Q: Do the regulations require single-family residences and multifamily complexes to subscribe to organics collection and recycle both green waste and food waste beginning January 1, 2022?
Yes, the regulations require jurisdictions to provide organic waste collection services to all single-family and multifamily residences of all sizes and businesses that generate organic waste beginning January 1, 2022.
Yes, single-family and multifamily complexes are required to recycle both green waste and food waste, as well as other organic waste materials, beginning January 1, 2022.
Q: Are property managers of multifamily complexes required to provide organics collection service to residences? Are multifamily dwellings exempt from the requirements of Article 3, Section 18984.9(b)?
Yes. The regulations require commercial businesses, including multifamily residential dwellings of five units or more, to provide or arrange for organic waste collection services consistent with Article 3 and local requirements (see Article 3, Section 18984.10). These requirements include, supplying and providing access to an adequate number of containers in sufficient sizes and locations with correct container colors and labels for employees, contractors, tenants, and customers.
Additionally, they are required to annually provide information to employees, contractors, tenants, and customers about organic waste recovery requirements and proper sorting of organic waste. Commercial businesses must also provide information to new tenants before or within 14 days of occupation of the premises.
Multifamily dwellings of any size are not subject to Article 3, Section 18984.9(b).
Q: Will a jurisdiction be able to allow shared accounts?Yes, a jurisdiction is allowed to provide shared collection service between generators. The regulations do not prohibit a jurisdiction from providing shared collection service between generators.
Q: Are multifamily dwellings required to provide an organics container for residents at all enclosures on the property?
The regulations require commercial businesses, including multifamily residential dwellings of five units or more, to provide or arrange for organic waste collection services (see Article 3, Section 18984.10). These requirements include supplying and providing access to an adequate number of containers in sufficient sizes and locations with correct container colors and labels.
Ideally, organics, recycling, and landfill containers are located together in the same enclosure, as this ensures convenience for residences. However, multifamily residential family dwelling facility managers can choose to locate organics collection in a nearby enclosure when locating all containers at every enclosure is impossible or impractical. If the location is not adequate and residents are choosing to dispose of their organics in a trash container that is closer in proximity to their residence, then the complex would not be complying with the law. Multifamily complex facility managers will need to monitor the program to ensure that the containers are in adequate locations. If the waste hauler identifies a contamination issue, the jurisdiction would inform the multifamily complex to address the situation.
Q: Do jurisdictions need to collect organics in public spaces such as beaches and parks?
No. CalRecycle acknowledges that contamination of organic waste at public parks and beaches may be a problem, as there is no ability to monitor these containers. Organic waste is not required to be collected at public parks and beaches.
Q: Can residents provide their own containers for organics collection?
Jurisdictions or its designee (like a hauler) must provide containers to the generator. Containers provided by the residents themselves would not comply with the regulations.
Providing a container is an inextricable part of providing a collection service. Requirements for local jurisdictions to collect and recover organic waste from their residential and commercial generators are critical for the state’s efforts to keep organic waste out of landfills and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Further, jurisdictions are in a position to obtain uniform collection containers with standardized colors from specialized suppliers, whereas individual generators are not. If jurisdictions are not required to provide compliant containers, generators are left to comply with the color requirements on their own and may he a difficult time obtaining standardized containers due to the whims of market ailability of properly colored containers through hardware stores, supply stores, or other business that he no obligations to stock compliant container colors. This sets up an untenable, large-scale regulatory noncompliance problem.
The requirement for jurisdictional provision of collection containers is also necessary from an efficient enforcement perspective. Placing the compliance responsibility on generators would create an unnecessarily burdensome enforcement model. Ensuring container color compliance would necessitate inspections of generators by the jurisdiction, potentially involving thousands of homes or businesses. Furthermore, potentially broad numbers of individual generators may be subject to enforcement if compliant containers are not reasonably ailable for purchase (see preceding paragraph). Instead of this burdensome model, CalRecycle finds that a single point of enforcement with the jurisdiction is more efficient and equitable. Jurisdictions are in a position to obtain uniform collection containers with standardized colors from specialized suppliers where individual generators are not.
The only exception is that generators in high-elevation jurisdictions will be able to continue to use customer provided containers that fit in their locked bear boxes.
Q: What is an example of organic waste not designated for collection in the green container?
If the jurisdiction is collecting food waste, cardboard, mixed paper, paper products, printing and writing paper, and green waste in the green container, then that would cover most of the organics covered by the regulations. However, there are other organics, such as wood, dry lumber, and composite products that contain organic waste that may end up in the black/gray container. Refer to the definition of “organic waste” in the regulations for further guidance..
