New!: Online SB 1383 Waiver Form for Commercial, Industrial, and Agricultural Waste Generators

SB 1383 Requirements for Business in
Unincorporated San Joaquin County

Background
California’s SB 1383 was passed in 2016 and is the most significant landfill waste reduction mandate adopted in California in the last 30 years. The goals are to:

(1) Reduce organic materials being landfilled by 75% (from 2014 levels) by 2025. 
(2) Increase edible food diversion by 20% by requiring businesses to deliver food that would otherwise be sent to landfills to local organizations that feed people.

The purpose of this legislation is to slow climate change by diverting organic materials from landfills, thereby reducing gaseous emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. 

State Timeline

• January 1, 2022 - Jurisdictions are required to provide organic and non-organic recycling services to all residential and business generators. Jurisdictions and food establishments are required to implement food waste prevention programs to donate unsold food.
• January 1, 2024 - CalRecycle requires local jurisdictions to impose penalties for non-compliance on regulated entities subject to their authority.
• January 1, 2025 - Achieve a 75% reduction in the level of statewide disposal of organic waste from the 2014 level. In addition, not less than 20% of currently disposed edible food must be recovered for human consumption. 

The San Joaquin County (County) SB 1383 Organic Waste Diversion Ordinance was passed in February of 2022 and became effective on March 15, 2022. Commercial waste collection in the unincorporated area of the County is a free-market system and is not governed by collection agreements with the County.  County ordinance mandates that business must comply with SB 1383 mandates by 1) subscribing to a SB 1383 compliant waste collection system through a licensed collector; 2) qualifying for a waiver or; 3) utilizing acceptable alternative compliance methods. 

Business Compliance with SB 1383

In order to comply with SB 1383 mandates, businesses must:

1) Subscribe to SB 1383 compliant waste collection services through a licensed collector.  Businesses must have recycling and organic waste collection service levels that are sufficient to allow all recyclables and organic wastes to be collected from their business and diverted from the landfill.  Businesses must place designated materials in separate containers in accordance with their licensed waste collector's collection system. 

OR

2) Qualify for a waiver
Business owners may request a waiver from the requirement to have organic waste collection services such as a Physical Space Waiver or a De Minimis Waiver. 

Physical Space Waiver (Organics Only)

Businesses and multi-family properties may apply for a Physical Space Waiver if they lack the physical space for an organic waste collection container.  If there is a lack of adequate space for collection containers, the County may waive these obligations for a commercial business or the owner of the property where a business is located. 

A Physical Space Waiver may be requested through the following process:

(1) Complete and submit a Collection Waiver and Alternative Compliance Request Form.

(2) Provide documentation that the premises lacks adequate space for an organics containers, including documentation from a licensed collector, licensed architect, or licensed engineer. Pictures are helpful.

(3) All waiver requests for generators shall be submitted in writing in a County-approved format and are subject to review and approval by the County Department of Public Works. The issuance of any waiver shall be granted at the County’s sole discretion.

(4) A generator receiving a waiver shall continue to follow all applicable provisions of Division 2 of Title V of the San Joaquin County Ordinance Code, including but not limited to Section 5-2400.

Businesses must reapply for a Physical Space Waiver every five years. Before submitting a Physical Space Waiver request, please review the collection service system and communicate with the collector.  In most cases the bin or cart size can be minimized in order to accommodate additional containers for organics and recyclables. Current collection services may come in a variety of sizes and service frequencies. Reducing the amount of waste generated may decrease expenses for businesses. 

De Minimis Waiver (Organics Only)

The County may waive a business's obligation to comply with some or all of the waste requirements provided the business provides proof that the business generates a minimal amount of organic waste material.  Businesses requesting a De Minimis Waiver shall submit a completed Collection Waiver and Alternative Compliance Request Form.

If a business generates 2 cubic yards or more of waste per week:

• It may be approved for a waiver from organic waste (green container) collection service if it can be demonstrated that the business generates less than 20 gallons of organic waste per week.

If a business generates less than 2 cubic yards of waste per week:

• It may be approved for a waiver from organic waste collection service if it can be demonstrated that the business generates less than 10 gallons of organic waste per week.

Commercial collection service through a licensed collector is typically measured by the yard, but collectors may provide a reduced size cart service for trash, recycling and organic wastes, as well as single-stream materials like cardboard, metal and others. The chart below can help determine the volume of waste services in order to calculate the total volume of solid waste collection service.

Applicants for a De Minimis Waiver must provide a written explanation on how the determination was made that the business generates less than the minimum level of organic waste per week. Pictures of the waste stream must accompany the waiver request form.  If a De Minimis Waiver is approved, the business will not be required to have collection service for the waived material, although the business must continue to sort all other recyclable and organic wastes that were not waived from collection service. Businesses that have approved De Minimis Waivers must notify the County if circumstances change in such a way that the business no longer satisfies the applicable criteria for a De Minimis Waiver. 

The collector and/or County will perform periodic inspections of the trash, recycling and organic waste collection bins to ensure that waste diversion is still occurring. If it is found that a significant amount of organic waste is in the trash bin, the De Minimis Waiver will be revoked and the collector will provide organic waste container(s) to the business.

Approved De Minimis Waivers will expire five years after the approval date and upon the business/property changing ownership, at which time the business will need to submit a new De Minimis Waiver request to the County.

