California launches legislation requiring the composting of food scraps and yard cuttings!

On January 1, 2022, California’s new compost law (Senate Bill 1383) officially went into effect, setting the ambitious targets of reducing organic waste disposal by 50% by 2020 and 75% by 2025.

Every jurisdiction in California that provides solid waste collection services must supply organic waste collection services to all residents and businesses. Also, all California residents must separate organic waste from other garbage. Organic waste includes “food, green material, landscape, and pruning waste, organic textiles and carpets, lumber, wood, paper products, printing and writing paper, manure, biosolids, digestate, and sludges.”

Municipalities and other jurisdictions “can select from various organic waste collection services to match their unique communities and local infrastructure, while producing clean streams of organic feedstock that can be recycled into high-quality, marketable recycled products, including compost, renewable natural gas, electricity, and paper.” In addition, Loop Closing encourages these jurisdictions to consider on-site composting, the most environmentally-friendly option for composting.

As Sally Brown, a soil scientist at the University of Washington, stated on NPR, “Composting may be one of the easiest ways individuals can fight climate change.” Bravo, California, for helping their residents to make that difference!