SB 1383: Short-Lived Climate Pollutants (SLCP) Summary
SB 1383 establishes methane emissions reduction targets in a statewide effort to reduce emissions of short-lived climate pollutants (SLCP) in various sectors of California's economy. SB 1383 establishes targets to achieve a 50 percent reduction in the level of the statewide disposal of organic waste from the 2014 level by 2020 and a 75 percent reduction by 2025.
Methane emissions resulting from the decomposition of organic waste in landfills are a significant source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions contributing to global climate change. Organic materials--including waste that can be readily prevented, recycled, or composted--account for a significant portion of California's overall waste stream. Food waste alone accounts for approximately 17-18 percent of total landfill disposal. Increasing food waste prevention, encouraging edible food rescue, and expanding the composting and in-vessel digestion of organic waste throughout the state will help reduce methane emissions from organic waste disposed of in California's landfills.
City Priorities
Organics and Recycling Collection: ensuring all residents have access to recycling and organics collection services at home and at work.
Education and Outreach: providing residents and businesses with the information they need to recycle with confidence.
Contamination Monitoring: inspecting the waste stream to identify items that are being disposed of improperly and to reduce contamination.
Edible Food Recovery: connecting food donors (grocery stores, large restaurants, large events, etc.) to food banks and meal sites.
Procurement: creating and maintaining a strong market for products made from recycled organic waste – like compost, mulch, and biogas.
Capacity Planning: ensuring local facilities, including composting facilities and anaerobic digesters, have enough space to recycle our organic waste into new products.
Contamination Monitoring
SB 1383 mandates that local jurisdictions conduct annual assessments of container contamination and improper sorting of recyclable materials. This requirement will be met through annual field audits during which Pasadena Public Works staff, franchise haulers, or consultants perform visual inspection of randomly selected trash, recycling, and organic waste containers. Residents will receive "Good Job" tags or "Oops" tags based on the level of contamination in their carts. These inspections result solely in education to the property, no citations.
Who is Impacted
Per SB 1383 and the City Ordinance, single-family properties, multi-family properties, and commercial businesses are required to subscribe to and participate in organics collection services.
Click below to learn more about how you can comply with the new law.
Residents must sort their waste properly, which means not putting organic material (food, paper, yard waste, etc.) in the trash.
All residents should place bagged food waste in their yard waste cart. To learn more about options for organics diversion, including backyard composting and community compost hubs, please visit the Organics Recycling & Composting page.
In Pasadena, apartments/multifamily residences usually receive trash, recycling, and organics service from one of the city’s franchise haulers. Your property manager is responsible for working with your hauler to make sure you have the proper service. Residents must sort their waste properly, which means not putting organic material (food, paper, yard waste, etc.) in the trash.
If you don’t know if you have organics service, we recommend first contacting your property manager. You may also contact your hauler—their name and phone number should be printed on your trash bin. If you believe you do not have access to organics service, you can request that the city investigate by submitting a request through our City Service Center. (Type 1383 in the search box to easily find the topic)
Businesses must sort their waste properly, and they must train their staff annually on proper sorting.
If the business sells/provides organic waste or recyclables, they must provide the appropriate bins in the front of house for customer sorting.
Businesses can contact their current hauler to add organics recycling services. Please review the list of franchise commercial haulers that offer organics recycling.
Commercial businesses may qualify for a waiver (Pasadena Municipal Code section 8.66.060 regarding waivers) for this requirement if the organic waste generated falls below certain thresholds:
- less than 20 gallons of organic waste per week with a total waste collection service of 2 cubic yards or more
- less than 10 gallons of organic waste per week with a total waste collection service of less than 2 cubic yards
In those situations, account holders or their designees may request more information about applying for a waiver by emailing recycle@cityofpasadena.net or submit an application via our online waiver application.
Under SB 1383, certain large commercial edible food generators are required to donate their excess edible food to food recovery agencies. These businesses will be notified by the City. Other food generating businesses are not excluded from donating, but it’s not required.
Edible food generators and food recovery organizations/services can find more information about the SB 1383 food donation requirements here
If you would like to submit an alleged violation of the State of California Senate Bill (SB) 1383 or Chapter 8.66 of the City of Pasadena Municipal Code, please click here to submit a report online through our City Service Center. (Type 1383 in the search box to easily find the topic)
Your report may be submitted anonymously. If you choose to include your name, it will not be shared with the alleged violator and City staff will be able to contact you if more information is needed.