Please click this link to view the Amendment No. 4 full document.

Monthly PVE residential backyard service rates which will fund refuse and recycling collection, street sweeping, transportation, processing and disposal services, will increase by $8.29 to $56.18/month on January 1, 2023. Rates will adjust again on January 1, 2024, to $65.92 and on January 1, 2025, to $77.37 per month, increases of $9.74/month and $11.45/month, respectively. Beginning in January 2026, annual rate increases will be tied to a trash consumer price increase with a cap on increases not to exceed 5% per year.

All California cities, including Palos Verdes Estates, must implement changes to the collection and disposal of their waste streams to comply with Senate Bill 1383. Per Senate Bill 1383, all single-family home residents and multi-family complex residents are required to separate their organics and place into their green waste containers ALL landscaping waste, food scraps, and food-soiled paper (100% fiber-based).

To comply, Athens Services will implement a food scraps collection program and provide PVE residents with a kitchen pail to store food scraps and food-soiled paper (100% fiber based) until placed into green waste containers for collection on trash day.  Athens will collect all organic material from Palos Verdes Estates organic containers and take it to their organic recycling facility, American Organics, where it will be processed and turned into certified usable compost. The mixed waste containers will continue going to the Athens Material Recovery Facility for full processing of recyclable materials.

ACCEPTABLE ORGANIC WASTE

Green Waste
Flower and Hedge Trimmings
Grass Clippings and Weeds
Leaves and Branches
Clean Lumber and Scrap Wood (not painted or treated)
Flowers

Food Soiled Paper Products
Napkins and Paper Towels
Pizza Boxes
Paper Plates
Paper coffee filters
Non-coated To-Go Boxes
Wooden and Fiber-based Utensils

Food Scraps

Bread, Rice and Pasta
Fruits and Vegetables
Meat, Bones and Poultry
Seafood and Soft Shells
Coffee Grounds
Herbs
Non-medicated Pet Food

FOOD SCRAPS?

Athens will accept all types of food scraps. Our American Organics compost facility converts organics waste into nutrient-rich soil amendment. The resulting compost is used by commercial farmers, city projects, garden shops, landscapers, and residents.

HOW DO I COLLECT MY FOOD SCRAPS?

To collect your kitchen food scraps, you can use the kitchen pail that Athens provides or purchase a portable, reusable pail-like container with a tight-fitting lid. It could be plastic, metal, or ceramic. Pail options can be purchased or consider reusing a coffee canister, large yogurt or margarine tub, or juice pitcher. Storage ideas can include the kitchen counter, under the sink, in the freezer, or wherever you feel is best.  Residents must use the trash cans (green waste containers) provided by Athens for trash collection.  The kitchen pails are only used to store and transfer food scraps that will be transferred to the green waste containers. 

WHY ORGANICS RECYCLING?

Landfills are the third largest source of methane in California. Organics waste emits 20% of the state’s methane; a climate super pollutant up to 84 times more potent than carbon dioxide. By diverting organics from the landfill, you are part of the solution in helping to protect the environment and future generations.

If you have any questions about the new organics collection program, please contact the Athens Customer Care Center at (888) 336-6100 or visit  AthensServices.com/Food. 

As part of a statewide effort to reduce pollutants, Senate Bill No. 1383 (SB 1383), established methane emissions reduction targets including a State-mandated 75% reduction in the level of the statewide disposal of organic waste from the 2014 level by 2025.

Organic waste including food scraps, yard trimmings, food soiled paper, and food soiled cardboard make up half of the waste Californians dump in landfills. Landfill emissions from organic waste are responsible for 20% of the State’s emissions of methane, a climate super pollutant 84 times more potent than carbon dioxide. Organic waste from landfills can elevate PM2.5 (fine particle matter) levels, which trigger asthma and contribute to other respiratory and cardiovascular health conditions.

Q: Do the regulations require single-family residences and multifamily complexes to subscribe to organics collection and recycle both green waste and food waste beginning January 1, 2022?

