A score of residents in a North Long Beach neighborhood tried their hand at organic waste collection this summer, giving a glimpse into the assurances and obstacles of an upcoming state-mandated program.
The week-long project was led by Cal State University Dominguez Hills student Amber Alvarado, who is studying to be an ecologist and environmental scientist.
Alvarado visited nearly 20 homes in July and handed residents fliers on what food and yard items to collect and the benefits of collecting organic waste.
Senate Bill 1383 took effect in January 2022, requiring cities to implement a mandatory organic waste collection program. California set a goal to reduce organic waste disposal in landfills by 75% by 2025 and to reduce food waste by 20% in the same timeframe.
Organic waste includes food scraps, yard trimmings, paper and cardboard, which currently makes up about half of California landfills, according to the bill.
Since the bill went into effect, CalRecycle reported that 70% of California communities have implemented residential organic waste collections.
Long Beach, like many other cities, has hit roadblocks in rolling out its residential organic waste program. The City’s Waste Diversion and Recycling Officer Erin Rowland told the Signal Tribune that one of the main roadblocks is a supply shortage of the trucks that will pick up organic waste.
Another obstacle is “a lack of infrastructure in the area to support the processing of organic materials,” according to the City’s website.
The goal of Alvarado’s project was to explore resident’s willingness to learn about and participate in the organic waste collection program once it’s rolled out to residential areas. The City said there is no concrete timeline for the residential program as of now.
Alvarado said 19 households agreed to participate in the project, but only six of these homes fully completed the program. Still, she said she was “pleasantly surprised” with her results.
Community Survey Results
After giving the neighborhood a week to test their organic waste collection skills, Alvarado checked back in with residents to collect their bags of food and yard debris. She asked them questions created with the help of Long Beach City recycling specialists to gauge their experiences.
The 13 residents who had planned on participating but didn’t collect organic waste cited issues of time fulfillments such as scheduled vacations or they simply forgot to separate their waste.
“This is what happens, it’s real-world situations and it’s still good that this happened,” Alvarado said.
Despite the mishaps, Alvarado was still able to collect 27 pounds of food scraps and yard debris. After removing non-compostable items such as plastic bags and bones with meat on them, she donated the remaining 25 pounds of organic waste to The Growing Experience urban farm in Long Beach.
Questionnaire results included:
- Most residents did not struggle separating their food waste into a separate container
- Most residents did struggle to get other members of their family to separate their organic waste
- Most residents said their collected food waste did not cause unwanted odor
- Half of the participants said before the program they did not know how to separate organic waste
- Most residents said that after the program, they feel confident separating and collecting organic waste
Alvarado said that the most surprising result was that only 10% of collected organic waste had to be removed.
“I think it made me feel more hopeful that people are going to be able to do this … It’ll take some time to implement but I think it will be possible,” Alvarado said, adding that she suspects the educational fliers she handed out made a big difference in inspiring confidence.
What Long Beach is doing now
Though Long Beach is not ready to implement the organic waste collection program in residential areas, it started a similar pilot program with 168 commercial businesses in 2021.
Waste Diversion and Recycling Specialist Britny Coker-Moen told the Signal Tribune that as of the beginning of August, 168 tons of organic waste had been collected. In July, the City collected 25.1 tons of organic waste.
Coker-Moen said the City is hoping to expand its pilot program to more businesses by the end of this year.
An obstacle Long Beach is facing is “a lack of infrastructure in the area to support the processing of organic materials.”
According to Long Beach City organics page
Residents can enroll in free composting shops through Long Beach’s Environmental Services Bureau, where they can learn how to transform organic waste into nutrient soil.
A workshop on Aug. 26 from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the Michelle Obama Library (5870 Atlantic Ave.) will cover the basics around recycling and will be taught in both Spanish and English.
Long Beach will teach composting skills through a virtual workshop on Sept. 7 from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Residents can purchase a composting bin at a discounted rate through the City, but will currently be placed on a waiting list.
This article was updated on Aug. 23 to correct the spelling of Britny Coker-Moen’s name and to clarify the subject of the Aug. 26 workshop. The Signal Tribune regrets these errors.
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