Item 11 - Orange County Grand Jury Report: Talking Trash: Recyclables and Organic Waste

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Talking Trash: Recyclables and Organic Waste the required reduction in organic waste destined for landfills. SB 1383 then set goals to reduce organic waste sent to landfills below the 2014 baseline by fifty percent no later than January 1, 2020, and seventy-five percent by January 1, 2025. However, despite the law's requirements, the amount of organic waste sent to landfills statewide actually increased by twenty-three percent above the 2014 baseline (Little Hoover Commission, 2023). SB 1383 requires all jurisdictions to memorialize the bill's requirements in their municipal codes and ordinances no later than January 1, 2022. One of the results of these changes is that each jurisdiction had to amend or renegotiate their waste haulers' franchise agreements to incorporate the new requirements. In accordance with SB 1383, as of January 1, 2024, all jurisdictions (and therefore all waste producers) will be subject to enforcement, including monetary fines. While SB 1383 has a myriad of requirements for commercial as well as residential waste producers, the OCGJ narrowed its investigation to the impacts associated with local jurisdiction compliance with SB 1383 on Orange County residents. This report focuses on the specific requirements associated with SB 1383, the local actions taken so far to meet those requirements, the success of those actions and how they are measured, local agency outreach and education efforts, and the challenges that remain for the County of Orange and the county's thirty-four cities. REASON FOR THE STUDY The organics diversion mandate under SB 1383 began to take effect in California on January 1, 2022. This means that jurisdictions in California were required to implement programs for the separation and diversion of organic waste, including food scraps, from landfill disposal. The actual enforcement of this requirement started on January 1, 2024. The OCGJ's intent was to take a closer look at how Orange County jurisdictions are responding to this mandate, their successes and challenges, and the impact of this new requirement on the Orange County residents. The OCGJ initially focused on two questions: • What actions have Orange County jurisdictions taken to implement organics collection for their residential customers, and how do they measure the success of these actions? • Given that one key to the success of SB 1383 is public participation, have local jurisdictions conducted sufficient outreach and education? While investigating the answers to these questions, the OCGJ discovered additional information about Orange County recycling and waste management that is notably relevant to this topic and is included in this report. 2023-2024 Orange County Grand Jury Page 4