Panel Asks California to Pause Organic Waste Recycling Mandate

A California panel is asking the state to pause its implementation of a Senate Bill aimed at diverting organic waste and reducing landfill emissions, as they state it’s not working.

California’s Senate Bill 1383 requires cities and counties to offer organic waste recycling, however, a state oversite panel is asking the state to pause the implementation of said bill. This is due to the bill being riddled with problems and missing its goals, according to a report.

Senate Bill 1383 set goals for reducing the amount of organic waste going to landfills by 50% by 2020 and 75% by 2025. However, the Little Hoover Commission said that only about half of local governments are participating in the program and the amount of organic waste in landfills has increased in recent years.

“Despite the importance of diverting organic waste, the state not only missed its 2020 target but sent a million tons of organic waste above the 2014 baseline to landfills,” the report states. “To this point, there has been insufficient progress to make the 2025 goal realistic.”

The law was signed in 2016 to help reduce methane emissions but didn’t take full effect until January 2022. But the commission found only about half of the jurisdictions were prepared by then despite the potential penalties of $10,000 per day in fines.

Read the full article here.