Council Adopts Motion From Councilmember Raman To Reduce Cost Of Participating In Organics Recycling Program

For Immediate Release: June 16, 2023

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COUNCIL ADOPTS MOTION FROM COUNCILMEMBER RAMAN TO REDUCE COST OF PARTICIPATING IN ORGANICS RECYCLING PROGRAM IN THE CITY OF LOS ANGELES

LOS ANGELES — Today, City Council voted to adopt a motion introduced by Councilmember Nithya Raman to mitigate the financial impacts on commercial accounts participating in the City of Los Angeles’s organics recycling program. Beginning January 1, 2024, per City ordinance, all commercial accounts without green bin service can be fined until they add the service. Councilmember Raman’s legislation seeks to lessen the financial burden commercial customers will face when enforcement of organics recycling participation begins.

In 2016, Governor Brown signed Senate Bill 1383 to address climate change via greenhouse gas emissions produced by trapped food waste in landfills. The bill aims to reduce organic waste disposal by 75% in 2025 and is a crucial step in combating climate change. However, commercial accounts that are serviced by contracted recycLA Service Providers (RSPs), including a majority of the City’s larger multifamily buildings and businesses, mostly do not currently have green bins. While green bin service has been mandated for commercial accounts since 2018, there has been no enforcement mechanism and costs have often been prohibitive. 

“Reducing the amount of organic waste diverted to landfills is one of the fastest methods of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, particularly in California where organics such as food waste, paper, yard clippings, and cardboard make up about half the contents of our landfills,” said Councilmember Raman. “With this motion, we are hoping to set the city up for success in meeting the new state mandated composting requirements and put a system in place to reduce the financial burden on hundreds of thousands of commercial account holders while also rewarding compliance.” 

Councilmember Raman’s motion instructs LA Sanitation & Environment (LASAN) to report back within 60 days with options for commercial accounts to mitigate cost increases associated with adding commercial green bin service and to create and implement a window stickering program to reward businesses who add green bin service and recognize them for their efforts in being compliant with SB 1383. Additionally, the motion instructs LASAN to report to the City Council on a quarterly basis on City-wide compliance with SB 1383 so that the Council may know the success of the program and if any additional help or incentives are needed to ensure its success. 

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