Plastic Bags? Really? LAist Readers React To California’s "Compost" Law

In 2022, California passed a law requiring that food waste be kept out of landfills. Instead, it had to be composted, donated, or turned into fuel.

Two years later, LAist Climate Emergency Reporter Erin Stone wanted to hear how that’s going for Southern Californians. So we distributed a survey to find out.

We heard from almost 500 of you with the good, the bad, and the “What? Really?”

To be clear: this is not a scientific survey, nor is it a comprehensive picture of how all Angelenos are feeling about California’s compost law. For example, the majority of respondents were homeowners.

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Regardless, the responses paint a useful picture of how separating food waste from other waste is going and some of the challenges holding back adoption. We used people’s experiences and questions to create a guide to following the "compost" law in the Southland.

Below is a snapshot of what we heard in the survey.

Among those who responded, most seem to be having a pretty easy time following the new guidelines. 

Among the people who were not loving it, there were some clear themes in your gripes.

We’ll address one of your gripes right now: yes, plastic bags. Putting the food waste in plastic bags makes it easier for the waste hauler to separate the food waste from other garbage so it goes into the proper waste stream. The bags themselves – even compostable ones – will be cut open, then sent to the landfill. You can read more about the process in our guide to composting.

Most respondents are already required to follow the law.

And if they’re not, they at least know about the law.

For context, the law puts the responsibility on each city and county to decide how to comply, so what exactly happens to your food waste depends on where you live.

For the people who responded “No,” we wanted to know if they had at least heard about it – 88% had.

We also wanted to know about how you're experiencing the law and its effects.

Well, what you don’t know can’t hurt you?

We also asked you: Have you gotten any communication from your local government about the composting law?

If you got the information, was it helpful? For most of you, it seemed to be. 

Finally, we wanted to know what questions you still had about composting.

Below are the most common, grouped into two themes. The number in parentheses indicates how often some variation of that question came up.

Impact and enforcement of the law

• Is this actually happening? Is the law having a positive impact on the environment? (37)
• Who enforces the law, and will there be consequences for not complying? (34)
• How can I get my landlord or large building to comply and provide a communal compost receptacle? Are apartments required to comply? (32)
• Why is there no awareness around this? We need more educational materials. (24)

How to compost

• What is considered compost? What can I actually put in my compost bin? (45)
• How does this process work, and where does the compost actually go? (22)
• Can we use compostable or biodegradable bags? Are there certain kinds we should use? (17)
• Will there be designated containers for composting? (11)
• How can I solve the issue of insects and maggots? (6)
• What happens when someone mixes non compostable items with compostable items? Is the compost contaminated/unusable? (5)

We used these questions to shape our guide to separating food waste and composting.

Who responded to the survey?

Reminder: this is not a scientific survey, nor is it a comprehensive picture of how all Angelenos are feeling about California’s compost law. For transparency, this is who we heard from.

What questions did we ask?

Which of the following describes you? (Multiple-choice question shown to all respondents. They could check multiple answers.)

a. Homeowner
b. Renter
c. Restaurant owner or employee
d. Grocery store owner or employee
e. Other 

Have you been required to start separating your food scraps? (Multiple-choice question shown to all respondents.)

a. Yes
b. No 
c. Not sure

How has the process been for you? (Open-ended question shown to respondents who answered "Yes" to being required to separate their food scraps)

Have you heard about the new law to compost food scraps (SB 1383)? (Multiple-choice question shown to respondents who replied "No" or "Not sure" to the question about whether they are required to separate their food scraps)

a. Yes
b. No

Have you gotten any communication from your local government about the composting law? (Multiple-choice question shown to respondents that replied "Yes" to knowing about the law)

a. Yes
b. No 

Has the government communication been helpful? (Open-ended question shown to respondents who replied "Yes" to having received information from their local government)

How easy has it been to follow the law? (Open-ended question shown to respondents who replied "Yes" to being required to separate their food scraps)

Do you have any questions about the composting law? (Open-ended question shown to all respondents)

Have you seen your trash bill go up in recent years? If so, by how much? (Open-ended question shown to all respondents)

Where do you live or where is your business located? (Open-ended question shown to all respondents)