SB1383 Update

SB1383 Update: Audio automatically transcribed by Sonix

SB1383 Update: this mp3 audio file was automatically transcribed by Sonix with the best speech-to-text algorithms. This transcript may contain errors.

Katie:
I'm Katie.

Steve:
And I'm Steve. And in this episode of the City of Writing podcast, we revisit Senate Bill 1383 or SB 1383 for short, a recently passed law requiring California businesses and residents to compost or recycle their food waste. This means wasted food from the refrigerator, expired items and table scraps. If you're already composting at home, you've got a head start.

Katie:
Public Works Supervisor Jeff Hansen updates us on the SB 1383 rollout already in place with food generating businesses here in Redding and the residential rollout slated for the end of the summer. Jeff tells us how it impacts local trash services and answers a few questions about the best ways to follow the new regulations.

Steve:
With careful planning and better food recycling resources, our community can help address hunger and protect the environment simultaneously.

Katie:
We also reshare our conversation with Deputy Director of Public Works Paul Clements from last year to get a better understanding of what SB 1383 means in the trash industry and how it will impact the Redding community.

Jeff Hansen:
I'm Jeff Hansen. I'm a public works supervisor with the City of Redding, and so I'm in charge of the solid waste customer service and the SB 1383 organics program.

Steve:
Perfect. Well, thank you for joining us today, Jeff. We are excited to have you here. I know we've talked with director of Solid Waste Paul Clemens in the past with regard to the Senate Bill 1383 that you mentioned, better known as SB 1383. And we brought you in here today to get a brief update as to where we are now and what both residents and businesses can expect moving forward. So maybe just to start off, can you give us a brief synopsis of what exactly is SB 1383 and what does it mean for the Redding community?

Jeff Hansen:
So SB 1383 is the short lived climate pollutants bill. In layman's terms, it's getting organic material and green waste out of the landfill. So we're talking food scraps, yard clippings, lawn clippings, tree trimmings, any type of wood product, anything that's natural and that's going to break down. What we want to do is we want to be turning that into compost, into renewable fuels instead of putting it in the landfill. Once it gets into the landfill, it's going to break down anaerobic, which means without air, then it's going to be producing methane gas, which is short lived climate pollutant, about three times as powerful as carbon dioxide. So we really don't want that in our landfills. As a side bonus, with a publicly owned utility, we own our own landfill. This should give our landfill more life. Therefore, not having to dedicate more land to burying trash.

Katie:
And so, as you mentioned, this is a California bill. We have to comply with this bill. But the benefit is we are saving our landfill. Right?

Jeff Hansen:
That's correct. So the way it's written, the benefit is we're saving our landfill, we're saving our planet, less warming. That's really why it was written. So this is a California bill. Everybody in California, unless you have there's a couple of waivers jurisdictions can get, but we don't qualify for those. And so we're tackling this head on With it being a state mandate. There are fines and those fines are levied at the hauler, which would be a private company that a municipality contracts with. Or for us it would be with the city. So we don't want the state to have to find us and that one would get very expensive. And two, you know, we want to abide by the laws from our state.

Katie:
And just aside from the law, why would anybody care about the landfill? I mean, we don't really we don't spend time at the landfill now. And that's what a landfill is for. So why should we care if it gets filled or not?

Jeff Hansen:
Well, the biggest thing about that is financially, once that landfill is filled up, we can't just go start another one. So our landfill is located out in Idaho. It's owned by the county, and the city manages it. Once that's filled, we can't just go start another landfill. It used to be, you dig a hole, fill it with trash, cover it back up. But with all the laws in place now, we'd have to be hauling that material out of town. So right now it's about a 40 minute round trip from our transfer station where most of the trash from the city comes. We then fill transfer trucks and take it up to go that 40 minute round trip. If we have to haul those to Sacramento or even over to Nevada, where other companies are having to do that, you're going to see that directly on your rates.

Steve:
Jeff, we'll talk a bit more detail about SB 1383 here in a moment. But I'm just curious, when the new Senate bill goes through, how long do jurisdictions or in this case solid waste utility, how long do they have to begin to abide by this new legislation? I know there's a lot of pieces that need to go into play and costs associated with changing infrastructure and things of that nature. How long do you get once that bill is passed to make sure that your city or municipality is abiding by the new Senate bill?

Jeff Hansen:
Each bill is different and it's written in there. So financial penalties to trash companies will start in January if you're not abiding by it. And so we're taking care of a lot of the behind the scene things right now permitting. We had to change our entire use permit with the county, which is a big ordeal. And then the state has to approve that anytime you're taking waste in, because we not only take household trash recycling, compost, we also take hazardous waste at our facility. So we redid our entire permit to make sure that we're playing by the rules for all of this. And that is behind. Then now we're ordering equipment. All of that takes time and takes money. So that's the big thing with this bill, is that we've been doing a lot of the behind the scenes work and doing it as cost effectively as we can so we don't have to pass along those those high rates that you're seeing in other areas.

Katie:
Okay. So since you've been doing some behind the scenes work and it sounds like we have to make some big moves by January to comply, where are we now in the process?

