Backyard composting is allowed and encouraged in unincorporated Solano County. Statewide law SB 1383 makes organic-waste recycling mandatory: residents and businesses in the unincorporated county must subscribe to organics (green-cart) collection unless granted an exemption by the County's Environmental Health Division. The County runs an Organic Waste Reduction Program and an Edible Food Recovery Program to meet SB 1383 targets.
Composting at home in unincorporated Solano County is permitted - there is no ordinance prohibiting a residential backyard compost pile or bin, and onsite composting of yard and food scraps is an encouraged way to divert organics. Overlaying this is California Senate Bill 1383 (the Short-Lived Climate Pollutants Reduction Act), which since 2022 requires every California jurisdiction to provide and require organic-waste recycling. In Solano County's unincorporated areas, subscribing to organics collection service is mandatory unless the generator is granted an exemption or waiver from the County's Environmental Health Division of the Department of Resource Management; the County established its Organic Waste Reduction Program in 2021 and administers SB 1383 through hauling contracts for trash, organics, and recycling in the unincorporated county (contact SB1383@solanocounty.gov). The County also operates the SB 1383-required Edible Food Recovery Program, under which Tier 1 and Tier 2 commercial food generators must arrange to donate surplus edible food. Households that compost or self-haul may qualify for a green-cart waiver but should confirm eligibility with the County, since backyard composting alone does not automatically exempt a property from the organics-subscription requirement. Generated compost and mulch use also supports the County's adopted water-efficient landscape goals.
Backyard composting itself is not a violation unless it creates a nuisance (odor, vectors, rodents) abatable under Chapter 10. Under SB 1383, failing to subscribe to required organics collection without an approved exemption, or a covered food business failing to participate in edible-food recovery, can result in enforcement by the County and, after the state's enforcement phase, administrative penalties consistent with CalRecycle's SB 1383 regulations.
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