As of January 1, 2022 the City of Costa Mesa must educate, regulate, monitor, and report to the State on the compliance efforts of waste haulers, self-haulers, waste processing facilities, recyclers, commercial businesses, residents, and edible food generators, and food recovery organizations.

The City of Costa Mesa’s specific responsibilities include:

• Evaluating the jurisdiction’s readiness and capacity to implement SB 1383, including organics collection, recycling and edible food recovery capacity.

• Ensuring edible food recovery programs are established/expanded to help food-insecure residents.

• Conducting outreach and education to all affected parties, including generators, haulers, facilities, edible food recovery organizations, and city/county departments.

• Procuring recycled organic waste products like compost, mulch, renewable natural gas (RNG), and electricity. Procuring does not necessarily mean purchasing.

• Inspect and enforce compliance with SB 1383. Edible food generator inspections can be combined with existing health inspections.

• Maintaining accurate and timely records of SB 1383 compliance.

COLLECTION AND RECYCLING

To comply with readiness and capacity compliance the City of Costa Mesa adopted SB 1383 mandates into our municipal Code on October 4, 2021. A link to this ordinance can be found here.

Provision of required programs means all residential properties (single and multi-family), and all commercial properties must be provided containers for both recycling and organic waste recycling (including food waste). The only exceptions would be for locations that qualify for waivers due to de minimis volumes of organic waste generation (less than 20-gallons per-week) or those with severe space restrictions that prevent placement of one or more required containers. The City will also grant waivers to the mandatory programs provided by our franchise haulers if a commercial business can demonstrate their compliance through internal or third-party recycle programs.

ONLINE WAIVER FORMS

If you believe your commercial property qualifies for a waiver, please follow this link and fill out an application. Applications must be filled out completely, without any missing data for consideration. Keep in mind that City-granted waivers must meet State criteria. If your location is not granted a waiver, you must start State-mandate recycling programs immediately. 

The City of Costa Mesa has multiple haulers operating within its jurisdiction.

All single-family residences and multi-family properties of four-units or less are serviced by the Costa Mesa Sanitary District’s exclusive franchise. Please follow this link for more information on this program and your specific requirements.

Costa Mesa Sanitary District

Businesses and multi-family properties of five-units or more are serviced by the City of Costa Mesa’s non-exclusive franchise. Links to the websites of each of the City’s seven (7) haulers is provided below. Please refer to your hauler’s website for specific program details.

Please refer to your hauler’s website for specific program details. To determine who your hauler is, refer to your recent bill or look at the name/logo on your trash bin.

Enforcement of SB 1383 requirements began on January 1, 2022. The City and its haulers will initially provide education and technical assistance to locations found to placing improper materials in collection containers. While this will vary slightly based upon your specific hauler’s program requirements, generally all organic waste (food waste and landscape waste) must be kept out of the trash and placed in a separate container for collection. Recyclable materials like cardboard, paper, and beverage containers must also be separated for collection unless your hauler has an approved program that collects mixed waste that is subsequently sorted at a State-designated high-diversion rate facility.

The requirement to recycle organic waste can be met by taking one or any combination of the following actions in the City of Costa Mesa*:

• Source-separate organic waste from other waste

• Recycle organic waste on site 

• Subscribe to an organic waste recycling service 

• Sell or donate the generated organic waste

*Provided that the action is in compliance with local ordinances and requirements

The following link is provided by CalRecycle, the State agency responsible for SB 1383 implementation: https://www.calrecycle.ca.gov/organics/slcp

If you have any questions or require technical assistance, please reach out to us at:

sustainability@costamesaca.gov OR City Recycling Hotline: (714) 754-5603

FOOD RECOVERY PROGRAM

State regulations are requiring that all jurisdictions in California work with certain identified businesses to recover and redistribute edible food before it enters the waste stream.

As of January 1, 2022, large food-service businesses (Tier 1 Commercial Edible Food Generators) must donate surplus edible food to food recovery organizations with additional businesses (Tier 2 Commercial Edible Food Generators) starting on January 1, 2024. At that time, state-mandated fines for non-compliance may go into effect. California is working to redirect edible food to those in need, increasing current donation levels by at least 20% by 2025.

Definitions of Tier 1 and Tier 2

• Tier 1: Tier one businesses generally have produce, fresh grocery, and shelf-stable foods to send to food recovery organizations.

• Generally Includes: Supermarkets, grocery stores, food service providers, food distributors, wholesale food vendors

• Tier 2: Tier two commercial edible food generators typically have more prepared foods to donate, which often require more careful handling to meet food safety requirements (e.g., time and temperature controls).

• Generally Includes: Restaurants, hotels, health facilities, large venues, large events, state agencies, local education agencies, non-local entities

Food recovery requirements include a written agreement with an edible food collection organization, keeping records of their donations, and not knowingly disposing of edible food which can be donated.

Food Recovery/Collection Organizations:

• Food Finders
• Orange Coast College Recovery Kitchen
• Abound Food Care
• Second Harvest OC

Local Food Banks

Submit Waiver Request Forms Online

If you choose to email/ mail the waiver form, please download waiver form and email to: sustainability@costamesaca.gov; or mail to: 77 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa, CA 92626 - Public Services Department