Composting 101 with Caleigh Wells

As of January 2023, all California residents and businesses are required to compost. Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.

This Earth Day, we invited Caleigh Wells, KCRW's Healthy Communities reporter, to sort out your burning questions about composting.

Need a countertop compost bin? You can get one for free! Follow this link.

Organic waste is the largest waste stream in California. When it's buried in landfills, it tends to decompose anaerobically and generate methane gas, a potent greenhouse gas. What is "organic waste"? It's a broad term that includes everything from food waste and flower cuttings to yard trimmings and uncoated, food-grade paper materials.

Egg shells, bread, grains, pasta, raw or cooked food scraps, dairy, meat and seafood (as long as it's not in the packaging) are allowed in the green bins. Photo by Jonathan Kemper/Unsplash.

Senate Bill 1383 requires the state to reduce trash disposal by 75% by 2025. The goal is to…

SB1383, which covers all residents and businesses in California, actually went into effect in January 2022. But no one was really ready for it. In fact, the majority of apartment buildings in the city of L.A. still don't have green bins, city officials tell KCRW.

Free countertop composting pails are available. Photo by Lenka Dzurandova/Unsplash.

That means you need to place your organic waste in the green bin, if you weren't already doing so. If you're serviced by L.A. Sanitation, you can get a free kitchen pail to store your food scraps, so you can dump them in your green bin once a week.

In the city of Los Angeles, the composting, recycling and trash hauling programs are all run by L.A. Sanitation and Environment. Other municipalities have their own programs.

January 1, 2022 — SB1383 takes effect

January 1, 2024 — Jurisdictions can impose penalties for not complying with the law

January 1, 2025 — Date by which the state must achieve a 75% reduction in organic waste disposal from its 2014 level. At least 20% of currently disposed edible food must be recovered for human consumption.

Organic matter such as vegetables and fruits (including the pits) can be composted in the green bins. Photo by Markus Spiske/Unsplash.

All coated food-grade paper materials (shiny on one side) are coated with plastic. These materials should NOT go in your green composting bin. The following uncoated paper materials can be composted:

Coated (shiny) food grade paper materials

Plastic

Biodegradable and "compostable" plastics

Ashes

Glass

Large tree trunks and stumps

Metal

Pet waste or manure

Poison oak

Rocks, concrete, sod or dirt

Treated or painted wood