Q: Do collection services under SB 1383 he to be automated (as in a claw on a truck picking up the container), or can they be manual (as in a human picking up the container)?
The regulations do not prohibit a jurisdiction from providing manual collection services.
Q: Where in the regulations does it say a jurisdiction must automatically enroll generators in services? What does providing automatic service look like?
The phrase “automatically enroll” does not appear in the regulations. Jurisdictions, however, are specifically required to provide service per Article 3, Sections 18984 – 18984.3. The word provide was specifically chosen as the operative word as it differs from AB 1826, which only requires that they offer service. Just as jurisdictions must provide services such as water or garbage collection, they now need to provide recycling.
Q: What if a facility a jurisdiction sends food waste to does not accept food soiled paper?
Since paper is an organic waste that needs to be recycled, the jurisdiction would need to find other facilities to process the food-soiled paper. The jurisdiction, or its hauler, would need to separate the food-soiled paper from the food waste prior to sending the material to the facility that accepts food waste only.
Q: Why does SB 1383 require residential organic waste collection services?
Residential collection services are necessary because more than half of organic waste is generated by the residential sector. SB 1383 builds upon the state’s mandatory commercial organic waste recycling requirements, which began with large commercial generators in 2016 and will now include residential generators in 2022.
Q: What if local organics processing facilities do not accept all organic waste (such as palm fronds, ivy, pet, and human waste, etc.) as defined in the regulations?
While palm fronds and monocotyledons he been difficult to handle at composting operations, at least one facility has opened in California that can grind this material and use it in animal feed products, reportedly at a cost significantly less than that of landfilling. Allowing jurisdictions to prohibit this material from being placed in the green container could potentially deter the development of innovative technologies.
A jurisdiction may prohibit human waste in the green or blue container in a 3-container system and in the green container in a 2-container system. This does not apply to pet waste, as many jurisdictions collect manure and take this material to processing facilities that he to meet pathogen reduction requirements. Human and pet waste are not required to be measured as organic waste for the purpose of measuring contamination in Article 3, Section 18984.5.
Q: Should paper be placed in the organics bin or the recycling bin?
The regulations allow jurisdictions to decide what recycling container in which to collect paper. This provision was included in response to comments from jurisdictions about the need for such flexibility.
Q: Do the regulations apply to agricultural waste for organic waste collection?
The regulations define organic waste by material type and not by source sector. Jurisdictions are required to provide organic waste collection services to generators subject to their authority. However, as noted in the regulations, nothing prevents generators from managing their own organic waste on site (e.g. on-farm composting). Additionally, jurisdictions may waive certain generators from collection requirements if they generate de minimis amounts of organic waste for collection.
Q: Should textiles be placed in the blue or gray containers? Can textiles and carpets be collected in the green container?
The regulations specifically state that textiles are allowed in the blue and gray container under specified conditions (Sections 18984.1 and 18984.2). Carpets and textiles are allowed in the gray container regardless of where the contents of the container are subsequently managed. For example, if these are the only organic wastes allowed in the gray container the container does not he to be transported to a high diversion organic waste processing facility.
However, textiles and carpets are not normally accepted by organic waste recycling facilities, such as composting or in-vessel facilities, that usually accept materials collected in green containers. However, CalRecycle included this provision allowing textiles in green containers because stakeholders during the informal rulemaking workshops requested such flexibility. CalRecycle is not aware of any compelling reason to prohibit textiles from being placed in green containers.
Q: Will CalRecycle shut down a high diversion organic waste facility if is not in compliance and is the only facility in the region?
The department will not shut down facilities that do not meet the SB 1383 requirement for a high diversion organic waste processing facility. The requirement for ensuring that the material goes to a high diversion organic waste processing facility is on the jurisdictions.
The jurisdiction would he three options in this situation:
If the facility can address the issue and meet the recovery rate, then the jurisdiction can continue using the facility Use a different high diversion organic waste processing facility Implement a three-container collection system.The timeline for any of these options would be laid out in a corrective action plan that is issued to the jurisdiction, as it is understood that any of these options would take some amount of time to address.
Q: How can a facility be required to recover only 75 percent of the organics it receives, but landfill less than 10 percent of organic material [see Title 14, Chapter 12, Article 1, Section 18982(a)(14.5)(B)]? What about the remaining 15 percent?
