One year in: How a state mandated organic waste recycling program is going in Palm Springs

In October of 2022, the City of Palm Springs launched its organic waste collection services program, in accordance with Senate Bill 1383 (SB 1383).

Since then, all residents and businesses have been required to separate food waste and yard waste into green bins, which allows Palm Springs Disposal Services (PSDS) to process the waste into compost and reduce the amount of methane which is generated from landfills when food and yard waste breaks down.

Methane is a powerful heat-trapping gas that has contributed significantly to climate change, according to NASA scientists. Researchers have found that an estimated 60% of today’s methane emissions are the result of human activities.

SB 1383 is meant to help California achieve its aggressive recycling and greenhouse gas emission goals and address climate change by reducing materials in the landfill which produce gas.

"We have seen really great growth in terms of our residents using the residential pickup for organic waste," according to Lindsey-Paige McCloy, Office of Sustainability Director for the City of Palm Springs. She added that the City is seeing "60 to 70% compliance," with more yard waste being processed than food waste.

PSDS is successfully implementing the organic recycling program on schedule and without complications. In 2023, residential organic waste diverted from landfill increased by 2,767,980 pounds over 2022 disposal levels, and commercial waste diverted from landfill increased by 1,191,280 pounds over 2022 disposal levels, according to a staff report.

On Thursday, the Palm Springs City Council will consider whether to amend a current agreement with Palm Springs Disposal Services, which is proposing a contract extension.

PSDS is requesting an extension to the term, which expires in 5 years, to provide sufficient time to acquire and gradually pay off collection vehicles needed to implement the organic waste recycling program, according to a staff report

. PSDS is seeking to extend its contract by 4-years, 6-months (from March 30, 2029, to September 30, 2033).

PSDS is also seeking to implement the following additional services:

• Kitchen Pails: PSDS will offer countertop compost kitchen pails to all residential dwellings upon request.
• Bulky Item Collection: PSDS will extend the on-call bulky item collection program to multi-family complexes.
• Community Clean-up Events: PSDS will annually conduct a curbside pickup event for Single-Family Dwelling Customers and a drop-off event for City residents at City Hall or a City-approved location, both in the Fall and Spring. This change memorializes a long-standing program that was inadvertently omitted from the Amended and Restated Franchise Agreement but is still provided by PSDS.
• Special Collection Events: PSDS will provide three document shredding and e- waste recycling events annually for residents at no cost to the City.

The proposal also calls for the employment of up to eight individuals referred by the operator of the City’s Homeless Navigation Center in the PSDS “Hand-Up Program,” designed to aid job seekers in establishing a current work history for their re-entry into the labor market. Additionally, it would see the acquisition of a Zero-Emission Vehicle (ZEV) by PSDS, which would be subject to a summer performance test confirming suitability for the desert environment and securing supplemental funding to cover higher acquisition costs and charging infrastructure upgrades.

None of the proposed changes would mean rate hikes for PSDS customers. "In our existing agreement, as written, there is an annual rate increase process, which is basically tied to the Consumer Price Index and how much it costs us to dump the waste at the end site. The new extension does not impact that existing framework," according to Lindsey-Paige McCloy, Office of Sustainability Director for the City of Palm Springs.

Watch News Channel 3 at 10:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. tonight for more on the story.