Athens Services outlines three-stream commercial program for South El Monte to meet SB 1383

Dania Maya, director of government affairs for Athens Services, told the City Council that SB 1383 requires jurisdictions to divert organics and that the company is studying a bundled three-stream commercial and multifamily collection program to help South El Monte comply. "SB 1383 is a law that requires recycling for organics," Maya said, noting the state's organics-diversion target and the need for new collection approaches.

Maya described the proposed bundled service: a large trash container; a new 96-gallon blue recycling barrel; and a 64-gallon organics container for commercial multifamily accounts. She said businesses that do not generate organics would be eligible for waivers and could receive an extra blue recycling barrel in place of an organics container. Athens also proposed municipal outreach, contamination monitoring, waste-assessment routes, municipal account managers to meet businesses before implementation, and training for customers and staff.

Councilmembers asked whether rates would rise and how the change would affect businesses; Maya acknowledged rates could change because the mandate is unfunded at the state level but said staged outreach and right-sizing of service could lower trash costs for some customers. "I can imagine customers are going to have some questions about the rates but this is an unfunded mandate through the state," she said. City staff and councilmembers stressed the need for third-party review of proposed cost impacts and earlier education for the business community. Athens said next steps are negotiations with staff, contract amendments and municipal-code updates; the presentation was explicitly labeled educational and no contract changes were approved at the meeting.