Encinitas updates on SB 1383 rollout, EDCO anaerobic digester expansion and outreach

Paul Meckler, the city’s zero-waste program administrator, and Matthew Cleary, general manager of North County EDCO, gave the City of Encinitas Environmental Commission an update on SB 1383 implementation and local zero-waste efforts at the June meeting.

“Good evening, commissioners. Paul Meckler, 0 waste program administrator for the city of Encinitas. I'm joined to my right by Matthew Cleary, general manager of North County EDCO, our partner in all of this. We're here to give an update on the 0 waste program,” Meckler said as he opened the presentation.

The presentation summarized state regulatory drivers — including AB 939’s diversion targets and SB 1383’s requirements to reduce short‑lived climate pollutants by diverting organic waste — and described city and contractor activities to meet those mandates. Meckler and EDCO provided year‑to‑date diversion figures, outreach work, enforcement statistics and planned projects for the coming year.

Why it matters: SB 1383 requires jurisdictions to provide organic recycling access for residents and businesses and to increase edible‑food recovery; meeting the law both reduces landfill methane and supplies surplus food to recovery organizations. The commission heard that Encinitas is largely compliant with access requirements but still must increase diversion to meet the city’s Climate Action Plan disposal target of 3 pounds per person per day by 2030.

Key program details

- Access and compliance: Meckler said the city’s generator outreach and collection access efforts are complete enough that “Encinitas residents and businesses are 100 percent compliant with 13 83, meaning that nearly the nearly 20,000 generators within the city have a green organics container and the ability to recycle organic waste.”

- EDCO capacity and services:…