Mandatory Composting
California Senate Bill 1383 took effect on January 1, 2022 for all residents (single-family homes and apartments/condos) and businesses.The new law aims to:
- Reduce statewide disposal of organic waste by 75 percent by 2025
- Rescue at least 20 percent of currently disposed of edible food for human consumption by 2025
The regulations require everyone in California to compost all organic waste, including paper, cardboard, yard materials, food scraps, and food-soiled paper. Visit RethinkWaste for details.
For Residents in Single Family Homes:
Residents in single family homes should have already received their curbside organics (compost/green cart). Didn’t get yours? Contact Recology to get your cart to your doorstep. Once it arrives, make composting a habit for your household.
For Businesses and Apartments:If you own a business or apartment/condo complex (of five units or more), you are required to:
- Subscribe to and participating in the organics collection service via Recology San Mateo County, or self-haul organic waste to a specified composting facility, community composting program, or other collection activity or program.
- Provide collection containers for organic waste and recyclables to employees, contractors, tenants, and customers.
- For all outdoor and indoor containers, the container bodies or lids shall conform to the following color scheme: gray/black for garbage, blue for recycling, and green for organics. In addition, containers shall have labels with graphic images to indicate primary materials accepted and prohibited. Recology San Mateo County may be able to provide these containers and labels at no additional cost.
- Annually provide educational information about the legal requirements to compost and recycle including how to properly sort between the three waste streams. RethinkWaste and Recology San Mateo County can provide educational materials for your employees and apartment/condo residents.
Edible food recovery is the act of diverting surplus edible food from businesses, organizations, or events that otherwise would have been disposed of for consumption by members of our community. Under SB 1383 large food-generating business such as grocery stores, restaurants, and hotels are required to donate surplus edible food to food recovery organizations. Edible food generators must arrange to recover the maximum amount of their edible food that would otherwise go to landfills.
San Carlos has joined with San Mateo County’s other jurisdictions to create one countywide edible food recovery program to help all affected businesses and organizations meet their new mandatory requirements. Learn more about edible food recovery requirements including if your business needs to comply and find information on the countywide program.