Long Beach will not meet a state-imposed deadline to provide recycling services for organic waste — that is, yard debris and food scraps — citywide by Jan. 1. But officials say they hope the folks in Sacramento will provide some relief by extending that timeline.
The law that requires the new recycling service, Senate Bill 1383, was the subject of a City Council study session on Tuesday, Aug. 3. During the meeting, city staff briefed the panel on the intent of the law — to reduce greenhouse gas emissions — and the challenges Long Beach faces in complying with it.
The law, which was signed in 2016, established statewide targets to achieve a 75% reduction of organic waste and to recover at least 20% of edible food by 2025. It includes many requirements for cities, including new mandates for food donation and food recovery, and how waste is managed at special events.
Coming into compliance with every aspect of the law, city staff said Tuesday, will be a significant lift for Long Beach in terms of time and staffing.
And the impact on residents — which could mean another bin, or even two, to manage in addition to the existing trash and recycling receptacles, not to mention roughly double the cost of waste service — could also be significant.
But the state mandate to offer organic waste recycling specifically, city staff said, overlooks the reality on the ground when it comes to options for recycling yard debris and food scraps.
“Staff, myself and my team are really not aware of any publicly open facilities collecting the mix of food scraps and yard debris together,” the city’s Waste Diversion and Recycling officer, Erin Rowland, said. “Most compost facilities just want yard debris and not inclusion of food scraps.
“And many anaerobic digestion facilities,” she added, “are just taking food scraps” and not yard debris.
It’s a problem throughout the state, Rowland said, but particularly in Southern California.
“California only has the capacity, right now, to divert about 50% of organic material,” she said, “that will be generated as a result of this legislation.”
The state legislature, though, seems to be aware of the challenge.
A bill that’s currently under consideration, Senate Bill 619, would extend the deadline for cities to comply. The current proposal would give cities another year so long as they are making a “reasonable effort” to abide by the requirements.
City Council members said Tuesday that the bill is a good sign Sacramento is willing to be flexible with cities on the requirement, but they also noted that it seems unlikely Long Beach would be able to come into compliance even in the next year or two given the scope of the challenge.
“I don’t think two years is enough,” Councilman Al Austin said, “and I’d like to see us, and possibly others, through our advocacy channels, to look at how we can get some help in terms of implementing this from the legislature.”
Still, council members said the goal of the law — to fight climate change — is necessary, and many seemed hopeful Long Beach could be a leader in recycling organic waste.
The city’s Southeast Resource Recovery Facility, which processes solid waste, was a major point of discussion.
“I think, in general, SERRF is old technology,” Vice Mayor Rex Richardson said. “We are overdue on a conversation about what the transition for SERRF is.
“I think, with all the mandates,” he added, “it puts more pressure on us to figure out what the future of SERRF will be.”
City Manager Tom Modica agreed that SERRF will likely play a role in Long Beach offering organic waste recycling, but it will take time to figure out what that role will look like.
“We think Long Beach can actually be a leader here and be in a different situation than other cities,” he said, “but we do need a little bit more time.
“There is a deadline coming that we’re not going to make,” he added, “but hopefully, we’ll get a little bit of relief here as we keep up the work on this.”