San Diego approves new recycling mandates to meet state requirements, encourage organics diversion

San Diego, California, has approved several new recycling mandates to establish requirements for organic waste disposal and close a loophole that exempts many businesses and apartment complexes from any kind of recycling, reports the The San Diego Union-Tribune.

City officials say the new mandates move the city closer to its goal of producing zero waste by 2040, while also laying the groundwork for complying with California’s new crackdown on organic waste that produces methane gas.

Under the new mandates, which are amendments to San Diego’s recycling ordinance adopted in 2007, recycling procedures will be required at businesses, single-family homes, apartment buildings and condominium complexes.

Many businesses and multifamily properties will be forced to begin recycling for the first time, the Union-Tribune reports. Those that have already had recycling programs must add yard waste and other organic materials, including green trimmings and food scraps.

Businesses also must start recycling food material and food-soiled paper that is mixed with food material. The city has a related goal of diverting 20 percent of edible food waste to food banks or similar organizations.

Businesses and multifamily properties are exempt if they produce less than half a cubic yard of solid waste per week, which is roughly one-sixth of a typical dumpster.

Single-family homes must start recycling yard trimmings and food scraps if they produce at least two cubic yards of organic waste. But the city doesn’t plan to immediately issue customers new green bins for organic waste, forcing them to put that waste in their own receptacles.

According to Ken Prue, the city’s recycling program manager, these changes will be followed later this year by several municipal code amendments that will include mandates to help San Diego comply with an aggressive new state law, SB 1383.

The law, which has mandates that kick in next year, aims to reduce methane emissions, the No. 1 contributor to climate change.

Prue called the law “a massive overhaul” of the state’s waste management system that “poses a significant challenge to local government.”

It has steep penalties for not meeting the mandated diversion rates. And “good faith efforts,” which have previously been sufficient, no longer will be, he said.