Yes, the regulations require jurisdictions to provide organic waste collection services to all single-family and multifamily residences of all sizes and businesses that generate organic waste beginning January 1, 2022.

Yes, single-family and multifamily complexes are required to recycle both green waste and food waste, as well as other organic waste materials, beginning January 1, 2022.

Q: Can residents provide their own containers for organics collection?

Jurisdictions or its designee (like a hauler) must provide containers to the generator. Containers provided by the residents themselves would not comply with the regulations.

Providing a container is an inextricable part of providing a collection service. Requirements for local jurisdictions to collect and recover organic waste from their residential and commercial generators are critical for the state’s efforts to keep organic waste out of landfills and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Further, jurisdictions are in a position to obtain uniform collection containers with standardized colors from specialized suppliers, whereas individual generators are not. If jurisdictions are not required to provide compliant containers, generators are left to comply with the color requirements on their own and may have a difficult time obtaining standardized containers due to the whims of market availability of properly colored containers through hardware stores, supply stores, or other business that have no obligations to stock compliant container colors. This sets up an untenable, large-scale regulatory noncompliance problem.

The requirement for jurisdictional provision of collection containers is also necessary from an efficient enforcement perspective. Placing the compliance responsibility on generators would create an unnecessarily burdensome enforcement model. Ensuring container color compliance would necessitate inspections of generators by the jurisdiction, potentially involving thousands of homes or businesses. Furthermore, potentially broad numbers of individual generators may be subject to enforcement if compliant containers are not reasonably available for purchase (see preceding paragraph). Instead of this burdensome model, CalRecycle finds that a single point of enforcement with the jurisdiction is more efficient and equitable. Jurisdictions are in a position to obtain uniform collection containers with standardized colors from specialized suppliers where individual generators are not.

The only exception is that generators in high-elevation jurisdictions will be able to continue to use customer provided containers that fit in their locked bear boxes.

Q: What is the definition of a high diversion organic waste processing facility?

A high diversion organic waste processing facility refers to transfer/processing facilities and operations that handle mixed waste organic collection streams as defined in Section 17402(a)(11.5) and meet the 50 percent (by 2022) or 75 percent (by 2025) mixed waste organic recovery rates set forth in Section 18815.5(e).

Q: Does CalRecycle apply the “Good Faith Effort” when determining compliance with the SB 1383 requirements as it does with AB 939?

No, SB 1383 mandates organic waste diversion targets on a relatively short timeline. The 75 percent organic waste diversion target will not be achieved by 2025 if using the more lengthy compliance process under the Good Faith Effort standard.

CalRecycle does exercise its enforcement discretion in determining whether to commence the enforcement process as well as allowing consideration of “substantial efforts” made by the jurisdiction and “extenuating circumstances” that would allow the use of extended compliance deadlines in a “Corrective Action Plan” (CAP).

CalRecycle’s focus is on compliance first and will dedicate enforcement efforts to the most egregious offenders.

Q: What is considered landfill disposal under the SB 1383 regulations?

Organic waste disposed at a landfill, used as alternative daily cover (ADC) or alternative intermediate cover (AIC) at a landfill, or any other disposition not explicitly identified in 14 CCR Section 18983.1 as a reduction in landfill disposal is considered landfill disposal.

 
Q: What constitutes a reduction in landfill disposal under the SB 1383 regulations?

Organic waste sent to one of the following operations, facilities, or uses is considered a reduction in landfill disposal, provided the organic waste is not subsequently landfilled [refer to 14 CCR Section 18983.1(b)]:

Operations or Facilities:

• Recycling centers
• Compostable material handling facilities
• In-vessel digestion facilities
• Biomass conversion facilities

Uses:

• Soil amendment for erosion control, revegetation, or slope stabilization
• Soil amendment for landscaping at a landfill
• Land application
• Animal feed

•  (1) Prohibit, or otherwise unreasonably limit or restrict, the lawful processing and recovery of organic waste through a method identified in Article 2 of this chapter.