Organic Recycling

Place recyclable organics directly into your designated green collection container. Do not use any kind of plastic bags (including certified compostable or biodegradable bags) for any type of green waste, food waste, or other organics collection or disposal, as they contaminate the Anaerobic Digester! All organic material must be placed loosely inside the green container for collection. Paper bags are acceptable.

Please do not place any of the following materials in your designated green organics recycling container:

• No plastic bags.
• No trash or hazardous waste.
• No animal waste.
• No dirt, rocks, asphalt, concrete, sand, etc.
• No treated or lead-based painted wood or lumber.

EDI’s Anaerobic Digestion Facility

Since 1967, family-owned and operated EDI has had a long-standing commitment to reducing impacts on the environment through innovation. EDI’s state-of-the-art AD Facility began serving customers in early 2021, assisting your community to be in full compliance with State Mandates and keeping us On the Road to Zero Waste.

EDI’s Anaerobic Digestion Facility

AD is the natural process in which microorganisms break down organic materials such as food waste, green waste, fats, oils, and greases. Anaerobic digestion happens in closed spaces where there is no oxygen.

Recycling organics will be easy and convenient with EDI’s commingled organics recycling program. EDI has expanded the source-separated green waste collection to include the recycling of food waste. The service allows customers to place food scraps in the same container as green waste. EDI’s AD Facility is a foundation for your community to achieve State mandates, including AB 1826, AB 1594, and SB 1383, which are directly related to organics recycling in the State of California.

EDI’s Anaerobic Digestion and Food Waste Recycling Videos

To learn more about EDI’s new AD Facility and Commercial Organics Recycling Program and how they will significantly impact the future of organic waste, please watch our informative videos.

Why Recycle Food Waste?

Organic waste accounts for over 40% of the material in California’s waste stream. Organic material cannot break down when buried in a landfill, as it would in nature or in a compost pile. Instead, it decomposes without oxygen, releasing methane gas into the atmosphere.

Organic material (food scraps and yard waste) will soon be recycled when placed in green carts and then transported to EDI’s AD Facility, once completed, where it will be converted into renewable natural gas and fertilizer.

AB 1826 – California’s Commercial and Multi-Family Organics Recycling Mandate

AB 1826 requires businesses and multi-family properties that generate organic waste to arrange for recycling services for that waste, and for jurisdictions to implement a recycling program to divert organic waste from businesses and properties subject to the law, as well as report to the State of California on their progress in implementing an organic waste recycling program.

SB 1383 – Short-Lived Climate Pollutant Reduction Strategy of 2022

SB 1383 establishes targets to achieve a 50% reduction in the level of the statewide disposal of organic waste from the 2014 level by 2020 and a 75% reduction by 2025. The law grants CalRecycle the regulatory authority required to achieve the organic waste disposal reduction targets and establishes an additional target that not less than 20% of currently disposed of edible food is recovered for human consumption by 2025.

EDCO can conduct free on-site visits to help businesses and multifamily properties comply with the state’s new mandatory recycling requirements. Contact our Customer Service office by phone or submit a fast and easy online request to arrange for organic waste recycling services.

AB 827 – California’s Commercial Recycling and Organics Container Mandate

Effective July 1, 2020, MCR and MORe-covered businesses must provide organics and recycling containers for customers to collect waste generated from products purchased and consumed on the premises (AB 827, McCarty). These containers must be placed adjacent to the trash and be visible, easily accessible, and clearly marked.

AB 827 requirements were added to existing AB 341 and AB 1826 requirements. The new law, passed in 2019, builds off existing requirements under these two laws.

• This law targets businesses that sell products meant for immediate consumption.
• Full-service restaurants do not have to provide properly labeled containers for patrons but must provide properly labeled containers next to trash containers for employees to separate recyclables and organics for customers.