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Solana Center tells El Cajon council SB 1383 is on track; city has surplus recovery capacity
Summary
A Solana Center contractor told the El Cajon City Council that the city identified about 88 regulated food generators and eight recovery organizations and appears to have roughly 1,300 tons of excess regional recovery capacity, while urging volunteers and clarifying business compliance timelines under SB 1383.
Malika Sen, director of environmental solutions at the Solana Center, told the El Cajon City Council on June 25 that California’s SB 1383 aims to keep organics out of landfills and increase edible food recovery, and that El Cajon is performing well in the law’s early implementation.
“SB 13 83 is a landmark regulation … its main purpose [is] sending less organics to the landfill,” Sen said, adding the law sets state targets for 2025: a 75% reduction in landfill organics and a 20% increase in surplus edible food recovery. She explained the law uses two regulatory tiers: large grocery and retail generators were required to donate starting Jan. 1, 2022; prepared-food generators (restaurants, hotels, schools, health facilities) entered compliance as of Jan. 1, 2024.
Sen said the city’s tier-identification exercises (performed in 2022 and again in 2024) found roughly 88 regulated businesses in El Cajon and eight food recovery organizations. Based on modeling, she said the city’s generators could potentially donate about 657.6 tonnes of food; county recovery organizations have capacity of roughly 1,968 tons, leaving El Cajon contributing an estimated regional excess capacity of about 1,300 tons.
Council members asked how residents in acute need can access recovered food, and Sen pointed to local partners such as the Salvation Army and East County Transitional Living and said the city posts a list of recovery organizations on its website. She also urged residents to volunteer: “Volunteers are the lifeblood behind food recovery … they oftentimes are taking their personal vehicles and visiting the businesses, picking up the food, and then they drive it back to the organization,” she said.
Council members raised questions about compliance costs for businesses and whether the regulation increases consumer prices. Sen said large chains often backhaul organics and may claim federal tax incentives for donating food; smaller businesses face an initial training lift but may later save on hauling costs. She did not provide hard dollar estimates for specific chains.
The presentation highlighted practical points for local implementation: businesses must follow California’s food safety code and cannot donate unsafe food; inspectors may place businesses on a watch list when no recoverable food is found; and cities must maintain records (lists of recovery organizations, generator identification and inspections) as part of compliance.
The council and Solana Center staff agreed to share a web link to the list of local recovery organizations and to continue outreach to recruit volunteers.
