Top Composting & Food Waste in Victorville, California Ranked

For restaurant owners and food service operators in Victorville, managing organic waste is no longer just an environmental consideration-it's a legal requirement. California's landmark organic waste recycling laws, AB 1826 and SB 1383, mandate that all businesses, including restaurants of every size, separate their food scraps and other compostable materials for proper diversion. The City of Victorville has partnered with Burrtec Waste & Recycling Services to provide the necessary collection infrastructure, turning what was once trash into valuable compost at the local Victor Valley Compost Facility. This guide details everything you need to know to establish an efficient, compliant, and cost-effective organics recycling program for your establishment.

American Organics

20055 Shay Rd, Victorville, CA 92394

American Organics, located in Victorville, CA, is a composting facility operated by Athens Services since 2009. The facility processes various types of organic waste, including food waste, for municipalities and food service establishments across Los Angeles, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties. It uses advanced technology such as an auger screen for sorting, a powerful magnet for metal removal, and covered aerated static piles to speed up composting and eliminate pathogens. The facility's innovative methods reduce composting time from six months to two months, supporting environmental sustainability and compliance with state mandates.

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Understanding California's Mandatory Organics Recycling Laws

The foundation of Victorville's program is state law. Senate Bill 1383, which took full effect in 2022, aims to reduce statewide emissions of short-lived climate pollutants by dramatically cutting the amount of organic waste sent to landfills. For Victorville businesses, this translates into a non-negotiable requirement to subscribe to and properly use an organics recycling service ^{1 2}.

Previously, mandates like AB 1826 focused on larger generators, but SB 1383 expanded the rules to include all commercial entities. This means whether you run a small café or a large banquet hall, your restaurant must participate. The law is enforced at the local level, and the City of Victorville is responsible for ensuring business compliance. Implementing a robust food waste diversion system is now a standard part of responsible restaurant operations in the High Desert.

Setting Up Your Commercial Organics Service with Burrtec

The City of Victorville has designated Burrtec as the exclusive provider for commercial organics collection. Setting up service is a straightforward but essential first step.

Initial Contact and Container Selection: Your first action should be to contact Burrtec directly to establish your account. They will help you determine the appropriate container size and collection frequency based on your establishment's volume of food scraps, food-soiled paper, and other organic materials ^{3 4}. For most restaurants, the standard 65-gallon green cart is the starting point. For high-volume kitchens, catering services, or establishments with significant prep waste, 2-cubic yard or larger bins are available ^{3 5}.

Collection Schedule: Commercial organics collection in Victorville occurs five days a week, Monday through Friday ^{3 5}. This frequent pickup is crucial for restaurants to manage odor and pest control, ensuring that food waste doesn't sit for extended periods. Coordinating your kitchen's prep and clean-up cycles with the pickup schedule can streamline your daily operations.

What Goes In the Green Organics Cart? (Accepted Materials)

Knowing exactly what materials are accepted is key to a successful program and avoiding contamination. Victorville's program is designed to handle all the typical waste streams from a commercial kitchen.

All Food Scraps Are Accepted: This is a comprehensive list. You can and should include:

• Fruits and Vegetables: Peels, cores, rinds, spoiled produce.
• Proteins: Meat, fish, poultry, bones, and shellfish shells.
• Dairy & Eggs: Cheese, yogurt, eggshells.
• Grains & Baked Goods: Bread, pasta, rice, cereal, pastries.
• Other: Coffee grounds and filters, tea bags, nuts, and spices ^{3 6}.

Post-Consumer Plate Scrapings: A significant portion of restaurant food waste comes from customer plates. You can collect these plate scrapings, but staff must be trained to remove any non-compostable contaminants like plastic utensils, straws, or sauce packets before the food goes into the organics cart ⁶.

Food-Soiled Paper & Yard Waste: While the primary focus for restaurants is food waste, the program also accepts napkins, paper towels, pizza boxes (without plastic liners), and other paper products soiled with food. If your establishment has landscaping, green waste like grass clippings and small branches can also go in the same container ⁶.

Critical Contamination Guidelines: Keeping Your Stream Clean

Contamination-placing non-compostable items in the organics cart-is the single biggest challenge for recycling programs. A contaminated load can be rejected at the composting facility, undermining environmental goals and potentially leading to compliance issues.

Strict Separation is Mandatory: Plastic is the most common contaminant. Your staff must be vigilant in keeping these items out of the food waste collection:

• Plastic bags, wrap, and film.
• Plastic utensils, straws, and stirrers.
• Sauce packets, condiment cups, and their lids.
• Any non-compostable packaging or serviceware.
• Glass, metal, or rubber ^{6 7}.

Bagging Best Practices: For hygiene and convenience, food waste is often collected in bags. It is vital to use only bags that are certified compostable (often labeled BPI-certified). Do not use standard plastic trash bags, as they do not break down in the composting process and will contaminate the entire load. Check with Burrtec for their specific recommendations on approved compostable bag liners for commercial carts ⁶.

The Economics of Organics Recycling: Understanding Costs

The cost for commercial organics recycling service in Victorville is not a flat fee. It varies based on several factors specific to your business, making it important to get a detailed quote.

Primary Cost Drivers: Your monthly rate will typically depend on:

• Container Size: A 2-cubic yard bin will cost more than a 65-gallon cart.
• Collection Frequency: While standard is 5x/week, your specific needs may be assessed.
• Total Waste Volume: The overall amount of material you set out for collection influences pricing ^{4 8}.

Getting a Quote and Assessing Value: To understand your precise costs, you must contact Burrtec or refer to the official rate schedules provided by the City of Victorville ^{4 8}. While this is a new line item in your operational budget, consider the potential savings. By diverting heavy, wet food waste from your more expensive trash dumpster, you may be able to reduce the size or pickup frequency of your garbage service, offsetting some of the cost of the new organics program.

Operational Integration for Restaurants

Implementing a successful organics diversion system requires more than just placing a new bin in the kitchen; it requires thoughtful integration into your daily workflow.

Kitchen Workflow Design: Place clearly labeled organics collection containers in key prep areas (e.g., vegetable prep station, dish pit) and at the point where plate scrapings are cleared. Color-coding (using green for organics) can help with instant recognition. Train all staff-from chefs to bussers-on what goes where during onboarding and through regular refreshers.

Supplier and Packaging Review: Look upstream at your supply chain. Can you work with vendors to reduce non-compostable packaging? Are there alternatives for the plastic-lined boxes or single-use sauce containers that commonly cause contamination? Proactive sourcing can simplify your back-of-house sorting.

The Community and Environmental Impact: The food waste collected from Victorville restaurants is processed locally at the Victor Valley Compost Facility. The finished compost is then used in local agriculture, landscaping, and erosion control, closing the loop and returning nutrients to the soil in our region ³. By participating, your restaurant directly contributes to a healthier local environment and helps California meet its critical climate goals.

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