, even though the Bureau of Sanitation says that's not a good idea and that the kitchen waste will be landfilled. Once the city has a program, both food and yard waste will be allowed in the green bins.
Is it possible that I run a restaurant with a lot of grease?
That should go to a recycler. L.A. County has those listed.
How do I make sure my kitchen waste doesn't stink?
L.A. city and county plan to distribute the scraps in kitchen pails. The pails should be emptied and cleaned frequently. Users say lining them with paper towels can cause a stink. The city of Los Angeles suggests freezing food scraps in a container prior to collection day and layering food waste with yard clippings.
If I dump my waste in the wrong place, can I be fined?
Yes. Penalties will be allowed for those who taint their organic waste. A first offense could cost you up to $100, followed by up to $500.
Sanitation officials in L.A. will only impose penalties as a last resort if they are not notified of noncompliance.
What happens to the kitchen scraps that end up in the garbage disposal?
Wastewater plants in L.A. County can process sewage sludge and food waste. The gas can be used for electricity or vehicle fuel.
The bureaucrats who handle refuse don't want a lot of waste in the drain. It is more efficient to compost the food waste.
Smaller fruit and vegetable scraps are recommended by the city of L.A.
Where will the extra food waste go?
Plants that will convert it into natural gas are the most likely places to go. 1.9 million tons of food waste a year will be diverted in Los Angeles County. It would take a dozen plants to process all of that.
Who is going to pay for this?
You are. A survey by the League of California Cities found that most local governments expect refuse collection rates to increase less than 20%. Costa Mesa estimates that over nine years, monthly rates will have risen a total of $6.10 to $24.10 a month.
The story was originally published in Los Angeles Times.
