Combatting Food-waste-related Emissions in Santa Cruz

Santa Cruz County has pursued an active approach to reducing food-waste-related greenhouse gas emissions, implementing mandatory organic waste collection programs driven in part by California's SB 1383 legislation, which took effect in January 2022 and requires all residents to separate food scraps from regular trash. Since the program's launch, the county's composting initiative has diverted tens of thousands of tons of organic material from the Buena Vista Landfill, sharply cutting methane released from decomposing food waste.

The diverted food scraps are processed into compost used by local farmers and gardeners. The City of Santa Cruz separately routes food waste to a resource recovery facility where it is converted into animal feed pellets, biodiesel, and fertilizer. Together, these efforts reflect a broader strategy to address the roughly 44% of landfill material that has historically been organic waste and to meet the county's climate action goals around methane reduction.