SACRAMENTO, Calif. \u2014 While many people are just getting their day started, Andrew Vue with the city of Sacramento is already busy examining people\u2019s trash.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we\u2019re doing is we\u2019re inspecting for SB 1383, which is the state mandate to make sure that all waste is source-separated,\u201d said Vue, a code enforcement officer.<\/p>\n
California\u2019s 2022 Organics Recycling Law requires certain businesses to donate surplus edible food, and businesses and households to separate organic waste like food scraps and yard trimmings from the landfill to reduce methane emissions.<\/p>\n
Decomposing organic waste in landfills accounts for 20% of California\u2019s methane emissions, according to the state\u2019s waste recycle department, CalRecycle.<\/p>\n
As Sacramento works to comply with the law, public education is a major focus, Vue said.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the most part, we see a lot of [trash] cans are pretty good,\u201d Vue said. \u201cSo there\u2019s two stickers. There\u2019s one that\u2019s, let\u2019s sort it out, to basically highlight different items in a bin that needs to go into the bin correctly and then you can sort it that way. And then we have great job tags, which are containers that have like zero to no cross-contamination.\u201d<\/p>\n
The City of Sacramento said it hasn\u2019t issued any fines and doesn\u2019t plan to.<\/p>\n
Since the law took effect, jurisdictions have faced implementation challenges, and one of the nation\u2019s largest organics recycling facilities near Los Angeles filed for bankruptcy in 2023 after saying it wasn\u2019t receiving enough material from municipalities, before later reopening under new ownership.<\/p>\n
CalRecycles\u2019 goal was to cut organic waste sent to landfills 75% below 2014 levels by the year 2025. \u00a0<\/p>\n
As that deadline has come and gone without success, reaching that reduction target remains a challenge, said UC Davis food science professor Ned Spang.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t necessarily have enough compost and anaerobic digestion facilities available to handle this huge amount of waste that we\u2019re now trying to divert from landfills,\u201d Spang said.<\/p>\n
The latest CalRecycle data shows 11.2 million tons of organic waste was diverted in 2022, but to reach the 75% reduction target, the state says about 27 million tons must be diverted annually.<\/p>\n
CalRecycle said progress is being made, with 97% of required communities and 75% of required businesses now participating in organics recycling programs.<\/p>\n
In Sacramento, City of Sacramento spokesperson Jesa David said organics collection has increased by nearly 2,500 tons since 2022.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the success, really, is how much is not going to the landfill,\u201d David said. \u201cHow much of these materials are turning into compost instead? We have also implemented a compost giveaway program the last couple of years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Spang echoing sentiments of the progress so far is a step in the right direction.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re behind the targets, but I think we\u2019re better off than we were a few years ago as a result of the legislation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vue said they\u2019re always happy to help people better understand what they need to be doing.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe source separation guide is really good because it gives you a visual,\u201d Vue said. \u201cBut we have also a city website that can talk about source separation.\u201d<\/p>\n
And hopes, he said, to continue seeing improvements that will help achieve the state\u2019s climate goals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SACRAMENTO, Calif. \u2014 While many people are just getting their day started, Andrew Vue with the city of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":428306,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[36621,5997,7,9,8,643,5998,13,5999,136,5996],"class_list":["post-428305","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-app-environment","tag-app-local-state-politics","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-environment","tag-jamie-kennedy","tag-politics","tag-socal-what-you-need-to-know","tag-top-stories","tag-vod"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428305","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=428305"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428305\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/428306"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=428305"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=428305"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=428305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}