Jeff Hansen:
So where we're at now is we were just approved for a permit. The state still has to approve it, but the county has approved it, that we can take food waste at our facility. So we've been running a small pilot program with businesses, but the big rollout will be for residential. We have over 30,000 residential customers. So getting all these residents to put their food scraps into their green waste container as opposed to into their gray is going to be the big rollout. So behind the scenes, we've ordered equipment. We have a new loader coming and we're going to staff extra staff out there and compost. We have a truck specially designed for business organics that should be here this summer. So our pilot programs, we've been running with our current equipment, but we can't fully implement this program until we get all of the equipment in. And as you can imagine, with lead times on everything, this truck was actually ordered in 2021. So we have been working on it for quite some time.

Steve:
And Jeff, when you say food scraps, what does that consist of? Speaking specifically to residential customers? What should they begin to think about? Again, I know we're not quite there yet, but when this goes into practice, what should they be going to think about on those food scraps? Specifically, what should they be putting into their green bins? So when we say food.

Jeff Hansen:
Scraps, it really is any food waste, eggshells, bones, meats, vegetable trimmings, fruit peels, any leftover food you've got in the refrigerator that you would usually put into your trash can that should be going into your green waste. Like you said, once we get to that point, we're not there yet. Our target date is late summer, but we want to make sure we have everything dialed in before we start taking it, because the last thing we want to do is tell you to put it in your trash can and then tell you not to.

Katie:
And so you mentioned you have a pilot program going. How is that working and what are you hearing from people who have participated in that pilot program that's.

Jeff Hansen:
Working fantastic for us. Right now, we have about 50 businesses and we're expanding. We're sending out business letters. So by the time this podcast airs, a lot of businesses will be getting these letters to try to bring more businesses into this program. So businesses are a little different than residential. They are. They get a brown can, which is just food waste that goes into that and residential will be mixing that in with green waste. So you just have food waste from these businesses. And the ones who are really participating, who have jumped on board are seeing a huge reduction in their trash cost, which is awesome for them. So they're moving from putting all that into what trash that would go to the landfill. So we're seeing that benefit, but they're also seeing a financial benefit by downsizing their dumpsters and their collection frequencies.

Katie:
And is that something that residential customers could also expect to see? Is that savings that they could also experience if they downsize?

Jeff Hansen:
Correct? Yeah. So we base our rates on the size of your gray can currently. And so if you're able to downsize from a 96 which is our biggest to a 64, there's a couple bucks savings and then all the way down to a 45, there's more savings. So you'll see even a bigger increase on those once the organics comes. And so yeah, the goal is that if you adjust your waste disposal, hopefully your rate doesn't go up because you're able to downsize what we're sending to the landfill.

Steve:
And Jeff, what do you foresee as some of the roadblocks or hurdles for residential customers specifically in adopting this new practice?

Jeff Hansen:
Any time you adopt something new, it's just getting getting rid of old habits. The number one thing I hear from people is, oh, it's going to stink, but you're not putting anything in your trash that's not already going in there. The only difference is it's not going to be in a plastic bag. You'll be mixing it in with your green waste. So it's a different process than a lot of people up here are used to. But if you go to other areas I was just talking to somebody from Sacramento who said the first three months I just forgot and kept doing it. And they said, but once it became habit, they just do it all the time. And, you know, they were up at my house and they were saying, Hey, can I just where's your food bin? I said, Oh, we don't have one yet, but we're working on it. And once it becomes habit, you'll do it every day.

Steve:
Jeff, you mentioned that it shouldn't stink too much to put these food scraps in your green bin. In theory, if someone was concerned about that, would they be able to purchase biodegradable bags and put their food scraps in those bags to add an agreement? Or is it strictly no bags whatsoever in the green bins?

Jeff Hansen:
We're encouraging people not to do any bags because a biodegradable bag in a compostable bag are two different things. And one of the hard things is for our drivers. Those guys are tipping 1000 to 1200 cans a day. And so by doing that, they're not going to be able to tell which bag it is. And so we sell our compost after we process it and make it. And anything that's put into that compost is going to come on the out end too. So if it's a regular plastic bag or if it's a biodegradable bag, that's going to take longer to break down than a compostable bag, you're still going to see that plastic in the end product. But the best thing that somebody could do is actually freeze it. If you have some food that you're going to go bad, let's say on Tuesday and your trash day was Monday, If you've got room in your freezer, put it in something that you can freeze it the night before when you're taking your trash cans out, just toss it right into your can and you're not going to have any of those smells because it'll have been frozen.

Katie:
So what are any next steps that people should be taking right now? Should they be concerned about what they're doing with their food now or should they be waiting for more information to come out? What should people take away from this?

Jeff Hansen:
Not yet. One of the things to take away is don't be doing anything different yet. We in Redding do a fantastic job of separating our residents. Do they do great putting recyclables in the recyclable what's supposed to go in the trash is supposed to go in the trash if they have something hazardous. Bringing it in to us at the transfer station out on Abernathy, just be on the lookout for when things change. Because when they change, you'll be able to do a whole changeover. But don't do it early. Like I said, we still have some approvals that we need to get to take food waste, and so we don't want to get anybody in trouble by bringing food waste into our compost facility before it's supposed to be there.

