Top Composting & Food Waste in Encinitas, California Ranked

For restaurants and food service businesses in Encinitas, managing organic waste is no longer just an environmental best practice-it's a legal requirement. California's SB 1383 mandates that all commercial entities generating a certain amount of waste must separate and recycle their organic materials, a rule now actively enforced city-wide. This regulation is designed to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions from landfills by diverting food scraps, yard waste, and food-soiled paper to beneficial reuse. In Encinitas, this process is streamlined through an exclusive partnership with the local hauler, EDCO, which provides specialized collection services to help businesses comply efficiently. Understanding the specific rules for container use, acceptable materials, and collection schedules is essential for avoiding contamination issues and potential fines, while also contributing to the city's broader sustainability goals.

Food2Soil - San Diego's Neighborhood Composter

san diego

Food2Soil - San Diego's Neighborhood Composter was a local composting service focused on food waste from restaurants and residents in San Diego, CA. The business provided a community-based solution for composting food scraps, supporting waste recovery and promoting a circular economy. After 10 years of operation, Food2Soil closed its services on March 31, 2025.

5.0

10 Reviews

Miramar Landfill

5180 Convoy St, San Diego, CA 92111

Miramar Landfill is the City of San Diego's only active landfill, located in San Diego, CA. It handles nearly 910,000 tons of trash annually across its 1,500-acre site. The landfill has been in operation since 1959, currently using the West Miramar area opened in 1983. It processes organic materials such as food waste and vegetative waste from restaurants and other sources, diverting them to the Miramar Greenery where they are turned into mulch, compost, and wood chips. This facility also captures methane gas produced by waste decomposition to fuel electrical generators at the Metropolitan Biosolids Center, supporting environmental sustainability efforts.

4.1

253 Reviews

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Understanding SB 1383 and Encinitas Enforcement

The driving force behind mandatory organic recycling in Encinitas is California's Short-Lived Climate Pollutant Reduction Law (SB 1383). This statewide regulation targets a 75% reduction in the level of organic waste disposed of in landfills by 2025, using 2014 levels as a baseline ¹. For businesses, this translates into a direct legal obligation to separate organic materials from their general trash stream.

In Encinitas, the city-wide enforcement of these commercial organics recycling requirements began on January 1, 2024 ^{2 3}. The rule applies specifically to all businesses, including restaurants, that generate two cubic yards (CY) or more of solid waste per week. This threshold encompasses most eateries, from busy cafes to full-service restaurants. The city and its contracted hauler, EDCO, are responsible for ensuring compliance, which includes monitoring for contamination and educating business owners on proper procedures ⁴.

Your Exclusive Hauler: Working with EDCO Encinitas

Encinitas operates under an exclusive franchise system for waste collection. For all commercial organic waste recycling, EDCO Encinitas is your designated service provider ⁵. This means businesses must enroll with EDCO for commercial service if they haven't already done so. The hauler provides a three-bin system to facilitate separation at the source:

• Green Cart: For mixed organics, including food scraps, yard waste, and food-soiled paper.
• Blue Cart: For traditional recyclables like cans, bottles, and cardboard.
• Gray Cart: For trash that cannot be recycled or composted.

EDCO manages the collection based on your business's specific needs. Pickup schedules are not one-size-fits-all; they vary depending on the volume of waste you produce and the size of the container you use. Businesses can choose from standard container sizes like 65-gallon or 96-gallon carts, or larger 2 cubic yard (CY) bins, with collection frequency options of one, two, or three times per week ^{2 6}.

What Goes In the Green Organics Cart?

Properly sorting materials is the cornerstone of successful and compliant food waste diversion. Contamination-especially from plastic bags-is a significant issue that can disrupt the processing of organic materials and lead to penalties ⁵.