The 75 percent recovery efficiency level for a “high diversion organic waste processing facility” is a measure of the amount of organic waste a transfer/processor recovers relative to the amount of organic waste it receives for a source separated collection service or a mixed waste collection service. Material recovery facilities must recover 75 percent of organic material from source-separated or mixed waste collection service and send it on to an organics recovery facility. The organic material sent to an organics recovery facility must meet certain contamination thresholds. Starting in 2022, organics sent to recovery must not he more than 20 percent of incompatible materials. This limit decreases to 10 percent in 2024. This contamination threshold ensures that organics recovery facilities, like composters, he a high-quality feedstock material that yields a high-quality end product. The incompatible materials limit is a cleanliness standard that applies to the organic waste the transfer/processor sends to recovery.
The incompatible materials limit is essential to the integrity of the recovery efficiency measurement, but the two percentages are not cumulative. The incompatible materials limit ensures that the material being weighed as organic waste sent to recovery is actually organic waste. If the organic waste a transfer/processor sends to organic waste recycling facilities (e.g. compost) exceeds the incompatible materials limit, the likelihood of the material being recovered is greatly reduced, and the recovery efficiency numbers would be distorted. See statement of purpose and necessity for Title 14, Chapter 3, Article 6.2, Section 17409.5.1,17409.5.2 through 17409.5.5 and 17409.5.8. regarding recovery efficiency and incompatible materials limits.
Q: Can the contents of organics and recycling containers be transported to a transfer operation or facility before being sent to a subsequent facility for processing (as this practice is common in rural areas or areas lacking processing infrastructure)?
Yes, Article 3 allows the contents of containers to be initially transported to a consolidation site.
Q: Are campgrounds and marinas that rent water equipment like boats regulated by this law?
All commercial businesses are subject to complying with SB 1383.
Q: Some border counties transport their solid waste and recyclables other states that are not subject to California requirements. Do the regulations impose requirements on these out-of-state facilities?
California does not he the authority to impose requirements upon out-of-state facilities. The regulations impose requirements upon jurisdictions, organic waste generators, and California solid waste facilities. Jurisdictions are responsible for complying with SB 1383 and cannot oid these responsibilities by transporting its organic waste out of the state.
Q: Why are the collection service requirements in the regulations so prescriptive?
SB 1383 grants broad regulatory authority to CalRecycle to impose requirements on jurisdictions in order to achieve the organic waste diversion goals of a 50-percent reduction in the level of the statewide disposal of organic waste from the 2014 level by 2020 and a 75-percent reduction by 2025. This authority includes creation of rules designed to implement these statewide mandates and ensure that the statewide organic requirements are met. CalRecycle has determined that the mandatory collection service requirements and container color and labeling provisions are necessary to maintain consistent standards throughout the state to reduce contamination of organic waste and ensure that collected organic waste is clean and recoverable.
Q: Is organic waste collection required at specific facilities in airports that deal with international waste regulated by the U.S. Department of Food and Agriculture or quarantined or contraband materials seized by U.S. Customs?
Provisions were added to Article 3, Section 18984.13 to address such quarantined material and overriding federal requirements. This section also specifies that nothing in this chapter requires generators, jurisdictions, or other entities subject to these regulations to manage and recover organic waste that federal law explicitly requires to be managed in a manner that constitutes landfill disposal as defined in this chapter. This section is necessary to ensure that these State regulations do not conflict with Federal rules pertaining to the required disposal of types of organic waste defined in this section. Organics diversion requirements are not required of organics collected from specific facilities in airports dealing with international wastes (regulated by Dept. of Food and Ag) and or dealing with quarantined or seized contraband materials (regulated by U.S. Customs). There are over-riding federal requirements related to the treatment (e.g., incineration, autocling, etc.) of solid waste from international flights. Article 3, Section 18984.13 addresses such quarantined material and overriding federal requirements and ensures that these state regulations do not conflict with federal rules pertaining to the required disposal of types of organic waste defined in this section.
Q: Can a jurisdiction implementing a 2-container system in which the gray/blue containers are being used collect bagged organic waste in the blue container?
Bags for organic waste are allowed in any of the containers under certain conditions. There are no additional requirements for bags used in a gray or blue container. However, there are certain restrictions if a bag is used in a green container. A jurisdiction may allow use of plastic bags to collect organic waste in the green container if the facilities the jurisdiction uses to recover the source separated organic waste for the jurisdiction provide written notice to the jurisdiction indicating they can process and remove plastic bags.
Q: Are plastic bags allowed in the collection of organic waste?
Bags are allowed. However, there are certain restrictions if a bag is used in a green container. A jurisdiction may allow use of plastic bags to collect organic waste in the green container if the facilities provide annual written notice to the jurisdiction indicating they can process and remove plastic bags.
Compostable plastics may be placed in the green container if the material meets the ASTM D6400 standard for compostability, and the facility that handles the source separated organic waste provides written notice annually to the jurisdiction stating that the facility can process and recover that material. There are no additional requirements for bags used in a gray or blue container.