Katie:
And Jeff, how does Redding compare with other cities and how we're preparing for complying with SB 1383?

Jeff Hansen:
One of the things that you'll see in Redding is because the size of our lots, we're more of a rural area. People do tend to have a little bit more trash than if we had more people living in apartments or condos. So one of the things that we're not going to do is take away that 96 gallon trash can. You can't even get that size trash can in some of these municipalities. They've said, you know, the biggest you can get is a 64 or a 45, or they keep shrinking that size, although the price will have to go up for that larger trash can. We're still going to make that available to our customers. We're not looking to say you have to have a smaller gray can. We want 100% participation? But we are realistic. That's going to come over time and right away, not everybody's going to be sorting, but we're going to try to make this as easy as possible. And one of the beauties of having a trash hauler that is local is owned by the city, is if you have questions, you can call us. We have local support. You can come see us. We'll show you our whole operation, making it into compost or recycling. So having everything right here in the city is a huge benefit. And the people picking up your trash, they're all doing it too. So we're working at this together as a community level.

Katie:
Well, in the city's organization, it's not a for profit model, whereas other cities work with for profit waste collection who can raise rates anytime they want and they can charge extras and all of these things for anything they want. The city has to be really careful about what we're charging and how we're charging customers, right?

Jeff Hansen:
That's correct. We're allowed to cover our cost. We are not a for profit. We're not allowed to make profit. You know, really, the city has been really good. And the leadership in the solid waste about being conservative with its spending and how much time can we get out of equipment. But there are some things out of our control when gas spikes, that's going to cost us a lot more. We have these big diesel trucks that burn five gallons an hour, so we go through that diesel. But no, we don't make money as a for profit company.

Katie:
Do you know how many other local cities in our area are city municipalities with their solid waste services? And how many kind of contract out?

Jeff Hansen:
I believe we're the only one north of Sacramento doing this. Wow.

Steve:
So, Jeff, the biggest takeaways from today are, one, as far as residents are concerned, heads up. This is coming, but we're not here yet. Maybe keep an eye out towards the end of summer for more information. And then the main reason that we're encouraging residents to do this as part of the Senate bill is is for the betterment of the city's landfill, the longevity of the landfill, and ideally to help keep rates relatively low as it relates to this. Is that right?

Jeff Hansen:
That's right. And then the environmental concerns as well. This is much better for the environment to be composting it and not throwing it into the landfill where it's going to generate quite a bit of methane.

Katie:
Okay. So now you have an update on where we are now with SB 1383, but you probably still have questions to answer those. We're bringing back an episode we recorded last year with Deputy Director of Public Works Paul Clemens.

Steve:
Paul talks not only about how SB 1383 helps to save landfill resources, but it also helps address food insecurity and hunger. It's been a while, so it's worth the read.

Paul Clemens:
Listen, my name is Paul Clemens. My title is deputy director of public works for the City of Redding. My job duties are in relation to the solid waste utility, the landfill and fleet. So I oversee all of those operations. So anything to do with trash collection, recycling the landfill, and then also over fleet in regards to maintenance repair of all city vehicles. And Paul.

Katie:
We're here today to talk to the community about SB 1383, which some people may have heard about in the news recently. Some people may have no idea what that is or what that means. Can you tell us what SB 1383 is?

Paul Clemens:
It is a short lived climate pollutants bill, basically. So it's trying to address greenhouse gases and their production. And one of the things that produces a lot of greenhouse gases when organics decompose. So this bill is trying to get organics out of landfills. And so that's organic material that is food waste, that's organic material that is cuttings from trees, trimming things you do around your house when you're doing some spring cleaning outside, things like that. So it also addresses food recovery. So it's pretty broad, bill, a piece of legislation and what it requires from not only haulers but also jurisdictions as far as cities, municipalities, counties all have a role to play in that.

Steve:
Paul, you mentioned specific to the organics in the landfills. Is that an issue both here in Shasta County and statewide and really nationwide? Why the why the focus on this and why now?

Paul Clemens:
Two things. One is prior to this bill, there were other bills like AB 32 which dealt with greenhouse gases. There was AB 341, which dealt with mandatory commercial recycling for businesses. Ab 1826 Also built on that same bill, started with some of the organics and making sure that they're getting pulled out of landfills. And now we're at 1383, which is diving deeper into that. And so one of the reasons to try to pull this material out of landfills is a landfill is full when it reaches a certain elevation. So there's a limited amount of space available locally. We have the landfill that is owned by the county and operated by the city, and that's the Richard W Curry West Central Landfill. Also out by ego. It's known to be out there. And then there's a landfill that's owned by Waste Management and the city of Anderson just outside city and the city of Anderson. So locally we have those two options. But once those are full, then that requires waste that's going to be buried to be transported and oftentimes long distances away in order to do that. And that has a significant increase in cost, which poses an upward pressure on rates when that happens. So the more we can conserve landfill space now, the better off we'll be as we go down the road.

