Residents in the unincorporated areas of Santa Maria and Lompoc now have to separate food waste and food-soiled paper from the rest of their trash and into their green waste containers with yard waste as the county’s organics recycling program expands to those communities.
In an effort to comply with Senate Bill 1383 — which aims to reduce organic waste disposal 75% by 2025 — Santa Barbara County’s organics recycling program will involve everything put into green waste containers being processed at a local facility into compost that will be used in local agriculture.
Customers in Santa Barbara, Goleta, Buellton, Solvang and unincorporated areas of the Cuyama Valley, the Santa Ynez Valley and the South Coast do not need to make any changes to how they manage waste, since the County Public Works Department’s ReSource Center at the Tajiguas Landfill already separates recyclables and organics at its Materials Recovery Facility.
The cities of Santa Maria, Guadalupe, Carpinteria and Lompoc each have their own organics recycling programs — most of which also involve placing food waste in green waste containers — with specific information that can be found on each city’s website.
The changes are specifically for people who live in the Santa Maria and Lompoc valleys outside city limits.
Public Works plans to send kitchen pails to each residence that can be used to collect organic waste at home without going out to the green waste container after each meal.
Customers in areas that require food waste to be put into green waste containers that don’t already have a green waste container can contact Waste Management at 805.922.2121.
Santa Barbara County Public Works is also encouraging residents to try composting at home, with half-priced compost bins sold at the North County Public Works Office at 620 W. Foster Road in Santa Maria.
“If you compost your organics where you live, please don’t stop,” the department said in a press release. “It’s best to compost as locally as you can. Plus, you’ll create a great soil amendment to use in your garden within months.”
More information on home composting can be found on the county’s website for the Resource Recovery and Waste Management division.
The ReSource Center at the Tajiguas Landfill recovers recyclable materials for sale and processes organics into compost, diverting about 60% of additional waste from the landfill. It also brings the region’s diversion rate to higher than 85%.
— Noozhawk staff writer Serena Guentz can be reached at sguentz@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.