Trash & Recycling

Educational Videos

residential food waste/organics video

Household Hazardous Waste Video 

Squirmy Wormy, learn how to compost video

Squirmy Wormy Presentation

Newsletters

Winter 2019-2020 Newsletter

Winter 2020-2021 Newsletter

Olive's Amazing Adventures 

Hi! I am Olive, Culver City's Environmental Mascot. My story and how I met the Recycling Racoons is in the Recycling Coloring Book. 

Printable Posters

Click on the Posters below to download. 

What goes in your RECYCLE can posters and tips:

• Which Recyclables Belong in Your Blue Cart
• Plastic: Recycling Tip

 What goes in your ORGANICS can and tips:

• Food Waste and Organics 

• Your Green Cart Can Just Got Greener

• Napkins, Tissues, Paper Towels are Not Recyclable

• Wet/Greasy Paper and Cardboard

SB 1383 General Information

In September 2016, Governor Brown signed into law SB 1383 (Lara, Chapter 395, Statutes of 2016), establishing methane emissions reduction targets in a statewide effort to reduce emissions of short-lived climate pollutants (SLCP) in various sectors of California's economy. The new law codifies the California Air Resources Board's Short-Lived Climate Pollutant Reduction, established pursuant to SB 605 (Lara, Chapter 523, Statutes of 2014), to achieve reductions in the statewide emissions of short-lived climate pollutants. Actions to reduce short-lived climate pollutants are essential to address the many impacts of climate change on human health, especially in California's most at-risk communities, and on the environment.

 SB 1383 establishes targets to achieve a 50 reduction in the level of the statewide disposal of organic waste from the 2014 level by 2020 and a 75 percent reduction by 2025. Considering landfills produce a significant amount of methane gas, which is a green-house contributor, CalRecycle has set organics reduction guidelines that cities must be adhere to. Cities are required to provide an organics collection program, reduce organics from being landfilled, and shall divert/recover more than 20 percent of currently disposed edible food by 2025. 

AB 1826 Background and Overview

In October 2014 Governor Brown signed AB 1826 Chesbro (Chapter 727, Statutes of 2014), which requires businesses and multifamily residential dwellings* to divert their organic waste** from the landfill. Currently businesses and Multifamily dwellings that generate 2CY of Organic waste per week must subscribe to an organics diversion program. 

*Multifamily dwellings are not required to have a food waste diversion program.

**Organic Waste (also referred to as organics) means food waste, green waste, landscape and pruning waste, nonhazardous wood waste, and food-soiled paper waste that is mixed in with food waste. 

 Additional Resources Provided by CalRecycle 

• Cool California provides resources for small businesses, including a carbon calculator, sustainability activities, success stories, funding wizard, and an awards program.

• The Food Packaging Institute offers free resources that are tailored toward key stakeholders, including communities, material recovery facilities, composters, anaerobic digestion facilities and recycling end markets. Resources include overviews of California-specific recycling and composting studies, an interactive map of end markets, information sheets for materials recovery facilities, resident outreach materials, and more.

• AmpleHarvest.org is a unique nationwide resource that is eliminating the waste of food, the outcome being a reduction in hunger and malnutrition along with an improved environment. It is accomplished by utilizing the Internet to enable 42 million Americans who grow food in home/community gardens to easily donate their excess harvest to one of 8,563 registered local food pantries spread across all 50 states. These food pantries help nourish the one out of six Americans (including a quarter of all kids under six ) that rely on these pantries.

• The Institute for Local Self Reliance has released Community Composting Done Right: A Guide to Best Management Practices.  Resources include a full report, a summary of best management practices, a troubleshooting guide, data sheets, and a series of posters which won’t drain your printer cartridges that are designed to provide simple visuals that assist key operations.  The resources are designed to support community-scale composters in successfully managing their composting process and site, with a particular focus on sites accepting food scraps. 

• The Center for EcoTechnology offers free resources on food waste reduction, food rescue and food waste separation. The Best Management Practice Tip Sheets were tailored to businesses and institutions in San Diego County, created by CET with guidance from CalRecycle, Solana Center and San Diego Food System Alliance.

AB 341 Introduction and Background: California’s Mandatory Commercial Recycling Law

Assembly Bill 341 (AB 341) is designed to help California meet the mandatory recycling goal of 75% by the year 2020. AB 341 requires all businesses and public entities that generate 4 cubic yards or more of waste to have a recycling program in place. In addition, multi-family dwellings with five or more units are also required to form a recycling program.  