Katie:
Paul, when you say organic materials, keeping organic materials out of the landfill, you're talking about like home food. Maybe you can explain for the community what what that actually looks like, like you're standing in your kitchen. What are you supposed to be doing with with these food scraps? Well, when.

Paul Clemens:
The service is available aren't our goal is to be able to have residents put their food waste in their green waste cart along with their other organic material. It's actually a terminology that's kind of changing from what we would call green waste to organics or organic waste and material as kind of an overall description of what would go in there. So if you're in your kitchen and you're cooking, you know, any of your food scraps when you're doing your plate scrapings after dinner would go in there. If you're prepping your vegetables and you're cutting off ends and different pieces like that, different things like that, that would go in there, your meat, even a lot of people are like, what? Meat and fish? But yeah, even even meat, fish, food, soiled paper is another thing that goes in there. And so all of those items out of your kitchen like that that basically you're making your meal prep with would go in your organics currently.

Steve:
Paul would you say for your average Redding resident, those items that you discuss in that process of cooking or being in the kitchen or having those food scraps and food waste, right now, folks are either composting at home or throwing that stuff. In the garbage are those kind of two main things that are currently occurring? That's correct.

Katie:
What's the next step? So once you've separated out your food scraps or your green waste or your you know what happens with that material once it leaves your home, what does the city do with that?

Paul Clemens:
So we're actually working on a couple of different options. The first is kind of the obvious, as you mentioned, compost like people do at home in their backyards. So we already have a green waste collection program and a green waste and composting facility at the transfer station. So the first option would be for mixed waste. So the from residential customers where they have it in with their grass trimmings or tree cuttings and things like that, that is something that would be composted. And one place it can be composted is here at the city of Redding. The other, based on permitting and different requirements, would be the county is working with their hauler. Waste Management and Waste Management is developing a facility at the Anderson Landfill to be able to accept both source separated food waste. So from restaurants, schools, grocery stores, things like that, as well as a ability to compost mixed waste or mixed organics, which would be food waste and green waste together. So the composting is the first piece of it. We also have an outlet where when we have additional waste that we can't compost additional green waste, and that is compost solutions. So we ship material there. There's a cost to do that, but that's one of our other options. We also are working on contracting with a company outside of Chico called North State Bioenergies, and they already have a program going where they accept source separated food, but it has to be free of contamination. So one of the big contaminations like plastics and glass and things like that aren't allowed to be in there.

Paul Clemens:
So that's our other option, is to take it down there. That's about 75 mile drive. One way that we would be taking material there, but it helps divert it from landfills and it helps us comply with 1383. Another option that we're looking at that a couple of different city departments have partnered together on, and that is a pyrolysis project. So the wastewater treatment plant is working on doing a pilot project for Pyrolysis where basically they use a flameless heat to address biosolids, and they come out with a product that's referred to as a bio char. It's basically a carbon product that can be added to compost and also is a desirable product. Some people sell it. It helps with water retention and soils, things like that. And so in that process, what we would do is we would bring in food waste, we would process it here at the transfer station and it would turn into kind of a soupy slurry type of a material. And then we would take that and we would introduce it into the digesters at the wastewater treatment plant there. They would collect the methane off of it and then it would mix with their biosolids coming out and go through that pyrolysis process and become that bio char product that we talked about. So those are our options that we're looking into and working on implementing in order to be able to comply with SB 1383.

Steve:
And Paul, how does the process work? You mentioned the source separated foods for bringing them to the station down out of Chico. You mentioned plastics and other things can contaminate those. How does solid waste ensure that that stuff isn't contaminated, that when time comes to bring that down, is that at the at the transfer station or at the landfill, you and your team are sorting that before it goes on. The vehicles or any part at all is contaminated with plastic or other elements that shouldn't be in the food waste sections. It's just lost at that point and it has to be tossed.

Paul Clemens:
There's a couple of different processes for the source separated food waste that would go to the facility down by Chico that we mentioned on that one. That type of monitoring would take place as it's being collected. So when it's being collected from restaurants, grocery stores, places like that, we would be looking at it as we're servicing the container, as we're emptying the container and doing a lot of education and outreach and working with those business owners and those businesses and their staff to try to make sure that we get a clean product that can be accepted at these other facilities for the option of if we were to do kind of a closed loop within the city option of taking the material to the wastewater treatment plant, then there are some different pieces of machinery that would be used in order to screen the material and clean it up, but it still helps to have a clean material. So you have to do less screening and you have less less waste still and less maintenance on your equipment, things like that. So it's still going to be important to follow the rules of the programs, whether we're a resident putting it in our green waste bin and whether. The we are a commercial customer that is source separating and putting that material aside for collection.

Katie:
And Paul, I'm going to I'm going to hopefully back us up just a little bit. I think we got too far down the process. There's still a lot within SB 1383 that people probably still don't understand. There's a food recovery hierarchy pyramid that kind of goes through the process of SB 1383, which is to prevent food from going wasted, to recover any food that can be used to feed the hungry, and then finally to recycle anything that, you know, any wasted green waste like like you were talking about. Maybe you can just take us through that hierarchy and like, give us the background behind why SB 1383 is trying to do all three of these things.

