Californians will be required to separate their organic waste due to a new state bill.

Senate Bill 1383or SB1383, went into effect Jan. 1 to help fight climate change by collecting California’s organic waste.

SB1383 is part of a larger California environmental effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It will do so through municipal and departmental regulations focused on the reduction and collection of organic waste. As the state’s waste management overseer, CalRecycle will work closely with counties to ensure these regulations are implemented.

“All cities and counties in California will be required to begin collecting or providing collection services for organic waste so that it can then be recycled into compost or biofuel,” said Lance Klug, public information officer. from CalRecycle.

As Belmont’s collection service, Recology will inform and encourage citizens to compost. To achieve CalRecycle’s goals of reducing organic waste, Recology will phase in these composting restrictions.

“They’re not very strict, but they’re incentives to get people to comply if we ever get to that point,” Belmont Public Works Director Peter Brown said.

According to Klug, enforcing these regulations will have a huge impact on reducing greenhouse gas emissions for the state.

“California is on track to meet a 75% organic waste reduction goal by 2025. The avoided methane emissions will be the equivalent of taking three million cars off the road each year,” Klug said.

In addition to fighting climate change, SB1383 will also benefit the community in other ways. One of the program’s ways to reduce organic waste is to divert excess food to those who need it.

“There is a program that Belmont and county jurisdictions have signed up for where we collect edible food and get it to homeless shelters or food banks,” Brown said.

Matt Burgos, Co-Chair of the Carlmont Green Teamsupports SB1838 but believes California needs to do more to address the growing problem of climate change.

“The best way to reduce emissions would be a carbon tax, because it really influences all sectors of carbon emissions. We need a way to financially incentivize companies to reduce their emissions,” Burgos said. .

Burgos believes that the most important efforts to combat climate change must come from the government and the community.

“It’s very important to get legislation through a vote because that’s where the biggest change can come from,” Burgos said.