Posted on 07/01/2021 4:47:57 PM PDT by Mr. Mojo
SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - A new law that takes effect on Jan. 1, 2022, will dramatically change what you can and can't recycle in the state of California.
According to SB 1383, any person or business that creates garbage will have to recycle all their organic food waste.
"It really brings a lot of material under the umbrella of what must be recycled," says Ken Prue, the City of San Diego's Deputy Director of Environmental Services.
Prue says people will no longer be allowed to throw away food scraps or other organic material. Instead, they'll have to go into the green bin currently used for disposing of yard trimmings and other organic waste. He says the city will provide its trash customers a small green bin to keep in the kitchen to make it easier.
"Hopefully, people give it a try, they have a good experience, and then they just start doing it," says Prue.
The new law says organic waste must now be collected every week and taken to a facility to compost it into reusable products. San Diego recently received a $3 million grant to upgrade the Miramar Landfill Greenery to meet the requirements.
Prue says the shift in policy will help divert more than 200,000 pounds of food waste from the landfill. He says food waste makes up around 15% of the materials that get thrown out each year.
He believes keeping all of that out of the landfill will help the environment by eliminating many toxic gases created when food waste decomposes in the dump.
But the benefit will come at a cost.
Under the "People's Ordinance" from 1919, the City of San Diego is required to provide trash services to all residents who live in single-family homes. That means the cost of the new bins, expanded collection, and all of the staff and infrastructure needed to comply with SB 1383 will have to come out of the city's general fund.
Prue says the city has already spent $15 million to buy 240,000 of the small kitchen bins they plan to give to residents.
For people and businesses not covered under the People's Ordinance, the cost of compliance will likely be added to their bill with whichever company picks up the trash.
That means apartment rent, HOA fees, service fees, and even the costs of things you buy could go up.
Prue says many businesses that create food scraps, like restaurants and grocery stores, are already part of the city's robust composting program or food donation program, so they may not see any change. He hopes companies who manage multi-family housing will find a way to absorb the extra costs.
"While they're adding service for this organics, hopefully, they need less service for trash," he says. "That would help offset the cost."
The city will also have to pay the costs of enforcement. At first, Prue says they plan an educational approach to help people change their habits, with "lid flippers" inspecting garbage and leaving "oops notes" where people/businesses don't follow the new law.
Down the road, however, the city will begin to levy fines against rule-breakers. The state could also fine the ctiy if the CalRecycle program believes San Diego is not doing enough to make people follow the rules.
"There will be a very large education component because the whole thing is helping people understand the requirements and getting them on board," says Prue.
Over the next six months, the city and the companies that collect trash will start educational outreach efforts to teach people what they can and can't throw away. Prue hopes it becomes second nature to keep food waste out of the garbage.
"I think it's easier than a lot of people think," he says. "Hopefully, they'll just get in the habit, and in no time, they won't even really think about the fact that they're doing it."
Garbage is still Garbage
Damn, a lot of Progressives are going to starve by taking away reliable food sources.
Another reason not to live in California, no matter how nice the weather is.
Isn’t that what the garbage disposal is for? Who wants to keep smelly stuff in your kitchen for a week?
I don’t buy organic food. Too expensive. Not enough pesticides.
Leftist paradise.
Old spaghetti? In the toilet. Spoiled milk? In the toilet. Egg shells? Crushed and in the toilet.
I bet they already check your Toilet from below ,LOL
Candid Camera once did a comedy bit where homeowners were told they had to sort their garbage into 8 different, color-coded cans. Come on California, you can do it. Turn that joke into reality!
And here’s the bit:
All this crap us going to make living even less affordable, great!
That’s what dogs and chickens are for.
That’ll smell nice on those 100 degree days when your 6 day old scraps ferment in a plastic tub
The enormous amount of scientific ignorance exhibited by those who now control our lives is breathtaking.
These people are not fit to hold office.
I wonder why digested organic food waste is exempted from this rule. Isn’t it still organic food waste?
And the inevitable brown/black outs
“No...that’s not a piece of leftover sashimi crawling around in that bin”
Are disposals still legal? Flush toilets?
ML/NJ
And of course a new police force to enforce this unenforceable law. They will be called the trash police, their motto: “We love every bit of trash, and our bodies reek of it.”
"Vee haf vays of making you recycle!"
California Über Alles!
Get a goat, problem solved.
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