Paul Clemens:
So like you mentioned, there's another element in SB 1383 that has to deal with edible food recovery and recent surveys, studies indicate that 1 in 4 Americans are food insecure, Even though there's enough food that's produced, there's a lot that's wasted, that's edible. Food is considered edible. So one of the goals of SB 1383 is to recover a good portion and percentage of that wasted edible food and get it to places where it can be used and distributed to those that are in need or experience food insecurity. So locally we have some food banks and a number of the businesses and restaurants already are doing some of this in this food. It would be called food donation right now. But 1383 takes it a step further where it actually makes it a requirement where they have to have a contract in place between the generator, the edible food generator and the food bank. And then it has to be tracked and it has to be reported. So there's a lot more that goes into it. Also in regards to the edible food recovery piece of it, it's tiered. So there's a Tier one and tier two. So restaurants, grocery stores, things like that are in Tier one. Some of these large places that are required to participate within the first year. Then there are other facilities like schools, places that have cafeterias, government buildings that actually are considered a Tier two, and those have to become compliant with 1383 and food donation in the year 2024. So they have a little bit of time before they have to comply with that. And one of the goals of 1383 is to establish the the ability or the capacity to handle all of this. So whether it's food that is being thrown out and being recycled or composted or whether it's food that's edible that can be used appropriately, one of the things 1383 wants us to do is have capacity to do that. And so working with food banks and outlets so that the food doesn't get separated and then still end up getting wasted.

Steve:
Okay, So Paul's the first step of this sounds like prevention. And so what are we asking residents to do with regard to prevention and what are we asking businesses to do on the prevention side as far.

Paul Clemens:
As preventing food waste?

Katie:
Yeah, I mean, like if you're obviously if you're if you're buying too much food at home, you're going to waste it at the end of the day because you're just buying too much. So we are asking people to at least look at how much food they're preparing for their family on an average week and to watch that more closely so that they aren't actually wasting food at the end of the week, right? That's correct. And then for businesses, I'm sure businesses are already pretty good at tracking their waste because wasted product means wasted money. But, you know, we're also asking commercial businesses to take a look at that as well. And track more closely the food that isn't being used on a daily basis, because eventually it's going to have to be diverted one way or another, either through recovery methods or through recycling methods, correct?

Speaker5:
Correct. And that's all part of education and outreach.

Paul Clemens:
And one of the things that another item that 1383 requires is working with the public to provide information that can be utilized in order to comply with the new bill. So there is an education and outreach campaign that is going to be taking place where there's going to be a lot of information, letters, flyers that go to businesses that are required to comply to residents when it's time to start putting material in their green waste containers, when we're ready to start those programs. So that is something else that will come out. And those items, like you mentioned, that hierarchy of one of the ways to prevent is by not over buying. So. That will be included in information that gets sent out to the public as well.

Steve:
So speaking of residents, specifically, if I'm a Redding resident and utilizing solid waste services, what do I need to know and when? When do some of these new changes take effect and when do I need to begin to maybe change some of those actions or behavior that I do with my food scraps and food waste?

Paul Clemens:
Well, for currently, if you want to start doing backyard composting or anything like that, we do encourage that. But for now, until we're ready for these programs to implement and take off and we have our facilities ready to receive them and compost them, we're asking residents that they don't jump ahead of it right now. The reason being we do have currently in our green waste program and composting facility, we have a stockpile of material, so we're not able to process all the material that comes in on a daily basis. So if we were to begin receiving that type of material right now, it could create problems in our current stockpile of green waste material and create issues with animals and vectors and odors and other problems for us. So we do ask that residents wait until they get the go ahead from the city to start putting that material in their green waste can. But one of the things to start thinking about is, you know, you can start that practice now as far as looking at, like you said, what we're buying, what we're eating, what we're disposing of, how would we prepare this? What's an easy way to have something in our kitchen where we could start putting food scraps in that we would put it into our green waste container? Is there a compostable bag that could be used? And then also it will mean that we'll be a little bit of a change, right, as you start getting these items out of your gray garbage can, you know, what you put out for service.

Paul Clemens:
So if you're putting your recyclables in your blue, you're putting your food waste and and these other items in your green waste, you know, there's not really going to be a whole lot of other things or heavy materials that should be going in your garbage. Right? So some people will be evaluating their level of service. Do they need a smaller garbage can? Do they need a bigger green waste can? So some of those things are items that people can begin thinking about now as we get ready to comply. And then also that when there's new regulations like this, even though we try to do our best to keep rates down, there is definitely upward pressure on rates when you have to buy additional equipment, when you have to purchase equipment that's specialized to be able to handle these different programs. And we have to add staffing and due to transportation or additional collection activities that are required. So while we try to do our best to keep our rates reasonable and keep them down, this will put upward pressure on rates eventually. So that's something to keep in mind as well. And Paul.

Katie:
Do you have a ballpark so SB 1383 actually went into effect, you know, early this year in January. When can people roughly expect to start the change? Obviously, this the city will notify everybody, maybe you can say speculate on how people will be notified and about when they can expect to start making this change.

