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Some Orange County cities are grappling with a state mandate that requires separating food waste from trash in an effort to reach a statewide target of a 75% reduction in organic waste sent to landfills.
Many local officials say it boils down to a lack of educational campaigns, with OC Grand Jurors also criticizing a lack of public outreach efforts.
There’s also growing local concerns that the lofty composting mandates are going to drive up costs on residents.
Most recently, Brea struggled with the new composting regulations when the council was slated to decide on new solid waste rates for residents and commercial customers.
Councilman Steven Vargas said the new regulations are increasing costs.
“What the state is doing as far as trash goes is ridiculous, and it’s affecting our residents,” he said at the Feb. 4 city council meeting. “I want to keep costs down.”
The city currently does not meet the state requirements by failing to implement a food and organic waste collection program for residents and lacking outreach and education programs to update residents on changes in waste separation and edible food recovery, according to the staff report.
According to an Orange County Grand Jury report released last year, most OC cities won’t meet the 75% organic waste reduction this year. Out of 11 cities examined by grand jurors, only two have distributed bins that meet state requirements.
To comply with state regulations, cities are required to provide residents and businesses with bins to separate food waste and organic materials from regular trash, spearhead food recovery programs for restaurants and grocery stores and educate residents about new regulations.
The bill was signed into law in 2016 by then Gov. Jerry Brown.
Is Public Outreach Key?
Brea isn’t alone in grappling with the new state composting mandates – Santa Ana is also wrestling with the issue.
According to city spokesman Paul Eakins, Santa Ana filed for an extension with the state.
In an email, Eakins wrote that single family homes have the proper waste bins and that the city is working to get businesses and multi-family to reduce throwing food waste in trash bins.
Other OC cities have tackled the new law by educating residents and businesses, while some offer compostable bags to collect food waste.
Anaheim Public Works Director Rudy Emami said officials have rolled out ongoing public outreach efforts.
“There’s some residents that understand it, some aren’t happy with it. But it’s a statewide requirement that we’re obligated to implement. So that first part of it is a learning curve. I remember many years ago when we came up with the third bin for recycling it took a little bit for everyone to take to, but now it’s like second nature,” Emami said in a phone interview on Feb. 10.
Republic Director of Organic Operations Chris Seney echoed similar sentiments.
“It’s new. That’s the biggest thing,” Seney said in a phone interview this month. He said compost education will be ongoing – similar to recycling.
Republic hauls waste throughout OC in Anaheim, Brea, Fountain Valley, Garden Grove, Huntington Beach, Placentia, Seal Beach and parts of Buena Park and Santa Ana.
Seney said he was doubtful that local jurisdictions would reach the lofty goal of a 75% reduction in organic waste sent to landfills, but was optimistic that they’re headed in the right direction.
“We’re doing all the right things,” Seney said.
In Anaheim, public outreach has been ongoing since 2023, according to city spokesperson Mike Lyster. He said they’ve created videos for the city channel and Youtube, newsletters and social media.
Lyster said the biggest thing in educating residents is understanding what can go in the food waste bin.
Is Irvine Seeing Success?
Irvine is ahead of other OC cities, according to acting Public Works and Sustainability Director Luis Estevez, who said Irvine took action to comply with state law by adopting an ordinance in April 2023 and launched public outreach efforts.
“Irvine partnered with Waste Management to conduct boots-on-the-ground type outreach and education conducted via waste assessments and on-site training,” Estevez said in an email.
He said one of the biggest challenges the city faced in implementing new regulations was with residents and the “ick” factor associated with throwing away food waste.
“The city negotiated the use of compostable plastic bags for organics collection to reduce the ick factor and encourage participation,” he said.
The city also distributed indoor kitchen pails for residents to use.
In the coming year, Irvine will hire a code compliance officer to inspect trash cans.
“That means actually going out into the field and lifting lids and doing physical inspections,” said Estevez in a phone interview.
Estevez said residents and businesses will receive a notice of violation and may face fines if they continuously throw food waste in garbage bins.
But, he added, the main priority is to educate residents.
“It’s all about education at this point,” he said. “It is a multi-pronged approach, and using all of our social media channels and communication channels to get the message out.”
Estevez said state law has placed a regulatory burden on cities, and many cities have had to hire additional staff who are solely focused on environmental recycling programs.
“This is probably the biggest impact on city operations since the original recycling mandates were first adopted,” he said. “All of it is unfunded by the state, and more often than not, those costs end up getting passed along to the ratepayers.”
Brea’s Monthslong Struggle
Despite looming deadlines from CalRecycle to comply with 2022 statewide mandates, Brea City Council members delayed a contract approval with its waste hauler, Republic Services, because they said they disagreed with arbitrary rate increases.
Council members raised concerns that an increase in the commercial rates would burden businesses and questioned what opportunities might be available with the uncertain future of the countywide Waste Management Initiative for Sustainability and Efficiency (WISE) program.
During the Feb. 18 city council meeting, council members asked Republic to come back with a different proposal that wouldn’t increase commercial rates to an additional 0.75% per year over five years on top of the garbage and trash collection fees as proposed by Republic.
Councilwoman Cecilia Hopp said residents will feel the effects of increased rates alongside businesses.
“We are trying to do this in the most responsible way possible for both our residents and our businesses,” she said. “When you talk about putting the onus on the businesses, eventually that affects the residences too, because it affects the price of goods and services.”
Marick said state mandates on organic waste and the threat of penalties are driving the council to take action on waste management.
“I want us to be in compliance. This is something we know the state is concerned about. I will say it has taken significantly longer than it needed to for us to even get to this part,” Marick said.
“We’re looking at a rate increase but ultimately our goal is to get you in compliance with SB 1383, the state regulation,” said Stephen Herring, area municipal manager for Republic at the Feb. 18 meeting.
Cities that do not comply with organic waste disposal limits, reporting, education and outreach programs, and food recovery requirements may face penalties of up to $10,000 per day, according to the staff report.
Brea Public Works Senior Management Analyst Matthew Cuevas said he was told by colleagues that CalRecycle has started compliance reviews.
“They are being very, very strict, and they aren’t allowing for any sort of wiggle room,” he said at the Feb. 4 meeting.
Vargas said public outreach is fundamental to inform residents of updates and changes to prevent them from being fined.
During the Feb. 18 meeting, Vargas told Republic officials that the state mandate was overloading waste haulers and putting pressure on city officials.
“We recognize that the state is the problem here. You are our vendor, so we have to cooperate with you. That’s why we’ve been in negotiations for a year and a half. So the state law that’s changed has put us in this position.”
Gigi Gradillas is a Voice of OC Tracy Wood Reporting Fellow. Contact her at gigi.gradillas@gmail.com or on Twitter @gigigradillas.
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