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Waste Management reports SB 1383 rollout improvements, offers Q&A on organics and container swaps
Summary
Waste Management district manager Alex Zalaski told the Grass Valley City Council the SB 1383 implementation has largely stabilized after one year, citing high service reliability and steps to address remaining container- and billing-related issues; he answered resident questions about can swaps, newspaper in organics, and invasive-plant trimmings.
Alex Zalaski, district manager for Waste Management’s Grass Valley office, told the Grass Valley City Council on the SB 1383 rollout’s one-year anniversary that the company has made measurable service improvements and plans further audits and outreach in 2026.
"We are past our 1 year mark of the SB 1383 rollout," Zalaski said, and reported operational metrics including 99.86% of residential customers receiving service on the correct day and 99.97% serviced on their scheduled service day. He said the contractor received eight new trucks in 2025 and that about 90% of route trucks are less than three years old.
The update outlined steps Waste Management has taken to address earlier problems: staff said nearly all senior-discount customers have been corrected to the right bundled organics can and that container backlogs have been cleared so new customers receive carts on the day they request. Zalaski said 736 Grass Valley residents are enrolled in the county senior discount program (about 4,500 approvals countywide) and that Waste Management will conduct audits through 2026 to address remaining bundle issues.
In a resident question-and-answer exchange, Council members and attendees asked how customers can swap a large organics can for a smaller one and how to replace beat-up containers. Zalaski said customers can call Waste Management’s customer service line or visit the local office to request swaps or replacements; the local staff member Stacy was cited as a point of contact. A phone number given in the meeting was 530-274-3090.
On what may and may not go in organics collections, Zalaski and a Waste Management colleague, Rachel, advised residents that paper bags are the preferred container for organics, that newspaper can be used in limited quantities but is generally better recycled, and that invasive plant material (for example Himalayan blackberry trimmings) should be kept out of organics loads.
Zalaski described customer-service improvements: 0.21 missed pickups per 1,000 customers, an average 1.85 days to resolve assigned cases (the team’s goal is to resolve many cases within 24 hours), and a plan to lower repeat-customer callbacks; he said 117 January tickets required a second call and called that "unacceptable," indicating further work. Zalaski also highlighted community outreach events, monthly radio programming across jurisdictions, and an extended lease for the county recycle drop-off through September 2027.
The council did not take formal action on the presentation; staff said they would follow up on any unresolved resident questions.
