California Trash Law: SB 1383 Food Recovery and Penalties

California SB 1383 is the state’s organic waste law, and since January 1, 2022 it has required every city and county to collect food scraps, yard waste, and other organic material separately from trash. It also requires large food businesses to donate surplus edible food instead of throwing it away. Since January 1, 2024, jurisdictions have been required to issue fines to residents and businesses that don’t comply, and CalRecycle can hit jurisdictions themselves with penalties as high as $10,000 per day.

What the Law Requires

SB 1383, the Short-Lived Climate Pollutants Reduction Act, was signed in 2016 to cut methane emissions from organic waste rotting in landfills. It sets two statewide benchmarks: a 50 percent reduction in organic waste disposal from 2014 levels by 2020, and a 75 percent reduction by 2025.¹

“Organic waste” under the regulations is much broader than food. It includes food scraps, yard trimmings, paper products, cardboard, wood, lumber, organic textiles, carpets, manure, biosolids, and digestate.² Every jurisdiction must provide collection to all residents and businesses, with limited exceptions for low-population and high-elevation areas. On top of that, the state has to recover 20 percent of edible food by 2025, keeping usable food out of the waste stream entirely.³

How Organic Waste Collection Works

A common misconception is that every household in California must sort into three bins. That’s not the case. Jurisdictions can choose from three collection models depending on local infrastructure:⁴

A three-container system with a green bin for organics, a blue bin for recyclables, and a gray bin for everything else.
A two-container system, where a mixed container goes to a high-diversion facility that separates organics from other materials.
A single-container system, where all waste goes to a high-diversion facility for separation. This option is uncommon because it requires specialized infrastructure.

Under the three-container model, the green bin accepts food scraps, yard waste, and food-soiled paper. The blue bin takes traditional recyclables and can also accept clean paper, cardboard, dry lumber, and textiles. The gray bin is strictly for non-organic, non-recyclable waste.⁵ Most jurisdictions use this model. To find out which system your area uses and what belongs in each bin, check with your local waste hauler.

Edible Food Recovery Requirements for Businesses

This is where SB 1383 gets ambitious. Rather than just composting food waste, the law requires certain large businesses to donate surplus edible food to food recovery organizations. The regulations split those businesses into two tiers with different compliance deadlines.

Tier One Generators

Tier One businesses have been required to comply since January 1, 2022. The category covers supermarkets with at least $2 million in gross annual sales, grocery stores of 10,000 square feet or larger, food service providers operating under contract with institutions, food distributors, and wholesale food vendors.⁶

Tier Two Generators

Tier Two compliance took effect on January 1, 2024 and covers a broader range:⁶

Restaurants with 250 or more seats, or 5,000 square feet or larger.
Hotels with 200 or more rooms and an on-site food facility.
Health facilities with 100 or more beds and an on-site food facility.
Large venues and events serving an average of more than 2,000 people per day.
State agency cafeterias with 250 or more seats, or 5,000 square feet or larger.
Local education agencies and non-local entities with an on-site food facility.

All commercial edible food generators must have a written contract or agreement with a food recovery organization, keep records of how much food they recover, and maintain documentation of those agreements.³ Intentionally spoiling edible food that could be safely donated is prohibited. The one carve-out: if your jurisdiction hasn’t built enough food recovery capacity and you can show compliance is impracticable, you may claim extraordinary circumstances as a temporary defense.

Waivers and Exemptions

Not every property and jurisdiction is on the hook for the full law. Several waivers exist:

A de minimis waiver for non-local entities and local education agencies that generate very little organic waste, though a blue recycling bin would still be required for paper and cardboard.⁷
A physical space waiver for properties without room for additional containers.
An elevation waiver for jurisdictions or unincorporated census tracts entirely at or above 4,500 feet, covering food waste and food-soiled paper separation.
A low-population waiver for cities and special districts that disposed of fewer than 5,000 tons of solid waste in 2014 and have a population under 7,500. Unincorporated census tracts qualify if population density is below 75 people per square mile.
A rural exemption from organic waste collection entirely, for jurisdictions that meet the statutory definition and whose governing body adopts a formal resolution explaining the need.

None of these apply automatically. Each requires an application to CalRecycle or, in some cases, to the jurisdiction itself. If you think your property or organization qualifies, contact your local waste hauler or your jurisdiction’s solid waste department.

Penalties for Residents and Businesses

Since January 1, 2024, jurisdictions have been required to issue notices of violation to generators that don’t comply. If a generator is still out of compliance 60 days after receiving a notice, the jurisdiction must impose fines on this escalating scale:⁸

First violation: $50 to $100.
Second violation of the same type within one year: $100 to $200.
Third or subsequent violation of the same type within one year: $250 to $500.

Fines apply per violation, so a business with several bins in violation or multiple compliance failures could face cumulative penalties. Commercial businesses that generate two or more cubic yards of solid waste per week get the most scrutiny, because jurisdictions must review those accounts every year.⁹

Penalties for Jurisdictions

CalRecycle enforces against cities and counties directly, and the numbers are much bigger. When CalRecycle finds a jurisdiction in violation, it issues a notice giving the jurisdiction 90 days to correct the problem, with a possible extension up to 180 days. If the jurisdiction still fails to comply, CalRecycle imposes administrative civil penalties based on severity:⁹

Minor violation: $500 to $4,000 per day.
Moderate violation: $4,000 to $7,500 per day.
Major violation: $7,500 to $10,000 per day.

Combined penalties for multiple violations can’t exceed $10,000 per day. In setting the exact amount, CalRecycle weighs the severity of the violation, the jurisdiction’s ability to pay, whether it took steps to avoid or correct the problem, and any economic benefit the jurisdiction gained by not complying. If a jurisdiction fails to enforce against a generator, or a generator operates across multiple jurisdictions, CalRecycle can step in and take direct enforcement action itself.¹⁰

1
California Legislative Information. California Health and Safety Code 39730.6
2
CalRecycle. Statewide Mandatory Organic Waste Collection
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CalRecycle. Food Recovery Questions and Answers
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CalRecycle. Collection Systems, Container Colors, and Labeling
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Cornell Law Institute. California Code of Regulations Title 14 18984.1 – Three-Container Organic Waste Collection Services
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CalRecycle. How to Identify SB 1383 Commercial Edible Food Generators
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CalRecycle. Department-Issued Waivers
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CalRecycle. Jurisdiction Enforcement
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CalRecycle. Enforcement Questions and Answers
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CalRecycle. CalRecycle Oversight and Enforcement