City of Arcata Press Release
The City of Arcata is preparing for California Senate Bill 1383 (SB 1383) which requires all residents and businesses to reduce organic waste sent to the landfill.
The City of Arcata is working alongside other local jurisdictions in the region to implement SB 1383 requirements, including organics recycling collection and edible food recovery. Landfilling organic waste has significant impacts on public health and the environment. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, organic waste accounts for a significant portion of California’s waste stream. Left to decompose in landfills, the organic waste releases methane, a gas that traps the sun’s heat, warms the atmosphere and contributes to climate change. Organic waste in landfills also emits air pollutants such as fine particulate matter (PM 2.5), which contributes to health conditions like asthma. To address this issue, Senate Bill 1383 was signed into law and targets the reduction of pollutants, including methane. According to CalRecycle, this law will reduce the impacts of climate change by creating the opportunity for organics to be recycled instead of going to the landfill.
Currently, the City of Arcata has a universal solid waste and recycling collection program, which requires that all residential, multifamily, and business property owners subscribe to one of the service levels provided by Recology Arcata for garbage and recycling collection. When universal organics collection becomes available in Arcata, all property owners will be required to comply in order to compost organics rather than sending them to a landfill.
In addition, businesses that generate large amounts of edible food will be required to have an edible food donation program. California aims to recover 20% of edible food currently being thrown away to help feed the one in four Californians without enough food to eat. You can learn more about the edible food donation program at tinyurl.com/ediblefoodrecoveryprogram.
For more information, including a list of frequently asked questions, please visit our website at cityofarcata.org/SB1383, call (707) 822-8184 or email eservices@cityofarcata.org.
