Long Beach is expanding its organic waste collection program next month as part of a state requirement to significantly reduce food waste in landfills by 2025.
That means some 8,000 homes in 13 areas around the city will start receiving new bins on Oct. 14: Green ones to compost food wastes, yard trimmings and paper bags; blue ones for recycling.
The residential program expands on the city’s organic waste collection program for commercial businesses that started in 2021 .
“The trash that goes into landfills is over 50% food waste, basically anything you consume you could put in the compost ,” Lauren Pretty, owner of the sustainable restaurant Heritage in Long Beach, told LAist.
“With the addition of all these other homes participating in this program, I do think that we’re going to be using this slurry successfully someday and it seems like we’re not very far away from that,” Pretty added, referring to the semi-liquid compost made with organic waste that can be used as bio-fuel.