According to 2008 Statewide Waste Characterization data, the commercial sector generates nearly three fourths of the solid waste in California. Furthermore, much of the commercial sector waste disposed in landfills is readily recyclable. Increasing the recovery of recyclable materials will directly reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) emissions. In particular, recycled materials can reduce the GHG emissions from multiple phases of product production; including extraction of raw materials, preprocessing and manufacturing. A co-benefit of increased recycling is avoided methane emissions at landfills from the decomposition of organic materials. Use of composted organic materials also provides environmental benefits such as carbon storage in soils and reduced use of fertilizers, pesticides, and water.

Feed People Not Landfills

Effective January 1, 2022 the SB 1383 Short-lived climate pollutants law goes into effect. Cities are now required to establish food recovery programs, food donors must arrange to recover the maximum amount of food that would otherwise go to landfills, and food recovery organizations and services that participate SB 1383 must maintain records. Tier 1 commercial food generators such as the following businesses:

• Supermarket
• Grocery store (10,000+ sq.ft.
• Food service provider
• Food distributor 

• Wholesale food vendor 

will need to establish contracts or written agreements with food recovery organizations. These Tier 1 food donors will also have to keep records of the following information to demonstrate compliance:

• Types of food recovered
• Pounds of food recovered 

• Frequency that the food is recovered

Food donors will need to track the amount they donate by weight and maintain up-to-date records. Records will be submitted to the City of Culver City on a quarterly basis. 

In 2024,Tier 2 businesses (below) will be required to follow SB 1383's food recovery requirements.

• Restaurant (> 250 seats or 5,000 sq.ft.)
• Hotel with onsite food facility & > 200 rooms)
• Health facility with onsite food facility & > 100 beds
• Large events and venues
• State agency with cafeteria (> 250 seats or 5,000 sq.ft.)

• Local education agency with on-site food facility

Donations are Legally Protected

There are laws in place to protect business when donating food.

• California Department of Public Health: legally protects food donations. 
• The California Good Samaritan Food Donation Act (AB 1219): provides liability protections for entities that make good faith donations of food.

• Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act: protects businesses from civil and criminal liability arising from the nature, age, packaging, or condition of apparently wholesome food or an apparently fit grocery product that the person or gleaner distributes in good faith to a non-profit organization for ultimate distribution to needy individuals. 

Common Items Donated 

• Whole produce and baked goods
• Prepackaged foods

• Food prepared by a permitted food facility. 

Get Free Technical Assistance

Contact the Environmental Programs and Operations customer service at (310)253-6400 to assess your businesses collection service needs (trash, recycling and organics collection) or the placement of collection containers for optimum participation.   

Additional Resources

To learn more about SB 1383 regulations and timeline view CalRecycle's SB 1383 Model Food Recovery Agreement Presentation.  

Outreach and Food Reduction Tips 

Save the Food: Provides planning, storage tips, and tools to reduce edible food waste. Includes
interactive storage guide, guest-imator, and tips for cooking with food scraps.

Further with Food: Users share their responses, initiatives, tools, and best practices geared to curb food
waste. 

Organizations in Los Angeles County 

Food DROP LA: Provides business resources including Food Donation Toolkit and Food Donation
Tracking Form. 

 Los Angeles Food Policy Council: Food Waste Prevention & Rescue Working Group promotes strategies
for food waste prevention, food recovery and donation, and composting. Includes #FreetheFood Impact
Guide and Los Angeles Area Food Recovery Guide. 

Los Angeles County Food Redistribution Initiative: LA County Department of Public Health site
provides resources to the public about safe methods to prevent, donate, and recycle excess food. Includes
Guidance for Food Operators brochure, share table guide for schools, and additional resources. 

Holiday Tree-cycling is offered by either the Green Cart Collection or the 'Park your Tree' program. Flocked or artificial trees cannot be composted, place these trees in the black container. 

Green Cart Collection

1. REMOVE all ornaments, decorations, tinsels and stand from the tree.
2. CUT the tree into pieces, if needed to fit into green cart.
3. PLACE the tree pieces inside the green cart and put out for regular pick-up on collection day.

Park Your Tree Program

Due to the coronavirus, please wear and mask and social distance (stay 6 feet apart) if there is another resident dropping off trees at the same time. For more information regarding key points to keep in mind or face coverings please visit Coronavirus - City of Culver City.

1. REMOVE all ornaments, decorations, tinsels and stand from the tree. 
2. DROP Holiday tree to the following drop off locations:
   • Fox Hills Park
   • Syd Kronenthal Park
   • Culver West Park
   • Veterans Park

Refuse Rates 

The following FY 21-22 Refuse Rates were approved on August 9, 2021 by City Council.