Approved by the State in 2016, Senate Bill 1383 (SB 1383) requires jurisdictions to provide organic waste collection services to all residents and businesses. SB 1383 is the most significant waste reduction mandate to be adopted in California in the last 30 years, and requires a 75% reduction in organic waste disposal by 2025 in California. Reducing short-lived climate pollutants, which results from the decomposition of organic waste in landfills, will have a significant impact on climate change in the state.
On May 24, 2021, the Alhambra City Council passed the City's Mandatory Organic Waste Disposal Reduction Ordinance (Ordinance No. O2M21-4787), requiring all residential and commercial premises in the City to subscribe to the City's organic waste recycling program. The City of Alhambra and Republic Services entered a new waste management agreement in 2021 to reduce organic waste. Residents have been provided with new carts—blue for recycling, black for trash, and green for organic waste. Residents are required to sort their recyclables, organic waste, and trash into the appropriate containers.
You can find more resources and information on Republic Services website and on our website. For additional information, please visit the CalRecycle webpage.
Yard trimmings
Food scraps (raw or cooked)
Miscellaneous
The following materials must be disposed of in the Black Landfill container.
Alhambra's recycling mascot needs your help! Click the image below to help Compost Charlie organize his trash properly before the garbage driver arrives. Play until the end for a fun surprise and to find out how well you know your trash. The best players will earn a spot at the top of the leaderboard!
It’s easy! Simply add your food scraps with your yard debris. No changes will occur with your normal yard debris collection day. Pro tip: Use a paper bag or biodegradable bag to keep your pail clean, or rinse off with soap and water after use.
Step 1 Place your compost pail in a convenient location in your kitchen. | Step 2 Toss all food scraps and plate scrapings into your compost pail. | Step 3 Empty your pail into your yard debris cart, along with your yard debris |
Republic Services distributed complimentary kitchen pails to all single family residences in November 2021. If you did not receive a pail or have any questions, please visit Republic Services' local office located at the Chamber of Commerce Monday-Thursday from 9:00 AM-4:00 PM or contact Republic Services at alhambra@republicservices.com.
The City of Alhambra has many resources to assist you in setting up organics recycling at your home or business.
Put Your Food Waste to Work – English, Spanish & Chinese |
It's the Law – English, Spanish & Chinese |
Tips to Keep your Green Organics | What goes in each cart? |
Dos and Don’ts – English | Dos and Don’ts – Spanish |
Republic Services has released videos explaining the process and importance of organics collection for commercial businesses and residents:
Senate Bill 1383 and Alhambra Ordinance No. O2M21-4787 require all residences, commercial businesses, and multifamily complexes to subscribe to the City's organics collection services.
In rare occassions, the City may grant waivers to be exempt from organics collection. If you are a commercial business and believe you generate below a certain amount of organic waste material as pursuant to A.M.C. 6.18.040, you may apply for a de minimis waiver. If you are a commercial business or multi-family residential property owner and believe your property lacks the physical space to accommodate a three-container collection system, you may apply for a physical space waiver. Download and complete a copy of the Organic Waste Recycling Waiver and email it to Republic Services at alhambra@republicservices.com. Representatives from Republic Services and Alhambra City Hall will follow up with an inspection for verification.
Plastic bags, and any other plastic, are not accepted in the organics container. However, certified biodegradable bags and brown paper bags are allowed. You may consider using newspapers to wrap your organic waste as well.
Here are seven tips and tricks to help keep your organics container free of rodents and clean:
Clean paper and cardboard should be recycled and placed in your blue, recycling container. Food-soiled paper and cardboard is not recyclable but is compostable and should be placed in your green, organics container. If your pizza box has grease or other food residues, place it in your green, organics container.
No. Services come at a bundled rate. Residential accounts receive one refuse, recycling, and organics/yard waste cart at a standard rate. Additional carts come at an extra charge. Visit Solid Waste & Recycling | Alhambra, CA (cityofalhambra.org) for all rates.
The state law requires mandatory compliance with organics recycling collection service. If you already compost at home, look at this as an opportunity to complement your home system and properly dispose of items that cannot normally go in your home compost. There are many waste types that should not go into a home composting bin but can be composted through this program including meat, grains, packaged and processed food, and food-soiled paper such as dirty paper napkins.
The state has made these requirements mandatory and the City has been mandated to enforce them. If Republic Services’ drivers notice contamination in your recycle cart or bin, they may not be able to service it as recycling and may tag it to have it serviced as trash (in which case you may be charged). Noncompliance may result in enforcement actions taken by the City.
Republic Services' drivers collect your organics separately and take it to one of two preprocessing facilities. Here, contaminants are separated out and the remainder is pulverized into a thick slurry. The material is then takern to one of two composting facilities. Using a variety of processes including windrow composting and covered aerated static pile composting, organic material is processed into compost. This compost is then given back to the community at Alhambra Recycles Events and can be used in gardens as nutrient-rich soil additive!
California is now experiencing the effects of a climate crisis: hotter summers with world record-breaking temperatures, even more devastating fire seasons, more extreme droughts, and rising sea levels that erode our coastlines.
Scientists tell us that landfills are responsible for 21% of the state’s methane emissions, a gas that is 84 times more potent that carbon dioxide and significant contributor to climate change. Organic materials make up about half of California's waste stream, and food waste is the largest single waste stream. Therefore, organic waste recycling not only reduces emissions, but reduces the impacts of climate change and contributes valuable resources (such as compost) to our communities.
Please complete the "Contact Us" form below or email recycle@cityofalhambra.org for any questions regarding Alhambra's Organics Recycling program or to submit a claim of alleged violations of SB 1383.
If you are submitting an SB 1383 violation complaint, please include the following: