Sonoma residents, businesses and institutions are now required to separate organic materials from trash and recycling beginning January 1. The new ordinance was enacted as required by California Senate Bill 1383, which passed in 2016 to reduce the generation of greenhouse gas emissions from landfills The law seeks to reduce organic waste disposal by 75 percent from the 2014 level and recover 20 percent more edible food to reduce food insecurity.
The new ordinance requires that organic materials, which include food scraps, yard waste, untreated wood, certain paper products (napkins, tissues, paper towels, and contaminated food packaging made of paper or cardboard), and textiles organics are placed in green or composted garbage carts/bins (Download a waste sorting guide). Organic products are not allowed in the blue recycling bin or gray/black trash bin.
Businesses that generate food scraps must also provide separate organic and recycling bins in customer areas where there is a dumpster.
As the city’s sustainability coordinator Travis Wagner noted, “Properly segregating your organic materials is the easiest and least expensive climate action anyone can take. It will also extend the life of our landfills and create valuable compost across the state.”
To help Sonoma residents and businesses, the city created a website dedicated to Sort It Sonoma! program – https://www.sonomacity.org/sort-it-sonoma/.