Q: Many cities he programs such as annual/biannual citywide cleanup events where residents can place excess materials outside of their containers for collection. Under SB 1383, is green waste the only uncontainerized material allowed? Regarding bagging excess materials, how are jurisdictions supposed to make sure there isn’t contamination?
The regulations do not apply to this situation. While a bulky item collection program is not required by SB 1383, the regulations do not prohibit bulky item collection programs. Any organic materials collected in bulky item programs and holiday tree programs must be diverted from landfill disposal in a manner consistent with SB 1383. Jurisdictions that he a bulky item collection program are subject to the Organic Waste Collection and Processing requirements of the regulations for any of the bulky items/reusable items collected that are defined as organic waste. For example, if the bulky items are comingled and not source separated, the material would need to be processed at a high diversion organic waste processing facility to separate out the organic waste from the inorganic waste.
SB 1383 requires jurisdictions to educate residents about properly sorting organic waste from other materials to reduce contamination. Jurisdictions could add organics source separation information to existing bulky item collection education materials.
To reduce contamination, jurisdictions should provide feedback to residents about properly sorting the organic waste from other materials. The organic waste that is placed in the bags will need to be sent to the appropriate facility so that the organic waste is processed. The jurisdiction will need to assess how this will be dealt with at the appropriate facility if organic waste, recyclables, and trash is placed into the same color bags, e.g., at the facility the bags are opened and the organic waste and recyclables are processed, the bags with organic waste and inorganic recyclables are identified by the resident, etc.
Please see CalRecycle’s model franchise agreement on Page 62 for language that could be included in a franchise agreement or permit. https://calrecycle.ca.gov/organics/slcp/education
Q. Does either Health and Safety Code or Public Resources Code mandate that all trash be collected once per week? Could we provide a recycling bin and an organics bin to each trash service recipient (or household) but not require weekly trash collection?
Public Resources Code (PRC) section 40059(a)(1) authorizes the jurisdiction to determine how to best manage solid waste handling, including the frequency of waste collection.
Jurisdictions he the authority to waive generators from weekly collection of blue (recycling) or gray (trash) containers in a two- or three-container collection system [14 CCR section 18984.11(a)(3)]. However, jurisdictions should coordinate any collection frequency waiver with the applicable enforcement agency to determine whether a less-than-weekly schedule would cause solid waste facilities or operations to violate existing state minimum standards.
Jurisdictions may also consult with local health authorities to ensure that the proposed, less-than-weekly waste pick-up schedule would still meet health and safety standards (e.g., not cause a propagation of vectors or other problems).
Q. Our jurisdiction is currently collecting green waste every other week in the green container. In order to comply with SB 1383 requirements to collect food waste and food-soiled paper, our jurisdiction plans to he generators place the food waste and food-soiled paper into the green container and continue bi-weekly collection of the green container. Is this allowed under SB 1383 regulations?
There is no mandate or requirement for the weekly collection of the green container holding food waste, food soiled paper, or etc. Public Resource Code (PRC) sections 40057 and 40058 outline the responsibilities of local governments in providing solid waste handling services but they do not require a certain collection frequency.
Refer to PRC section 40059(a)(1) which provides in relevant part that the frequency of collection of solid waste is a matter of local concern. That being said, 14 CCR section 17331 mandates that businesses and residents remove trash from their premises at least once every seven (7) days.
Although owners of premises and the tenants thereof must dispose of refuse on a weekly basis, jurisdictions are not required to collect waste weekly. To reconcile this variance in the scheduling, jurisdictions should be mindful to consider the downstream impacts that such a policy decision may he on residential, commercial, and industrial waste generators as well as at the solid waste facility level.
One potential adverse outcome of bi-weekly collection of food waste would be the negative health and safety impacts caused by the propagation of vectors and other health and safety nuisances.
Another adverse outcome would be solid waste facilities or operations’ inability to process a larger mass of food waste collected at the longer service intervals, thereby causing them to reject the larger loads or face violations of applicable solid waste handling standards.
Jurisdictions should coordinate with local health and safety agency and enforcement agency and consider the potential adverse health and safety impacts and burden on the receiving solid waste facilities when adopting a policy decision on the collection frequency of green containers.
Lastly, should a jurisdiction determine that a bi-weekly collection of green containers with green waste, food waste, food-soiled paper, and etc. would be appropriate given all of the concerns explained above, then it should closely monitor its waste collection service and re-assess or re-set the frequency of waste collection if problems or Code violations were to arise.
Back to Top