Paul Clemens:
I would say for residents, we should be looking somewhere around May to be looking at making some of these changes in implementation, but definitely by summertime.

Steve:
And Paul, I'm just trying to think logistically so when these changes go into effect, again, if I'm a resident and I utilize my green bin for food waste, I'm not composting at home, but begin to put food waste in the green bin. What are your thoughts on keeping the green bins clean? I mean, will that begin to make green bins kind of, for lack of a better word? Gross If, you know, wet food waste is going in there, just kind of on a logistical standpoint, is the thought that residents throughout the course of the week were just toss their green bins in with, as you mentioned, yard waste and other stuff, and it would all jive together and then be weekly.

Speaker5:
Yeah, I mean it will be in there and you are moving.

Paul Clemens:
It from one container to the next. And so if it's not bagged, there could be some some odor issues or making it a little less pleasant, as you mentioned. But some of the things you could do are freezing certain items. So in Redding, it does get hot. So having food waste set out in your green container out in the sun and 100 plus degree temperatures can create a little odor issue in a problem. So one of the things you could do is put that in something that you freeze so you can freeze it, put it in a bag that you freeze. Maybe it's the compostable bag. You put it in and you freeze it and then you put it out the night before and you dump it in when you get ready to take your garbage out. So typically, the amount of food that will be going into these cans volume wise isn't going to be huge on an individual basis. But as a group as a whole citywide, it will account for quite a bit of material. It's a heavy material with a lot of water weight, things like that. So but freezing it is one of the things you can do that will help keep odors down and maybe keep that that unpleasantness away a little bit.

Katie:
And this is a state mandate that's coming down as well. But what about people? We're just, you know, like, I don't want to do this. I don't feel like separating this out. And I think it's gross and I'm not going to do it. What happens then?

Speaker5:
One of the requirements of SB.

Paul Clemens:
1383 was that the city adopt what's considered an enforceable ordinance. So in the beginning phases, for the first two years, the state is really taking the lead in the responsibility for enforcement. But as part of that, it's required that we actually put into place an ordinance that can be enforced, that requires people to donate food, to recycle food, to recycle organics, to utilize the services that we're required to provide.

Speaker5:
So by law or by ordinance, by requirement and.

Paul Clemens:
As as harsh as that may sound to people or unpleasant, it may sound, that is really the way to try to encourage people to continue doing the right thing. And as you said, there may be some who say, I don't want to be told what to do or I don't think it's worth it or I don't believe in greenhouse gas emissions or any of those types of things. But really, even just when you get down to logistics of the situation, we have a landfill that's only got so much room. Once that's filled up, the cost of transporting material will go up significantly and you'll have to establish where that can go. So we may end up at that time. If a person pushes it out, then they may be forced to try to do something then, but we can get ahead of it. It's the right thing to do. It's an environmental thing to do. It's also supports the community when we can recover food that's edible food and use it. Yes, there's an expense to that, but these things are being put in place to try to address some of the situations that we face that we're all facing now. Paul, with.

Steve:
Regard to businesses, obviously this applies to businesses as well. It sounds like the business side of things might roll out before the residential. So I guess to that point, A, is that is that indeed the case? And if so, what do business owners and maybe restaurants or businesses that have food waste, what do they need to be aware of at this point in time?

Speaker5:
Yes, it will roll out for businesses beforehand as we phase in the approach.

Paul Clemens:
And the reason is since it's source separated and we have a location to take it to, that's where we'll start with the program. And I would say for businesses being aware of some of the space constraints that you might have, and also there is a mechanism in SB 1383 that does allow for some exemptions to be given. Maybe it's a de minimis exemption, meaning.

Speaker5:
That the amount.

Paul Clemens:
Of material being.

Speaker5:
Generated.

Paul Clemens:
Is less than.

Speaker5:
A minimal amount.

Paul Clemens:
So maybe it's less than five gallons a week or something like that. And that allows them to be exempt from the program for a period of time. The other is just having.

Speaker5:
Good.

Paul Clemens:
Training with staff and we know that sometimes there's turnover in staff and that can require additional training and time.

Speaker5:
So having labeling in the.

Paul Clemens:
Kitchen, identifying spaces where you would put your food waste at and how you would address that in your daily operations, it's a good time to start thinking about that and keeping that in mind. The containers that we will supply to businesses as we roll out the.

Speaker5:
Program will be similar to.

Paul Clemens:
The green waste container that people have at their homes.

Speaker5:
They'll be smaller.

Paul Clemens:
Because food waste is heavy.

Speaker5:
But that will be our initial way of getting the program going. Later on, we'll have the equipment necessary for some who may want a small one yard.

Paul Clemens:
Container or something like that. But again, those.

Speaker5:
Are.

Paul Clemens:
Quite heavy and the truck.

Speaker5:
That we're getting, we have on order in order to address this issue with businesses because they have the same concern over containers and odor. Their carts getting smelly and stuff like that would be a little different.

Paul Clemens:
From for them because they won't have.

