3 ms·

> In CA you're no longer allowed to throw food waste in the trash bin, it must be composted How strictly is that enforced? And is it applied without exceptions

> In CA you're no longer allowed to throw food waste in the trash bin, it must be composted How strictly is that enforced? And is it applied without exceptions? For example I compost but if I have something oily I'm going to compost it because oily soil isn't great.

hosh 5y ago
Ah. So organisms such as oyster mushrooms can eat oil in contaminated soil and bring it back into something that plants can grow on. It also depends on how you are composting. The main problem with composting oily food is that the oil goes rancid. There are solutions for that. Black Soldier Flies Larvae can eat that stuff, and are symbiotic to human activity. (They stay in one place, drive out the other species of flies, and don't go after humans). If you have a red earthworm composting bin, you'd feed the BSFL stuff that you don't want to feed the worms. (You'd feed the worms the best stuff and give the rest to the BSFL). Industrial composters will just throw them all in big piles and they will eventually compost. Some might implement ideas from Paul Stamets and cultivate fungi on the heaps to help it break down faster.
CharlesW 5y ago
> How strictly is that enforced? Anecdotally, I’m a CA homeowner and this is the first I’ve heard of it.
_jal 5y ago
Can't speak for everywhere, but in SF, I've never heard of enforcement, at least towards residential waste producers.
hedora 5y ago
This is definitely not state law. Many cities don't even have compost bins in silicon valley.
- hosh 5y ago
  It's probably just San Francisco. I have heard of something like that at the municipal level. I don't remember something like that when I visited family in Sacramento a couple months ago. Seattle has something like that too, when I lived there seven years ago. We were provided bins for composting, and compost bins were in every resturant I went to.
  - janj 5y ago
    It's new, as of January 2022 https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/new-california-compost-law-goes-into-3245289/ https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/new-california-compost-law...
- janj 5y ago
  It definitely IS state law, unless I'm not interpreting this correctly. https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/new-california-compost-law-goes-into-3245289/ https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/new-california-compost-law...

hosh 5y ago

Ah. So organisms such as oyster mushrooms can eat oil in contaminated soil and bring it back into something that plants can grow on. It also depends on how you are composting. The main problem with composting oily food is that the oil goes rancid. There are solutions for that. Black Soldier Flies Larvae can eat that stuff, and are symbiotic to human activity. (They stay in one place, drive out the other species of flies, and don't go after humans). If you have a red earthworm composting bin, you'd feed the BSFL stuff that you don't want to feed the worms. (You'd feed the worms the best stuff and give the rest to the BSFL). Industrial composters will just throw them all in big piles and they will eventually compost. Some might implement ideas from Paul Stamets and cultivate fungi on the heaps to help it break down faster.

CharlesW 5y ago

> How strictly is that enforced? Anecdotally, I’m a CA homeowner and this is the first I’ve heard of it.

_jal 5y ago

Can't speak for everywhere, but in SF, I've never heard of enforcement, at least towards residential waste producers.

hedora 5y ago

This is definitely not state law. Many cities don't even have compost bins in silicon valley.

hosh 5y ago
It's probably just San Francisco. I have heard of something like that at the municipal level. I don't remember something like that when I visited family in Sacramento a couple months ago. Seattle has something like that too, when I lived there seven years ago. We were provided bins for composting, and compost bins were in every resturant I went to.
- janj 5y ago
  It's new, as of January 2022 https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/new-california-compost-law-goes-into-3245289/ https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/new-california-compost-law...
janj 5y ago
It definitely IS state law, unless I'm not interpreting this correctly. https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/new-california-compost-law-goes-into-3245289/ https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/new-california-compost-law...