Virtual meeting on new Residential Food Scrap Recycling Program

Waste Management, the City’s waste hauler, will host a Virtual Townhall at 6 pm on December 16 regarding the new Residential Food Scrap Recycling Program rolling out on New Year’s Day in response to State law.

Beginning January 1, 2022, Senate Bill 1383, whose lead author is Ricardo Lara, requires residents to begin placing food scraps like fruit and vegetable trimmings, eggshells, pasta, grains, coffee grounds, leftover inedible food, and expired food, along with their garden trimmings into the green-lidded container provided by Waste Management of Orange County. The materials will be collected on the same day as residents’ trash and recycling containers and transported to a facility for composting. See the FAQs about the Food Scrap Recycling Program at this link.

SB 1383 requires residents across California to participate in organics recycling. According to the State, the program aims to reduce short-lived climate pollutants coming from local landfills from food rotting and emitting methane. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas that traps heat in the atmosphere, which is bad for the environment and climate. By collecting food scraps and yard waste for composting, experts say we can avoid some of these negative effects of sending these materials to landfill and create nutritious soil amendment in the process.

Residents can learn more about the new State-mandated program from Waste Management. The virtual meeting link will be live on December 16. No registration is required.

View the October 28 Virtual Town Hall meeting on YouTube.
View the November 30 Virtual Town Hall meeting on YouTube.