California SB 1383 (effective January 1, 2022) requires organic waste recycling statewide. In unincorporated Santa Barbara County, compliance varies by region: South Coast, Santa Ynez Valley, and Cuyama residents keep food scraps in the trash because the Tajiguas ReSource Center recovers organics from mixed waste, while North County (Santa Maria and Lompoc valleys) residents must put food scraps in their green carts.
Mandatory organics recycling in unincorporated Santa Barbara County is driven by California SB 1383, the state's Short-Lived Climate Pollutants law, which took effect January 1, 2022 and targets a 75% reduction in organic waste sent to landfills by 2025. SB 1383 requires jurisdictions to provide organics collection and requires residents and businesses to participate; jurisdictions must educate and ultimately enforce. Santa Barbara County implements SB 1383 differently by region, depending on infrastructure. For the South Coast and the Santa Ynez and Cuyama valleys, residents keep food scraps in their regular trash: their waste is processed at the County's Tajiguas Landfill ReSource Center, which mechanically recovers about 75% of organics from the mixed-waste stream for composting and clean energy, so these residents 'see no changes in their trash collection process' and do not source-separate food scraps at home. For unincorporated North County (Santa Maria and Lompoc valleys, including Los Alamos, Vandenberg Village, and Orcutt), residents must separate food scraps from the trash and place them, along with food-soiled paper and yard waste, into their green carts; weekly green-cart service was added, and free kitchen pails are offered. SB 1383 also mandates edible-food recovery: Tier 1 generators (supermarkets, large grocery stores, food distributors and wholesalers) since January 1, 2022, and Tier 2 generators (large restaurants, hotels, health facilities, large venues, schools) since January 1, 2024, must donate surplus edible food. Most businesses must subscribe to organics service unless granted a waiver after County evaluation.
Residents and businesses required to source-separate organics who fail to participate, and Tier 1/Tier 2 commercial food generators that fail to recover edible food, are out of compliance with SB 1383 and the County's implementing program; the County, as the enforcing jurisdiction, can issue notices and ultimately penalties. Contaminating organics carts with non-organic material can also lead to enforcement and rejected loads.
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