Paradise officials and Northern Recycling and Waste Services staff told the Town Council that the town will begin weekly collection of commingled food and green waste in January 2026 to comply with California Senate Bill 1383.

“SB 13 83 was a really big change in solid waste laws in California,” said Susan, a staff member who presented the item with Doug Spiker, general manager of Northern Recycling and Waste Services (NRWS). “It required that every jurisdiction really hit 4 big pillars of this Senate bill… 1 being organics collection.”

The speakers said the new service will move the town from alternating green-waste/recycling schedules to weekly service for all three carts (garbage, recycling and organics). NRWS crews will use new trucks designed to carry wet food waste and the company said it has acquired equipment and hired staff to start in January.

Nut graf: The change responds to SB 1383, a 2022 California law that requires jurisdictions to offer organics collection to all residents and businesses, expand edible-food recovery, run education programs and procure products made from processed organics. The town is meeting most requirements but still must meet procurement tonnage targets and had been on a corrective action plan with CalRecycle.

Officials said Paradise already met the edible-food-recovery requirement by forming a multijurisdictional agreement in 2023. But staff said the town remains out of compliance on the procurement requirement — the obligation to buy a fixed annual tonnage of processed material — and that obligation carries mounted tonnage targets that are reassessed every five years.

“The procurement piece is not a section we are in compliance with,” Susan said, noting the town’s assigned annual buy-back tonnage is 484 tons. She told council that jurisdictions receive tonnage assignments based on population, and Paradise’s initial assignment was calculated on a population of about 6,000. Officials warned those tonnage obligations will be recalculated in 2027 and likely increase.

Because Butte County currently has no permitted mixed-organics processing facility able to accept commingled food and yard waste, Paradise staff said the town will initially haul organics to a permitted facility in Yolo County, which has given written acceptance of Paradise tonnage. The town is working with the county landfill on an on-Ridge transload site; staff said that facility hopes to be ready in 2026 pending permitting and a county-run RFP for hauling and processing services.

NRWS and town staff described an outreach plan: subscriber notices will go out in early November, guidance materials will be mailed, and staff will continue education after rollout to reduce contamination. Staff said some grants were secured to provide households with kitchen pails and other tools for residents.

On cost, NRWS staff told council the mandate will increase rates overall. “Right now, it is looking… a 10 and a half percent increase across the board for our ratepayers,” said Doug Spiker, adding that many households can lower bills by switching to smaller trash containers if they take full advantage of recycling and organics service.

Council members and members of the public asked about funding and facility readiness. Staff reiterated the collection expansion is a state-mandated, unfunded requirement and that the town had unsuccessfully sought an exemption. Officials said the corrective-action plan with CalRecycle remains in place but that Paradise aims to come off the plan by year-end; CalRecycle can pursue enforcement for continued noncompliance after a grace period.

Ending: Town staff said the next near-term tasks are completing outreach this fall, beginning weekly organics service in January 2026, and continuing work on local transfer/permitting so that hauling distances and rate impacts can be reduced once a local processor or transload option is available.