L.A. is going even greener!
Effective immediately, all Los Angeles Sanitation and Environment (LASAN) customers should use the green bin to dispose of all food scraps and food-soiled paper, along with their existing yard waste. This is due to California Senate Bill 1383, which requires jurisdictions to reduce the disposal of their organic waste from landfills by 75% by 2025.
Food scraps can also mean meat! You can dispose of meat in your green bin because in the curbside program, organic material being collected in the green bin will be taken to commercial composting facilities. These facilities have compost piles that are much larger and achieve much higher heats than those you would reach in your backyard compost. As a result they can take those products such as meat and dairy along with other organic waste and appropriately break them down into nutrient rich compost without any pathogens.
To help residents start collecting food scraps, the City is providing 2-gal kitchen pails. These pails are available for pick-up at participating distribution sites, one pail per household, while supplies last. Residents can start making appointments to pick up their pails through the LASAN’s scheduling system at www.lacitysan.org/organics with pail pickup starting on January 23, 2023. For residents who require ADA accessibility, pails can be requested for delivery.
City kitchen pails are not required to participate in the citywide composting program. Any container of choice (e.g., bowl, paper bag, etc.), can be used to collect food scraps and empty them into your curbside composting collection bin.
Items that can go in the green bin include:
• Fruits, vegetables
• Dairy, eggshells
• Stale bread, cereal, grains, rice, pasta, beans
• Old lunch meat, steak and chicken bones, fish bones, shells
• Coffee grounds and used paper coffee filters
• Food soiled paper products (e.g., used paper napkins, soiled pizza boxes)
• Yard trimmings, flowers, and clean untreated wood.
Customer Tips:
The recommended best practice is to place all compostable materials directly into the curbside composting bin. A great tip is to place a used paper napkin or paper towel at the bottom of the kitchen composting pail. The napkin will absorb moisture and help control odor.
Placing food scraps in a kitchen pail will reduce potential odors because it will isolate anything that might smell in one container. Materials that might degrade will no longer be mixed with other garbage under the kitchen sink.
Food scraps from the kitchen pail can then go into the curbside composting cart. Composting food scraps is a good green habit that helps protect the environment in multiple ways.
In addition to the new OrganicsLA program, residents also have the option of composting at home, using an in-sink disposal or taking their organic material to one of the compost hubs at a farmer’s market. Customers with questions may contact LASAN’s 24-hour Customer Care Center at 1-800-773-2489 or visit www.lacitysan.org/organics to schedule an appointment to pick up a pail.