Speaker5:
Green waste in.

Paul Clemens:
There. And the piece.

Speaker5:
Of equipment that we have on order actually has a.

Paul Clemens:
System on board to be able.

Speaker5:
To rent out.

Paul Clemens:
Carts. And so that's something that we would be able.

Speaker5:
To do after emptying them. The same.

Paul Clemens:
Truck would be.

Speaker5:
Able to rinse them out and to try to help keep.

Paul Clemens:
Odor and different issues like that down and some of our.

Speaker5:
Businesses. But again, I would say just like in a home or a resident, they might be looking at some smaller pails or buckets that they would have in their.

Paul Clemens:
Kitchen area or their food.

Speaker5:
Prep area or when they're bussing.

Paul Clemens:
Tables and.

Speaker5:
Plate scrapings, have an area that's identified where that stuff can go and get to the.

Paul Clemens:
Right container to be dealt with appropriately.

Katie:
And I think it's safe to say if, you know, people should be aware by now that trash isn't going away any day soon. We're creating more and more trash every day. This is this is going to be the new normal, not only for California, but I'm sure they're going to start rolling out programs like this around the nation if they haven't already in certain places. Maybe you could talk a little bit about the environmental impact on just why this whole program is so important. You know, from just the trash management standpoint.

Speaker5:
Just kind of like you mentioned earlier about. Landfill space and volume. So you go back in time and, you know, maybe a lot of us remember making trips.

Paul Clemens:
To the dump.

Speaker5:
Or wherever with our with our parents or family, and everything went in, whether it was metal, plastic, car parts, you know, tires.

Paul Clemens:
Mattresses, everything went into the landfill. Right. And you just buried it.

Speaker5:
But now as we start to pull these things.

Paul Clemens:
Out, it's when we fill up a landfill or when a landfill is created. You also have to monitor water.

Speaker5:
So groundwater gets monitored both above the landfill and below the landfill in order to make sure that we're not impacting groundwater. Then anytime you have an open landfill working, you've got a working face, you've got to divert water around it. You've got to capture water. You need to treat water to make sure that we're not impacting the environment. Once it's in place, we have to.

Paul Clemens:
Put in methane collection wells to make sure that methane isn't escaping the landfill.

Speaker5:
Which, you know, is worse for the environment than carbon.

Paul Clemens:
Dioxide. So we're trying.

Speaker5:
To minimize.

Paul Clemens:
All of those impacts, but.

Speaker5:
Also.

Paul Clemens:
Make it a resource right, so that it can be used because resources, natural resources are limited. So by trying to use.

Speaker5:
This material that right now.

Paul Clemens:
Is considered garbage or waste, reduce the amount.

Speaker5:
That actually.

Paul Clemens:
Can't be.

Speaker5:
Used.

Paul Clemens:
Is huge for being able to keep landfills that we currently have open and operating for as long as we can. Because as I mentioned, it's it's a limited amount of space. And once you fill it, you have to figure out what you're going to do after that.

Speaker5:
And that gets to be pretty spendy.

Paul Clemens:
And there's a lot of examples in larger.

Speaker5:
Cities down by.

Paul Clemens:
San Francisco, different areas where they had landfills that filled up.

Speaker5:
You still have to monitor them, but then it gets really spendy.

Paul Clemens:
To start shipping material to different places to be able to accept it, where you have to ship it by train to another state or it has.

Speaker5:
To be trucked.

Paul Clemens:
To a different part of the state. All of.

Speaker5:
Those have.

Paul Clemens:
Other environmental impacts. When we start doing that.

Steve:
With regard to our landfill that you mentioned here in Shasta County, what capacity full is it as of today? And if program like three isn't put into effect and things don't change, what's your forecasting on on how long until our landfill here fills up?

Speaker5:
It's kind of hard to determine at current rates and volumes. We have about 12 to 15 years left on the landfill at.

Paul Clemens:
West.

Speaker5:
Central. But there is another phase that can be planned and permitted if it gets approved.

Paul Clemens:
To be able to.

Speaker5:
Expand and extend that life a little bit a little bit longer. But if we're able to.

Paul Clemens:
Divert the volume.

Speaker5:
Of material, then that can be extended. And it just depends on how successful some of these programs are. Right? If we're trying to divert, you know, 75% of material that was previously being generated, you know, that can actually do a lot to extend the life of a landfill.

Katie:
And so I guess the general overall idea is if we can keep food waste and other organics out of the landfill, that saves space. And then those organics are turned into compost, which can be used in other places. Is that the general idea?

Paul Clemens:
Yeah, that's that's.

Speaker5:
The idea in general.

Katie:
And then once that compost is created, you know, a year from now, two years from now, is that, is that compost? How is that compost used? Does the city's creating compost or, or maybe it's shipping this to other places that create compost? What happens to that compost is that then resold back into the community? Is it used by agricultural farms? Do you know what happens to that compost?

Paul Clemens:
Currently it takes us about 90.

Speaker5:
Days to.

Paul Clemens:
Create compost from green waste that comes into the facility. By the time we process it, screen it, put it into what's called an aggregate.

