Ordinances & Laws
Recycling helps conserve resources, reduce greenhouse gases, and extend the life of landfills. It also helps create a healthy environment for our community and future generations. Throughout 2021-2023, the City of South San Francisco's Public Works Department has issued courtesy letters to multifamily and commercial properties non-compliant with the following state recycling laws. For questions or more information, please call the City's Recycling line at (650) 829-3887, email Recycling@ssf.net. To subscribe for service, contact South San Francisco Scavenger Company, Inc. at (650) 589-4020.
SB 1383: Short-Lived Climate Pollutants - Effective January 1, 2022
Senate Bill 1383: Short-lived Climate Pollutants is part of a statewide effort to reduce the emissions of short-lived climate pollutants (like methane gas) in various sectors of California’s economy. SB 1383 establishes specific statewide targets:
- Reduce the amount of organic waste going to landfills (50% reduction by 2020 and 75% by 2025)
- Rescue at least 20% of edible food that is currently going to landfills by 2025 and redirect it to people in need
The California Department of Resources, Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) finalized the regulations to achieve the goals of SB 1383 in November 2020 and these regulations take effect in January 2022.
The State has committed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve health, and create clean jobs that support resilient local economies. Organic waste makes up half of what Californians send to landfills, where it emits 20% of the state’s methane, a climate super pollutant 84 times more potent than carbon dioxide. Implementing the statewide plan under SB 1383 will reduce methane emissions and is essential to achieving California’s climate goals.
What is organic waste?
The State defines organic waste as food, landscape trimmings, lumber, wood, manure, cardboard, paper products, and other plant and animal-based products.
What will the SB 1383 law mean for me?
- Everyone will be required to divert all organic waste (paper, cardboard, yard waste, food scraps, and food-soiled paper) from the landfill.
- Businesses will need to place labeled bins for recycling and organics recycling next to all trash cans. Labels must be compliant with State regulations.
- Some businesses will need to recover edible food and redirect it those in need.
South San Francisco Scavenger Company (SSFSC) can help businesses in South San Francisco, Brisbane, and Millbrae to implement a successful organics recycling collection program. Please contact SSFSC at (650) 589-4020 or info@ssfscavenger.com.
AB 341: Mandatory Commercial Recycling
Effective July 1, 2012, California Assembly Bill (AB) 341 states that all businesses and public entities that generate four (4) or more cubic yards of garbage per week and multi-family dwellings with five (5) or more units are subject to mandatory recycling. The purpose of the law is to reduce garbage from landfills and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Businesses and multi-family dwellings that meet the garbage generation thresholds are required to do one of the following:
- Source separate recyclable materials from the solid waste they are discarding, and either self-haul or arrange for separate collection of the recyclables.
- Subscribe to a service that includes mixed waste processing that yields diversion results comparable to source separation.
South San Francisco Scavenger Company, Inc. and the City of South San Francisco will monitor whether affected generators are complying with the requirements to recycle. If a business is not in compliance, the City will inform them of the requirement to recycle and how they can recycle.
AB 1826: Mandatory Commercial Composting
Local jurisdictions are responsible for upholding the State of California’s Assembly Bill 1826 (AB 1826), which requires businesses and multi-family dwellings to recycle (also known as compost) organic waste. The purpose of AB 1826 is to divert waste from landfills. Compliance with AB 1826 is being phased in for all businesses by the year 2020.
The first phase of AB 1826, which occurred on April 1, 2016 and January 1, 2017, focused on businesses and multi-family dwellings considered larger generators of organic waste. Organic waste includes food scraps, soiled paper products, (e.g., pizza boxes, paper towels, paper cups), yard trimmings, and landscape materials.
- April 1, 2016: Generators of 8 cubic yards or more per week of organic waste are required to recycle organic waste.
- January 1, 2017: Generators of 4 cubic yards or more per week of organic waste are required to recycle organic waste.
The next upcoming phase of AB 1826 targets smaller generators and focuses on garbage volumes.
- January 1, 2019: Generators of 4 cubic yards or more per week of garbage will be required to recycle organic waste.
- January 1, 2020: Generators of 2 cubic yards or more per week of garbage will be required to recycle organic waste.
Recycling helps to conserve resources, reduce greenhouse gases, and extend the life of landfills. It also helps create a healthy environment for our community and future generations. For more information on AB 1826 and other California recycling requirements, please visit CalRecycle.
To start new recycling and/or compost services, please contact South San Francisco Scavenger Co., Inc. at (650) 589-4020 or email info@ssfscavenger.com.
Additional Resources