Do I have to put food scraps in green bin in Modesto? Can I be fined? Here’s what city says
In our Reality Check stories, Modesto Bee journalists deliver fast facts about the issues that matter to local residents to hold officials and institutions accountable. Read more. Story idea? Tips@modbee.com.
As you toss last week’s leftovers into your green garbage can in Modesto, you might find yourself wondering a few questions:
Do I really have to put food scraps in the organic waste container instead of the trash? Why? And what happens to those apple cores, banana peels and pizza boxes after pickup?
A reader asked our journalists with Bee Curious, a community-driven series where reporters answer reader questions about the Modesto region: “How is putting food scraps in the green can making a difference to the waste management process?”
Here’s what officials with the city of Modesto said:
What goes into my Modesto green trash can?
Modesto provides residents with three bins: green, black and blue.
The blue recycling bin is designated for plastic, glass, metal and clean cardboard containers, including those that qualify for the California Redemption Value program, according to the city’s website.
The green trash can is used for organic material, including food waste, paper waste, cardboard and small yard waste.
City regulations require that green bins must not exceed 100 pounds once filled, or be filled to the extent that the lid cannot close properly.
The city website says these are acceptable items to put in your green waste container:
Food waste, such as meat and bones
Tree brush and limbs less than 4 feet long and 6 inches in diameter
Grass, leaves and other lawn trimmings
Food-soiled paper and cardboard, such as pizza boxes
Paper products, including napkins and paper towels
Clean cardboard, which also may be placed in the blue bin
These items are not acceptable to put in the green trash can:
Dirt, rocks, concrete or asphalt
Materials over 4 feet long or 6 inches in diameter
Plastic, metal, glass or cloth
Plastic bags or plastic-lined bags
Treated wood or lumber
Animal waste, such as cat litter
Household or bathroom trash, including used toilet paper and diapers
Hazardous, toxic or e-waste materials, such as light bulbs, batteries and paint
Flocked, painted, or fireproofed Christmas trees
Sonya Severo, a city spokeswoman, said residents can place compostable bags, such as those made with recycled materials, in the green organics container with the city’s approval upon initial use.
To get the city’s approval before using compostable bags, residents must email the Solid Waste Division with pictures of front and back of the package or a link to the ones you wish to purchase and your address.
“If there is a certification organization, please include that in the picture,” the city website says. “The Solid Waste Division needs to ensure that the bag will break down in our composting process.”
Once you have the city’s approval, you will receive an email that you are approved to use compostable bags.
“Without this approval, the hauler may see bags in your green organics container, think that they are regular plastic, and tag the container for contamination,” the city website says.
Why are Modesto residents required to put food scraps in green bin?
Severo said Modesto residents and businesses are required to put food scraps into the green organics container, along with other organic waste, such as paper products and lawn trimmings, under California Senate Bill 1383.
The statewide mandate — which took effect in 2022 — requires that all jurisdictions must offer organic waste collection services to residents and businesses to reduce organic waste disposal by 75% and to increase edible food recovery by 20% by 2025, according to the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery.
To help sort organic waste at home, Severo said Modesto residents can pick up a free kitchen scrap container, which can easily be stored under the sink and used to carry scraps the green organics container.
Does putting food scraps in organic waste container make a difference?
Severo said placing food scraps, paper products and yard waste into the green organics container helps divert organic material from landfills and reduces short-lived climate pollution caused by the breakdown of organic material in low-oxygen environments.
“Methane, a greenhouse gas 30 (times) more potent than carbon dioxide, is one of the major byproducts of organic materials in landfills,” Severo wrote in an email to The Modesto Bee on Monday afternoon. “Proper sorting of organic material can reduce methane pollution by 20% in California.”
Correctly sorting garbage creates a sustainable waste management loop in which compost nourishes soil to grow food and food scraps make compost to contribute back to soil quality to grow more food, she said.
What happens to green can contents after garbage pickup?
Severo said material placed in the green organics bin is sorted by solid waste haulers, taken to the city’s compost facility and processed into nutrient-dense compost.
That compost can then be used by local farms, in city projects, or by residents.
“Some residents may notice that their green organics bin is collected by the same truck as their garbage,” she said. “Some waste collection trucks have two compartments and are able to collect both kinds of materials while keeping it separate.”
Severo said it is important for residents to properly sort their garbage, because contamination from nonorganic trash “is very difficult to remove from organics as the material gets chipped before going into composting windrows.”
“Things like plastic bags, glass bottles, or any other nonorganic trash can get (in) and stay all the way to the final product, making it hard to use for agriculture,” she wrote.
Can I be fined for not correctly sorting my green garbage can?
Severo said the city is required to enforce SB 1383 by randomly checking residential and commercial waste containers.
To comply with state law, the city inspects containers and informs residents about any incorrect sorting or contamination.
“We are looking for contamination in the organics carts/bin, like trash mixed in with organic material or organic material put in a plastic bag,” she wrote. “We are also looking in the black garbage and the blue recycling containers for organic material that should have been sorted into the organics container.”
City employees conduct random inspections of the three waste containers across Modesto, checking for contamination by lifting the lids, The Bee reported in April 2023. If garbage cans are not correctly sorted, they tag the container and give residents a chance to correct the issue before further action is taken.
If the container has been tagged, city workers will leave it sitting there full until customers have successfully cleaned out the container and called the city to perform a reinspection, according to the city website.
“Failure to remove material or repeated contamination can result in administrative penalties and fines,” Severo said.
Residents have two weeks to arrange a reinspection, and if they pass, no further action is needed.
Failing the reinspection can result in a $100 fine for the first offense, with fines escalating up to $25,000 for repeated violations.
What do you want to know about life in Modesto? Ask our service journalism team your top-of-mind questions in the module below or email servicejournalists@modbee.com.
