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Windy with mainly clear skies. Low around 40F. Winds W at 20 to 30 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph..
Windy with mainly clear skies. Low around 40F. Winds W at 20 to 30 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph.
Updated: May 8, 2022 @ 8:12 pm
Windy with mainly clear skies. Low around 40F. Winds W at 20 to 30 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph..
Windy with mainly clear skies. Low around 40F. Winds W at 20 to 30 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph.
Updated: May 8, 2022 @ 8:12 pm
PALMDALE — The City Council, on Wednesday, approved changes to the city’s organic waste disposal ordinance to meet the requirements of state law.
They also heard about the potential for sending such waste to a processing facility in Lancaster that will turn it into a natural gas fuel source and compost.
Organic matter — which includes food waste, yard clippings and even food packaging such as pizza boxes and tea bags — produces methane as it decomposes. Methane is a greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change.
The state law, Senate Bill 1383, was passed in 2016, to address the issue of methane and other pollutants released by organic waste in landfills. It set a target of reducing organic waste by 50% by 2020 and 75%, by 2025.
According to CalRecycle, landfills release 20% of the state’s methane pollution and organic waste such as food scraps, yard clippings and paper make up half of what is dumped in California landfills.
Much like separating recyclables, separating organic waste from other trash is intended to keep it from landfills.
The city previously revised its ordinance to meet the requirements of SB1383, but CalRecycle released its own model ordinance later.
“The model ordinance didn’t look very similar to the one we had,” Environmental Resources Manager Ben Lucha said.
City staff was notified by CalRecycle that the existing ordinance was not sufficient. Failure to make the recommended changes could prevent the city from qualifying for grant funds to help implement the new rules and could result in fines of up to $10,000 per day, he said.
“I think it’s important we comply, but I also want to say that maybe we can be a leader in finding ways to have our residents not waste food,” Councilmember Laura Bettencourt said, suggesting programs that would make it easy for residents to donate food that would otherwise go to waste.
State regulations do have requirements for rescuing food, Lucha said, and the city works extensively with the South Antelope Valley Emergency Services (SAVES) and is working on a regional approach to this kind of edible food diversion programs.
To process the collected organic waste, the city is studying the feasibility of entering into an agreement with Hitachi Zosen INOVA, which is building a processing facility at the Lancaster Landfill.
This facility would use anaerobic digestion to process the waste, resulting in compost and clean renewable natural gas or hydrogen, which can be used as fuel for various purposes.
“It’s amazing, that this process is actually going to take garbage and turn it into fuel,” Mayor Pro Tem Richard Loa said.
The Council approved proceeding with a feasibility study to work with the Lancaster processing plant.
agatlin@avpress.com
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