Top Composting & Food Waste in Woodland, California Ranked

For restaurant owners and food service operators in Woodland, managing organic waste is no longer just an environmental consideration-it's a legal requirement. California's SB 1383 mandates that all businesses, including restaurants, recycle their organic materials, transforming food scraps and soiled paper from trash into a valuable resource. This regulation is designed to drastically reduce landfill emissions and represents a significant shift in how Woodland handles its waste stream. Navigating these new rules for food waste diversion and composting can seem complex, but understanding the local requirements is the first step toward compliance and contributing to a more sustainable community.

Northern Recycling, LLC

44692 Co Rd 28H, Woodland, CA 95776

Northern Recycling, LLC provides food waste and composting services for restaurants and other organic materials in Davis, CA. Their facility, located at the Yolo County Central Landfill, uses innovative technology to optimize composting, reduce air emissions, and produce high-quality compost products such as organic compost, recycled gypsum, shredded wood chips, and topsoil. The company partners with Yolo County to manage green waste, food waste, and construction and demolition materials, aiming to divert waste from landfills and support local communities through sustainable resource creation.

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Understanding SB 1383 and Woodland's Mandate

California's landmark law, SB 1383, sets ambitious targets to reduce organic waste disposal by 75% by 2025. For Woodland restaurants, this translates into a direct mandate: you must separate all organic material from your regular trash ¹. This law classifies "organics" broadly to include food scraps, food-soiled paper, and yard waste. The City of Woodland enforces this mandate through its contracted waste hauler, requiring commercial entities to participate in the organics recycling program ². The goal is twofold: to cut methane emissions from landfills and to recover edible food for those in need. Non-compliance isn't an option for most, as the city and state can issue penalties, making it essential to set up a proper system.

What Must Be Separated: Your Organics Recycling Guide

Knowing exactly what goes into the organics bin is crucial for avoiding contamination, which can lead to service issues or additional fees. The rules are specific but designed to capture the bulk of a restaurant's waste.

YES - Place in the GREEN Organics Bin:

• All food scraps: This includes produce trimmings, meat, bones, seafood, dairy products, bread, and coffee grounds with filters ^{3 4}.
• Food-soiled paper: Napkins, paper towels, uncoated paper plates, pizza boxes, and compostable paper food containers (look for BPI-certification) ^{3 5}.
• Yard trimmings: If your establishment has landscaping, grass clippings, leaves, and small branches are also included.

NO - Keep These Out of the GREEN Bin:

• Plastics: This includes plastic bags, wrappers, containers, and utensils-even if labeled "biodegradable" ^{4 5}.
• Glass, metal, and foam: These materials belong in the blue recycling bin or gray trash bin.
• Liquids, oils, and grease: These require separate handling and should not be poured into any curbside bin.
• Large wood items: Stumps or limbs over five feet in length are not accepted in standard organics containers ⁵.

Setting Up Your Restaurant's System: Bins, Bags, and Pickup

Implementing an effective organics separation system starts with the right containers and habits. Your waste hauler will provide the necessary bins, which follow a standardized color scheme: green for organics, blue for recycling, and gray or black for landfill trash ^{3 1}.

Container Setup: Your hauler, such as Waste Management of Woodland, will supply the appropriate organics containers. These must be placed conveniently next to your trash and recycling bins for easy access by staff and collection crews ⁶. It's recommended to have smaller collection pails in kitchen and prep areas lined with compostable bags to make daily sorting simple and hygienic.

Bag Requirements: For collecting food scraps indoors, you must use BPI-certified compostable bags ³. Do not use standard plastic bags, as they are major contaminants in the composting process. These certified bags are designed to break down completely in commercial composting facilities.

Collection Schedule: Organics collection is typically scheduled on a weekly basis, often on the same day as your trash and recycling pickup ¹. It's important to confirm the exact schedule and any holiday adjustments with your specific hauler to ensure your bins are always accessible and serviced on time.

The Edible Food Recovery Requirement

Beyond composting inedible scraps, SB 1383 has a critical humanitarian component: edible food recovery. By 2025, certain businesses are required to donate a minimum of 20% of their surplus edible food to people in need ^{7 8}. This applies to restaurants, grocery stores, and other food service providers. Surplus edible food includes items that are still safe to consume but may be nearing a sell-by date, are cosmetically imperfect, or are simply prepared in excess. Partnering with local food banks, shelters, or recovery organizations like the Yolo Food Bank is a key part of full compliance. Donating food not only helps the community but may also offer potential benefits, such as enhanced public goodwill or even waste service discounts ⁷.

Costs, Exemptions, and Working with Your Hauler

Understanding Costs: There is no single fixed price for commercial organics recycling in Woodland. Costs depend on your restaurant's specific needs: the size and number of bins, the frequency of pickup, and your contracted hauler's rate structure ⁹. You can expect standard service fees for the additional container and collection. It's also important to manage your bins well, as missed pickups or excessive contamination (non-compostable items in the green bin) can result in extra charges ⁵. The most direct way to get accurate pricing is to contact your waste hauler for a detailed quote tailored to your establishment's volume and schedule.

Potential for Exemption: The mandate does allow for a narrow exemption. A business may apply for an exemption if it can prove it self-hauls 100% of its organic waste to a designated facility and that none of its trash contains any organic material ^{7 2}. This is a high bar for most restaurants to meet, as it requires meticulous separation and a consistent self-hauling operation. Exemption forms are available through the City of Woodland's Environmental Services department and require formal application and approval ⁷.

Your Local Hauler: For most Woodland businesses, Waste Management (WM) of Woodland is the provider of solid waste, recycling, and organics collection services ⁵. They are your primary point of contact for starting service, adjusting container sizes, reporting issues, and getting clarification on acceptable materials. Building a good working relationship with your hauler representative can make the compliance process much smoother.

Benefits Beyond Compliance

While driven by regulation, participating in Woodland's organics recycling program offers significant advantages for your restaurant:

• Environmental Leadership: Demonstrates a commitment to sustainability that resonates with customers and staff.
• Waste Audit Insights: The process of separating organics often reveals opportunities to reduce overall waste, potentially lowering disposal costs over time.
• Community Connection: The edible food donation component allows you to directly support food-insecure neighbors in Yolo County.
• Resource Recovery: Your food scraps are turned into compost, a nutrient-rich soil amendment that can support local agriculture, closing the loop in the local food system.

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