Last week the Seal Beach Chamber of Commerce received an update on coming state mandates for organic waste recycling. That’s food and plant waste.
“My number one take away was that many food service establishments will need to handle organic waste differently,” wrote Rob Jahncke, president of the Seal Beach Chamber of Commerce.
“It is all a part of the State plan in dealing with reducing green house gases and emissions. The organic waste laws are being phased in and these laws will effect everyone in the very near future,” wrote Jahncke.
“At the Chamber meeting, we also learned that these new laws are from the State level but NOT funded,” wrote Jahncke.
“So, it is up to the City to develop the plan for Seal Beach without needed resources to manage it,” wrote Jahncke.
“Republic [Services] is the city’s waste service who will actually implement the plan. Handling organic waste will incur more costs and the amount will depend on each situation,” wrote Jahncke.
California Senate Bill 1383 sets targets for local governments to reduce organic waste. The bill went into effect on New Year’s Day 2022. That means mandatory food waste recycling for residents, according to the joint presentation from Manny Gouveia, West Area municipal manager for Republic Services, and Assistant City Manager Patrick Gallegos.
Residents will also have to recycle “green waste.” That means grass, leaves, “home garden residues,” weeds, yard trimmings, etc., according to CalRecycle.
Businesses will also have to recycle food waste. The goal of all this, according to CalRecycle is to reduce the air pollutants that come from California’s landfills.
“Organics like food scraps, yard trimmings, paper, and cardboard make up half of what Californians dump in landfills,” according to CalRecycle. That, in turn, will affect costs. “As you may recall on January 24, 2022, the City Council adopted an ordinance related to 1383 and on March 28, 2022, approved a contract with HF&H to negotiate [SB]1383 rates with Republic Services,” Gallegos wrote in a May 16 email. “We are about to initiate negotiations with Republic regarding these rates,” Gallegos wrote. Once an agreement is reached, staff will bring the new rates to the City Council for adoption, he wrote.