South Pasadena to add three‑bin curbside recycling under SB 1383; Prop 218 hearing set for July 16

The Natural Resources and Environmental Commission heard an update May 27 from Arpi Caspera, the city’s environmental services and sustainability manager, on implementing California Senate Bill 1383 and a recently approved amendment to the city’s contract with Athens Services that converts South Pasadena from a two‑stream to a three‑stream collection system and freezes scheduled rate increases until mid‑2027 pending a Proposition 218 hearing on July 16.

SB 1383 requires jurisdictions to provide organic collection and other programs, and it also requires jurisdictions operating a two‑stream system to send residual waste to a certified high‑diversion facility. Caspera told the commission that because only a small number of high‑diversion facilities are certified in California — most in Northern California — the city and its hauler agreed to add a distinct recyclables stream to comply with the law.

City staff said the amended Athens agreement took effect Jan. 1, 2025, and included a special rate adjustment that was already implemented. To add source‑separated recycling while limiting immediate cost pressure on ratepayers, the agreement includes a two‑year rate freeze: the normally scheduled July 1, 2025 and July 1, 2026 increases will not take place and rates will remain at the Jan. 1, 2025 schedule. Caspera said the next scheduled increase will occur Jan. 1, 2027 and will be calculated using the “trash CPI plus 1%,” a waste‑industry CPI measure.

The amendment also changes contract terms: the rolling contract term was extended from seven to ten years and the city agreed not to issue a notice of intent to wind down the contract for five years. “We agreed that we would not issue a notice of intent to wind down for 5 years,” Caspera told the commission.

Implementation details presented by staff include new equipment and containers. Athens Services will procure roughly six additional vehicles dedicated to South Pasadena — one “mother” truck for source‑separated recyclables, one mini Class C rear loader and four manual pickup trucks — and the city will provide standardized containers for customers because SB 1383 prohibits customer‑provided containers. Single‑family households will receive a minimum of three city‑provided carts (one for trash, one for organics and one for recycling), with the standard 32‑gallon wheeled barrels delivered at no charge. Multifamily and commercial accounts with solid waste service will receive a 96‑gallon recycling cart serviced once per week at no additional cost; higher frequency or larger containers would incur additional rates in the posted schedule.

Caspera outlined a tentative implementation timeline: after the July 16 Prop 218 hearing (the final step for resisting or allowing the new rate structure and service changes), Athens will begin procurement of barrels and vehicles. Staff estimated 16–18 weeks for procurement and roughly 6–8 weeks for citywide container deployment. Caspera said outreach materials — mailed notices, postcards, social posts and an FAQ page — will be distributed before and after barrel deployment.

The contract amendment also changed bulky‑item service. Instead of four annual public ‘‘dumpster’’ collection days, the city will offer free curbside bulky‑item pickup to all customers once per quarter for up to five items at no charge; multifamily tenants would request bulky pickup through their property manager.

Caspera and commissioners fielded questions about how schedules will change (Caspera said collection days should remain the same but some manual trucks will visit addresses twice due to compartment limits), the meaning of the trash CPI, and the longer rolling term. Staff emphasized that the Prop 218 hearing is the last local step: if fewer than a majority of ratepayers file a successful protest the changes will proceed.

Next steps: city staff will mail Prop 218 hearing notices to ratepayers later in the week, host the public hearing July 16 and, if a majority protest is not received, Athens will begin procurement and staff will conduct waste assessments of multifamily and commercial accounts during the procurement period. Outreach and education will continue through rollout.