New Law Goes Into Effect In 2022 To Reduce Organic Waste By 75 Percent

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — A new law goes into effect in 2022 that requires the state to reduce organic waste in landfills by 75 percent in the next five years.

Organic waste is just food scraps that you're—likely right now—just throwing in the trash.

Well, next year, those products will go into the green bin with yard waste.

The change won't start on January 1st for everyone.

"Some old eggplant, a moldy pomegranate, lemongrass, and some old rice, the ends of some cabbage—all of these are going to go into our compost system," said a compost expert interviewed by CBS13. "For a lot of folks, this would go into the trash. But when it goes into the trash, it goes into the landfill and when it goes into the landfill, it actually creates methane."

Methane is a short-lived climate pollutant that is 84 times more potent than Carbon Dioxide.

The city of Sacramento will roll out this new recycling plan in the summer of 2022, but the start date here may not be the same in other areas.

"Wait until you hear from the city or county that you live in about what they want you to do with your organic waste," said one local interviewed by CBS13.

It's important not to jump the gun and throw food scraps into the green bin just yet. The city of Sacramento is still working out new contracts with facilities to process organics.

"Changing the way we do things ever so slightly will have a major impact on climate change," said one interviewee.

If you start recycling organics early, community compost hubs have weekly drop-offs to turn that trash into treasure.