CVW is focusing on “Healthy Living” during the month of January and part of that coverage will be the health of our planet. We will be looking to those scientists, emergency responders, elected officials and others who are studying climate change – from those with boots on the ground to satellites in orbit ­– all working for us to understand how we can help get our planet get onto a healthier path.

Methane, a greenhouse gas, is emitted during the production and transport of coal, natural gas and oil. Methane emissions also result from livestock and other agricultural practices, land use and the decay of organic waste in municipal solid waste landfills, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

According to the Environmental Defense Fund, methane has more than 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide over the first 20 years after it reaches the atmosphere. At least 25% of today’s warming is driven by methane from human actions.

In an effort to lower greenhouse gas emissions, California implemented SB 1383, which went into effect on Jan. 1. Officially known as the short-lived climate pollutants: methane emissions: dairy and livestock: organic waste: landfills, it is more commonly known as the compost law and was signed into law in 2016 by then-Gov. Jerry Brown.

The purpose of the law is to lower greenhouse gas emissions from landfills and reduce waste in general.

According to the CalRecycle [California Dept. of Resources Recycling and Recovery], California throws away more than six million tons of food waste every year. Cities and counties are required to provide organics collection services to all residents and businesses, conduct education and outreach to the community, secure access to recycling and edible food recovery capacity, establish edible food recovery program, procure recyclable and recovered organic products and monitor compliance and conduct enforcement.

Gardeners have long known of the value of composting and many already compost organic material that includes fruit, vegetables, eggshells, coffee grounds and filters, tea bags, nutshells and more.

The City of Glendale has been preparing for this law and is working toward implementation. It has been meeting weekly with the four franchisees of trash collection to prepare for implementation of this program.

“All four of the City’s franchised haulers provided the City with facilities able to handle mixed organics. Additionally, the haulers are initiating a public outreach effort for educating all customers on the organics requirements and are required to have commercial organics diversion programs in place by the end of February 2022. The City is required to monitor business compliance with the new requirements. Information on this transition has been publicized to all business and commercial property owners in the City, including information on the organics diversion requirements,” according to John Takhtalian, deputy city manager, City of Glendale.

Recently the outreach to educate and answer questions concerning this new law has been focused on commercial organic waste diversion, which had a Dec. 1 deadline for implementation.

“The City is in the process of embarking on an extensive outreach on the City organics program to inform residents on how to separate materials, as well as other options for handling food waste, including composting,” Takhtalian said.

The City negotiated commercial collection rates with all four haulers in 2021. The rates are locked in for 10 years as part of the contracts, which most likely means an increase for businesses and residential services.

“The only [additional] increases, subject to annual review, will be cost of living adjustments,” he added.

The compost collected will be made available to local Glendale residents via a compost giveaway program.

According to Takhtalian, the City of Glendale will continue its weekly meetings and will monitor the program.

This change to the way waste is recycled is the first big change since 1989, when California had 29.76 million people; now there are 39.51 … more people equals more waste.

In addition, the law requires food services/sellers to donate edible food to food banks.

Next week CVW will be covering what residents in the unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County and other nearby cities will be required to do pertaining to this new law and best compost practices.