In September 2016, Senate Bill (SB) 1383 was signed into law and the final regulations were adopted in November 2020. SB 1383 is known as the Short-Lived Climate Pollutants bill. One of the main ways to achieve the goals of this bill will be to significantly reduce the amount of food, food soiled paper, and green waste going into landfills. Reducing organic waste stored in landfills will in turn reduce amounts of methane, a short-lived climate pollutant, released into the atmosphere.
Goals
A goal of the State's Climate Strategy is to reduce the levels of greenhouse gas emissions to 40% below the levels in 1990.
SB 1383 sets a methane emissions reduction target for sources in California to reduce organic waste disposal by 75% from the 2014 baseline by 2025. Edible food distributors must rescue the maximum amount of their edible food that would otherwise be disposed by 2025.
Definition
Organic waste, per SB 1383, is defined as solid wastes containing material originated from living organisms and their metabolic waste products including, but not limited to, food, green material, landscape and pruning waste, organic textiles and carpets, lumber, wood, paper products, printing and writing paper, manure, biosolids, digestate and sludges.
Compliance
County departments and facilities need to plan on how to comply with SB 1383 to meet the following requirements:
Implement organic waste diversion from landfill disposal by January 1, 2022.
Establish an edible food recovery program by January 1, 2022 for Tier 1 generators and by January 1, 2024 for Tier 2 generators.
Assist the County to procure products made from organic waste generated within the state by implementing annual procurement of compost, renewable gas (for transportation fuels, electricity, or heating applications) or electricity from biomass conversion produced from organic waste by January 1, 2022.
