SB1383 Fact Sheet: California’s Organic Waste Law

Who needs to comply with California SB1383?

Tier 1

Grocery stores & supermarkets

with 10,000 sq. ft. or more

Food service providers

an entity primarily engaged in providing food services to institutional, governmental, commercial, or industrial locations of others

Food distributors

a company that distributes food to entities including, but not limited to, supermarkets and grocery stores

Wholesale food vendors

a business or establishment engaged in the merchant wholesale distribution of food, including fruits and vegetables

Tier 2

Restaurants

with 250 seats or 5,000 sq. ft. or more

Hotels

with on-site food facilities and 200 rooms or more

Health facilities

with on-site food facilities and 100 beds or more

Large venues and events

a permanent venue facility that annually seats or serves an average of more than 2,000 individuals within the grounds of the facility per day
an event that charges an admission price, or is operated by a local agency, and serves an average of more than 2,000 individuals per day of operation of the event

Local education agencies

with on-site facilities

State agencies with cafeterias

follows the same criteria as restaurants, with cafeterias equal to or greater than 250 seats or 5,000 sq. ft. of space

SB1383 Timeline

2016

SB1383 enacted through joint effort between CalRecycle and California Air Resources Board

2020

50% reduction goal due (missed - organic waste levels actually rose)

2022

Regulations enforced for Tier 1 generators; organic collection begins

2024

Tier‑2 generators must begin compliance (larger facilities, stadiums, hospitals, etc.)

2025

75% reduction goal for organic waste, and 20% of all edible food rescued (slightly missed - but more than 90% of the goal number was met)

So... what does this mean, exactly?

In order to be compliant with the law, food generators are now required to:

Recover the maximum amount of edible food by donating surplus food rather than composting or waste disposal
Have established plans food recovery (either through a contract with a food recovery organization or written self-haul agreement)
Maintain the following records:

Each food recovery organization being worked with
Contracts and agreements available for review
Types of food collected or self-hauled
Frequency of donations
Pounds of food per month

Jurisdictions (counties) are also required by the state to do the following:

Establish a county-level food recovery program by consulting with food recovery organizations and services and ensuring adequate capacity exists to recover that food
Conduct outreach & education
Plan and implement SB1383 at the local level, keep records on both generators and food recovery services
Inspect facilities and enforce compliance with SB1383

Per CalRecycle, both jurisdictions and food generators may be subject to financial penalties (fines) if they are found to be in noncompliance.

Navigating SB1383 with Replate

Here at Replate, we help both Tier 1 and Tier 2 food generators remain in compliance with SB1383.

Our services include:

Both on-demand and pre-scheduled / recurring food recovery service;
Providing written agreements necessary for compliance (contract);
Access to our calendar, scheduling, and donation tracking software;
Access to real-time donation and impact metrics - including:

Poundage data
Type of food donated (prepared vs shelf stable)
Amount of carbon dioxide and water saved through donations
Information regarding where your organization’s donations are being sent

Replate’s goal is to eliminate any pain points with food donations - we want to make it as easy as possible! We can help you build a seamless food recovery system within your organization – where we do all of the heavy lifting.

To preview Replate's account features, watch our Donor Demo!

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