Encinitas staff, EDCO report progress on SB 1383 organics diversion, urge public outreach

City of Encinitas 0 Waste Program Administrator Paul Meckler and EDCO Northern Division General Manager Matthew Cleary gave the Environmental Commission an extended update on SB 1383 implementation, local diversion results and next-year plans at the commission—s June meeting.

Meckler summarized the regulatory drivers and local targets, saying the state mandate SB 1383 requires broad organics diversion and edible-food recovery while the older AB 939 sets an ongoing 50% diversion framework. He noted the city measures disposal as pounds per person per day and reiterated the Climate Action Plan goal of reducing that rate to 3 pounds per person per day by 2030; Encinitas—s regulatory target referenced in the presentation is currently about 7.5 pounds per person per day, with an interim goal of 5.3 that the city has passed.

The update placed heavy emphasis on organics capture and edible-food recovery. Meckler said the city identified 16 tier-one and 29 tier-two qualifying food generators for edible-food recovery (grocery and larger food-service sites, cafeterias and schools) and reported 44 education-outreach instances, 16 formal inspections and nine technical consultations. Meckler added that…