Speaker5:
An ag bag.

Paul Clemens:
And it sits in there for about 90 days or so.

Speaker5:
And we pull it out, make sure it has.

Paul Clemens:
The right consistency and moisture content, carbon.

Speaker5:
Nitrogen content, and then it can be sold. And the.

Paul Clemens:
Compost that we.

Speaker5:
Currently.

Paul Clemens:
Make all get sold back into the local public. And then also we're looking at using it as we try to create additional compost and generate additional compost. Finished product would be using it in some of our parks and different facilities that are city owned. And there's also a procurement piece in 1383 that requires us to try to utilize that type of product back into the local community.

Steve:
Jumping back into user. Mentioned that if things continue the way they are. We're potentially in trouble. But you also mentioned that with SB 1383, with some of these processes and protocols and be put into place, there is a potential for user rate increase down the road as well. Is that fair to say? Yes.

Paul Clemens:
Even though we're putting less in the landfill, prices still go up, fuel fuel goes up.

Speaker5:
Cost of materials go up.

Paul Clemens:
Labor rates go up. So even though.

Speaker5:
We might be generating less material that's.

Paul Clemens:
Going to the landfill.

Speaker5:
We still.

Paul Clemens:
Have a significant amount of material that's being dealt with in some way. It's either being transported and utilized, composted, being processed and introduced into our wastewater treatment facility as part of their PYROLYSIS program that we're looking to do and see if that works. Sending it to an out of area facility to be part of their program where it gets utilized and methane is collected off of it as it breaks down.

Speaker5:
So all of these things will have.

Paul Clemens:
An upward pressure.

Speaker5:
On rates.

Katie:
But I guess on the other side of that, you know, if the landfill gets full because we aren't diverting this organic material, the rates are likely going to go up anyway. If we're going to have to start shipping out our material to other places, right?

Paul Clemens:
Yes, that's correct.

Speaker5:
You can look around in different areas where they've had to start shipping material.

Paul Clemens:
And for instance, you.

Speaker5:
Know, we we.

Paul Clemens:
Have a rate somewhere around 80 something dollars a ton at the transfer station at the city of Redding. If you go up to the landfill, then the rate there is cheaper, right? Because we're not having to handle it, load it, transport it and move it. Person is taking it there directly themself. So the rate directly at the landfill is cheaper. If you look at areas like say, somewhere over on the coast towards Eureka, where they have to.

Speaker5:
Haul their waste inland to another.

Paul Clemens:
Facility, you'll see that tipping fees are quite a bit higher because of transportation costs. So you can imagine if transporting waste from Redding ended up transporting it to Nevada or transporting it down south or somewhere like that, those.

Speaker5:
Costs.

Paul Clemens:
Would then be covered by the tipping fee. And so you can imagine what that would do to a tipping fee in order to cover those transportation costs, hauling costs.

Katie:
So really, I mean, you know, this is this is a state law. It's a state mandate. You know, nobody likes to be told what to do. But but ideally, I mean, this is this is actually the most environmentally conscious and and, you know, potentially a smart financial move as well to try to save our landfill for as long as we possibly can.

Speaker5:
It's a very aggressive bill.

Paul Clemens:
Sb 1383 is and it's really trying to accomplish a lot of good things. Um, change is hard for all of us in one way or another. But in this sense, even though it can be difficult, there's a cost to it, It becomes the norm and it's good for the environment and it's good for the community and it's good to try to get these resources utilized the best.

Speaker5:
That we can, right? If we have wasted food that.

Paul Clemens:
Can be used and it can create security for some. How beneficial is that if we can protect our environment and need to recover or.

Speaker5:
Mine.

Paul Clemens:
You know, we can reduce mining resources or taking new resources by being able to create a resource out of something that we already have that's already available and that's able to save, you know, or reduce the impact to the planet and to our local environment, then it's the right thing to do, even though it's going to take a lot of work, a lot of.

Speaker5:
Effort.

Paul Clemens:
And it's going to be a heavy lift for communities and jurisdictions. But, you know, we can probably most of us go back to remember when recycling first became required and it was difficult and a lot of people didn't want to do it. But now.

Speaker5:
Having a blue can or having something to put your recyclable material in is kind of second.

Paul Clemens:
Nature to most.

Speaker5:
People in their in their household activities.

Paul Clemens:
And this is be something similar. You know green waste was later added and it's become the norm. I think we'll now hit this process. And even though there's other areas that are already performing this type of service, who already have some of these types of requirements and some bigger cities, they're kind of a little bit ahead of the.

Speaker5:
Curve on this.

Paul Clemens:
But it's being done and it becomes the norm and.

Speaker5:
I think it will be the same thing for us that.

Paul Clemens:
It's a it's a good thing to do.

Speaker5:
Regardless of the heavy lift that it will be.

Paul Clemens:
But eventually it will be a very positive thing for our community.

Katie:
As a reminder, we are really looking for community feedback for this podcast. If you have questions, comments or suggestions for episodes, please email us at podcast. City of redding.org. We'd love to hear from you and incorporate those questions into future episodes.

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