Herald, CA Trash & Recycling: Mandatory Organics Recycling (2026)

California's Senate Bill 1383 (2016) requires that organic materials be kept out of landfills, and it mandates that jurisdictions like Sacramento County provide organic waste collection to all residents and businesses. The County's Department of Waste Management & Recycling complies by providing weekly curbside organics collection in the unincorporated area. On July 4, 2022, the former green waste cart, which had been collected every other week for yard trimmings only, became the Organics cart for food scraps, food-soiled paper, and yard trimmings, with service increased to every week. To support this, the County added new collection routes, automated trucks, and processing capacity, including the North Area Recovery Station. Accepted organics include food scraps (fruit and vegetable peelings, pits, seeds, cores, stems; cooked or uncooked meat scraps, bones, shells, cheese, bread, cereal, pasta, eggshells, spoiled food), food-soiled paper (napkins, non-coated paper plates, paper towels, coffee filters and grounds, tea bags, paper bags, and greasy pizza boxes), and yard trimmings (leaves, grass, branches, prunings four inches in diameter or less, and clean wood scraps). Not accepted are plastics (bags, Styrofoam, take-out containers, utensils), coated paper, compostable cups/utensils, glass, metal, liquids, oil and grease, and animal/pet waste. SB 1383 is a statewide mandate enforced through CalRecycle; single-family residents must sort organics into the designated cart, while businesses and multifamily complexes of 5+ units must subscribe or self-haul to approved facilities.