Acceptable Materials (Must be placed LOOSE in the cart):

• All food scraps: Fruits, vegetables, meat, bones, dairy, bread, coffee grounds, and eggshells.
• Food-soiled paper: Napkins, paper towels, paper plates, pizza boxes, and uncoated paper food containers.
• Yard waste: Grass clippings, leaves, small branches, and weeds.
• Non-hazardous wood waste: Untreated lumber and wood scraps ^{2 7}.

Unacceptable Materials (Contaminants):

• Plastic bags of any kind, including those labeled as "compostable" or "biodegradable." This is a critical rule in Encinitas.
• Liquids, oils, and grease.
• Glass, metal, plastic, or Styrofoam.
• Pet waste or diapers.
• Textiles, rubber, or hazardous materials ^{2 5 7}.

The "loose" requirement is vital. All organic materials must be placed directly into the green cart without a bag liner. This ensures the materials are suitable for processing at an anaerobic digestion facility, where they are broken down to create renewable energy and compost ⁴.

Costs for Commercial Organics Collection

Pricing for commercial organic waste service in Encinitas is structured by container size and pickup frequency. Costs are typically billed monthly. Here is a general overview of starting price points based on EDCO's service structure ²:

• 65-Gallon Cart: Service starts around $97 per month for once-weekly pickup. Prices increase for more frequent service, up to approximately $290 per month for three pickups per week.
• 96-Gallon Cart: Service starts around $109 per month for once-weekly pickup, up to about $327 per month for three pickups per week.
• 2 CY Container: For larger volume generators, service starts around $177 per month for once-weekly pickup, up to approximately $530 per month for three pickups per week.

These costs are for the organic waste (green cart) service and are in addition to charges for recycling (blue) and trash (gray) collection. It's important to contact EDCO directly for an exact quote tailored to your business's specific container and frequency needs.

Steps to Achieve Compliance

Setting up a compliant and efficient organics recycling program involves a few key steps:

1. Contact EDCO to Enroll or Review Service: If your business is not already set up with commercial organics collection, you must contact EDCO Encinitas to enroll. Existing customers should review their current service levels to ensure they have the correct size and number of green carts for their organic waste output ⁵.
2. Set Up Proper Bins Internally: Place clearly labeled collection bins in your kitchen, prep areas, and dishwashing station. Use small, lidded containers to collect food scraps before transferring them loose to the outdoor green cart. This makes sorting easier for staff and helps prevent contamination.
3. Train Your Staff Thoroughly: Comprehensive training is essential. Educate every team member on what materials go into the green (organics), blue (recycling), and gray (trash) streams. Emphasize the "no plastic bags" and "loose materials only" rules. Regular refreshers can help maintain a clean stream and avoid contamination fees ⁸.
4. Prioritize Food Donation: Before recycling, consider food recovery. SB 1383 also includes requirements for edible food recovery. Donating unspoiled, surplus food to local recovery organizations is a powerful way to reduce waste and support the community. This step should come before tossing food into the green cart ⁹.

Consequences of Non-Compliance and Contamination

The city and EDCO take contamination of the organic waste stream seriously. Placing prohibited items like plastic bags in the green cart can render an entire load unrecyclable, defeating the environmental purpose and increasing processing costs. In such cases, businesses may be subject to contamination fees or fines ². Furthermore, as part of the SB 1383 enforcement, businesses that fail to subscribe to and properly use organic recycling services are out of compliance with state law, which can lead to escalating penalties from the local enforcement agency ^{3 1}. Proactive management of your organics stream is the most effective way to avoid these added costs and complications.

The Environmental Impact of Your Efforts

When your restaurant's food scraps are collected cleanly by EDCO, they are transported to a specialized anaerobic digestion facility. There, in an oxygen-free environment, microorganisms break down the organic matter. This process captures biogas (primarily methane) that is cleaned and used as a renewable natural gas to generate electricity or fuel vehicles. The remaining solid material is processed into a nutrient-rich compost, a soil amendment that can be used in agriculture and landscaping ⁴. By diligently separating your food waste, your business is directly helping to reduce landfill methane emissions, create renewable energy, and close the nutrient loop, making Encinitas a more sustainable community.

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