Getting Food Out Of Landfills Is A Big Climate Solution. So Far California Is Lagging On Its Efforts

California’s landmark food waste diversion law, SB 1383, more colloquially known as the state’s compost mandate, went into effect last year. The goal is to reduce food waste in landfills by 75% below 2014 levels by 2025.

A new report by the Little Hoover Commission, an independent state oversight agency, finds the state is unlikely to reach that goal and actually saw increases in food waste in landfills in recent years.

Why food waste diversion matters

When food waste decomposes in landfills, it produces methane, an extremely powerful greenhouse gas that’s heating up the planet. That’s why landfills are the state’s third largest source of methane.

However, composting that food dramatically reduces methane (here’s more on why) and creates nutrient-rich soil that can then be sold to farmers to grow more food. It can also be converted into biogas, which is considered a renewable fuel and has far fewer emissions than traditional methane gas (otherwise called “natural gas”). However, biogas facilities, particularly those sourced from livestock manure, can lead to other environmental problems, including groundwater contamination and local air pollution.

The city of L.A. told LAist that 100% of food waste from single-family homes will be composted, while about 60% of commercial and apartment food waste will be composted, with the rest going to biogas facilities.

2020 goal missed

Using 2014 as a baseline, the SB 1383 legislation required a reduction of 50% of food waste in landfills by 2020 and 75% by 2025.

But between 2014 and 2020, the amount of organic waste going into landfills actually increased by a million tons, according to the report.

“We need to achieve the goals of the program and have less organic material going into landfills,” said Ethan Rarick, the director of the Little Hoover Commission. “The problem is that so far that hasn't happened. There's really no one realistically who thinks that the state is going to make its 2025 goal.”

Report recommendations

The report recommends, among other things:

• Pausing implementation and postponing financial penalties for noncompliance, so that local governments have more time to put their programs in place. Enforcement is set to start next year.
• Funding a public education campaign on why the program matters.
• Incentivizing communities to promote local composting through a tax credit for composting at home or with a community composter, for example.
• Permanently fund a satellite program to monitor greenhouse gas emissions from landfills.
• Improve coordination among state agencies.

State’s response

California’s Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, or CalRecycle, is in charge of overseeing SB 1383’s rollout.

Rachel Wagoner, director of CalRecycle, said the pandemic was a big reason for stalled implementation. She also said the Little Hoover Commission’s review period was too soon (it started in 2019, before the law went into effect in 2022) and doesn’t paint an accurate picture of progress that has been made. She said food waste has actually decreased in landfills by 2 million tons in 2021.

“I think the information is outdated,” Wagoner said. “But I appreciate that there really isn't any time to spare.”

She also said major infrastructure needs, such as a lack of large-scale composting facilities, slowed progress.

“No other state prior to 2016 had taken on a statewide objective like the 75% reduction of organic waste in landfills and so we were really building from the ground up,” Wagoner said.

She said the agency opposes pausing the program in any capacity and that 70% of local governments now have their residential food waste collection programs in place and are working towards their commercial and edible food recovery programs.

A lack of funding was also a major problem for local governments. In response, the state legislature has appropriated roughly $240 million to help local governments implement their programs. Wagoner said she expects progress to ramp up quickly.

“We’re moving in the right direction,” Wagoner said. “I'm much less focused on the date as much as I'm focused on getting to the objective.”

What’s next

The report will go to the Legislature to be considered.