OR

3) Utilize acceptable alternative compliance methods.
Businesses may comply with recycling and organics recycling laws by utilizing one or more of the acceptable alternative recycling methods described below and completing the Collection Waiver and Alternative Compliance Request Form:

• Third-Party Recycler: Business contracts with third-party recyclers that collects recyclables and organics.
• Backhaul: Business hauls its recyclables and organics to a central location for diversion.
• Landscaper (organics only): Business contracts with a landscaper that collects green waste and transports organic material to a facility that processes green waste.
• On-site Composting (organics only): Business composts organic waste generated on-site.  
• Shared Container: Share a container with another business located at or near the same address.
• Self-haul: Business self-hauls recyclables and organic waste to recycling centers, composting facilities, community composting program, and/or other diversion facilities or programs using the businesses’ own equipment, labor and transportation.

If a business chooses to self-haul materials, there are specific requirements that must be followed in addition to submitting a waiver request form:

• Self-haulers shall source separate all recyclable materials and organic waste from solid waste generated on-site in a manner consistent with 14 CCR Sections 14 CCR Sections 18984.1 and 18984.2, or shall haul organic waste to a High Diversion Organic Waste Processing Facility* as specified in 14 CCR Section 18984.3.
• Self-haulers shall deliver their materials to facilities which recover said materials in accordance with requirements of 14 CCR Sections 18984.1, 18984.2 and 18984.3:

o Self-haulers shall deliver source separated recyclable materials to a facility that recycles such materials.
o Self-haulers shall deliver source separated green container organic waste to a solid waste facility, operation, activity, or property that processes or recovers source separated organic waste.
o Self-haulers shall deliver segregated gray container waste, as defined in County Ordinance Section 5-2976(z), to a solid waste site as designated by the Director of Public Works or his Designee.
o Self-haulers shall keep a record of the amount of all waste materials delivered to each facility that processes, recovers or disposes such materials.  This information may be periodically audited by the County. Records shall include the following information:

 Receipts and weight tickets from the facility accepting materials.
 Documentation of each material type transported by the self-hauler to each facility in cubic yards or tons.

* A High Diversion Organic Waste Processing Facility refers to transfer/processing facilities and operations that handle mixed waste organic collection streams as defined in Title 14, Section 17402(a)(11.5) and meet the 50% (by 2022) and 75% (by 2025) mixed waste organic recovery rates set forth in Section 18815.5(e).  

Businesses are further required to:

• Supply and allow access to an adequate number, size, and location of recycling and organic waste containers in common areas for employees, contractors, and tenants to use to ensure that all organic wastes and recyclables are kept out of the trash. 

• Place recycling and organic waste containers next to trash collection containers provided for customer use. Containers must be of a sufficient number and size to collect all recyclables and organic wastes generated onsite. If a business has trash containers in an area that does not generate any recycling or organic wastes, then it does not have to provide recycling and/or organics containers in that particular area. 

• Containers must comply with the color OR labeling requirements listed below: 

o Color requirements: Containers must be color-coded with trash containers being gray/black, recycling containers being blue and organics containers being green. Either the lid and/or the body of the container must be compliant to this color-coding system. No existing containers need to be replaced until January 1, 2036; however, all new containers purchased after January 1, 2022 must be compliant to the color code. Businesses may continue to use existing containers for staff and customers, regardless of the color, as long as containers are clearly labeled showing what is acceptable to be placed into the container. 
o Labeling requirements: Containers must be clearly labeled with acceptable and unacceptable materials. 

• Provide outreach and educational information annually to all employees, contractors, and tenants on waste diversion requirements and the proper sorting of materials such as trash, recyclables and organic waste that are placed in containers to maximize diversion.  This information may differ from situation to situation based upon the waste collection system.

• Prohibit employees from contaminating containers with improperly disposed materials.

• Periodically inspect recycling and organic waste bins for contamination. If waste collection bins are found to be contaminated, businesses need to inform employees and others of the requirement to sort materials properly. 

• Landlords and lessors must provide outreach to new tenants within 14 days of occupancy of a premises educating on waste material sorting requirements and waste collection systems.  

Click the link for more information on Organic Waste Collection. 

SB 1383 Mandate - Edible Food Waste Recovery

The San Joaquin County Environmental Health Department administers the edible food component of SB 1383. Applicable businesses that sell or distribute food are required to recover edible food that would otherwise go into the waste stream and divert it for human consumption through agreements with food recovery organizations/services.  These businesses must keep records of edible food recovery operations. 

For the recovery of edible food waste, food generators are split into two tiers:

Tier One must comply with edible food recovery requirements by Jan. 1st, 2022.

This includes:
• Supermarkets
• Grocery stores (with a total facility size ≥ 7,500 sq. ft.)
• Food service distributors
• Wholesale food markets

Tier Two must comply with edible food recovery requirements by Jan. 1st, 2024.

This includes:
• Restaurants (with ≥ 250 seats, or ≥ 5,000 sq. ft.)
• Hotels (with on-site food facility and ≥200 rooms),
• Health facilities (with on-site food facility and ≥100 beds),
• State agencies (with a cafeteria with ≥ 250 seats, or ≥ 5,000 sq. ft)
• Local education agencies (with an on-site food facility)
• Large venues – annually seats or serves ≥ 2,000 people/avg/day
• Large events – serves ≥ 2,000 people/event/day

More information on: Edible Food Recovery

Solid Waste Administrative Office
1810 East Hazelton Avenue
Stockton, CA 95205
Phone: (209) 468-3066
Fax: (209) 468-3078
Hours: 8:00am to 5:00pm
Email us with questions at: solidwaste@sjgov.org