CRRA2021

CEO

Bill Camarillo is CEO of Agromin, one the largest organics recyclers in the United States. After
25 years in the industry, he remains passionate about organics and the critical role it plays in
sustaining life on our planet. Camarillo has helped the company pioneer organics conversion
through sustainable technologies. Headquartered in Oxnard with five processing sites in
California, Agromin transforms more than 380,000 tons of organic material annually into over
200 friendly soil products for the retail, agriculture, landscape and energy sectors.

The Challenges of Developing SB 1383 Organics Infrastructure

California currently has more than 160 permitted compost facilities. When SB 1383 is fully implemented, California will need to divert at least an additional 14 million tons of organic waste, and currently available capacity is not sufficient to meet the targets established by the regulation. Even though there is available capacity organic waste, mostly in Southern California, most of that capacity is for green waste and not for mixed organics.  Moreover, 68% of the compost facilities today do not have any plans to expand.

Siting a new composting facility or expanding an existing one has become more challenging. The State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) is in the process of implementing Order WQ 2015-0121-DWQ, which is having a significant financial impact on composters. This new requirement may inhibit facility expansion once facilities are in compliance with the General Order (because improved pads and lined ponds will define organics throughput capacity).  Similarly, once a facility has gone through a time-consuming process with the AQMD/APCD, it is very costly to expand the facility.

Composters will need significant incentives, from processing contracts to other financing mechanisms, to make the necessary investments in infrastructure to meet the goals of SB 1383. The primary reason organics processing facilities expand is to increase feedstock capacity for new collections programs. It has become too costly, time-consuming, and risky for facility developers to create new processing capacity without a dedicated contract for feedstock.

Environmental Officer

Colleen Foster’s brings over 15 years of experience in Zero Waste planning, legislative analysis, sustainable food system advocacy, and executive oversight of service operations, collections, and contracting for waste, recycling and organics. Ms. Foster is the President of the California Resources and Recovery Association; and serves on the boards of the following: California Product Stewardship Council; National Recycling Coalition; and the Federal Legislative Committee for California Association of Sanitation Agencies.   Ms. Foster is alumni of University of California at Davis and holds a Master’s of Environmental Law and Policy from Vermont School of Law.

Oceanside's Journey to SB 1383 Success

In 2020, Ms. Foster led the City of Oceanside to be one of the first cities in California to roll out a SB 1383 comprehensive and mandatory based commercial food scraps recycling program, almost entirely overnight and during a Pandemic!  Through collaboration, grit, and a commitment to achieving sustainability through the nexus of economic recovery, community resiliency and environmental justice, Ms. Foster will present on the City’s journey, to bringing food scraps services to over 1,000 businesses within 6 months as well as enhanced organics programming for residents.   Presentation details will highlight detailed task management for a roll-out of this nature, rate modeling strategies for both commercial and residential customers, as well as unexpected barriers and subsequent strategies for success in zero waste and organics program implementation for all customer types.

Executive Director

Neil Edgar has been a Senior Project Manager with Edgar & Associates in Sacramento, California since 2001. Edgar & Associates, Inc. is a governmental affairs and environmental engineering firm specializing in solid waste management, recycling, composting and climate change issues.

Mr. Edgar was a co-founder and acts as Executive Director of the California Compost Coalition, a statewide lobbying coalition that focuses on legislative and regulatory development regarding composting and other organics management options. Mr. Edgar is Chair of the United States Composting Council’s Legislative and Environmental Affairs Committee and serves as a co-chair and policy liaison for the California Organics Recycling Council

Civil Engineer

Charles Darensbourg is a Civil Engineer in the Planning and Policy Development Section of Environmental Programs Division at Los Angeles County Public Works. His assignments include working on environmental policy and legislation associated with solid waste, organic waste, source reduction, processing infrastructure, and renewable energy and fuels. In addition, he is involved in planning for the County of Los Angeles to comply with California Senate Bill 1383. Mr. Darensbourg is registered as a Professional Civil Engineer in California and received his B.S. degree in Civil Engineering from Loyola Marymount University and a MPA from California State University Dominguez Hills. 

Leadership in Organic Waste Management

With the final version of the Senate Bill 1383 organics recycling regulations on the books, Los Angeles County is working to expand its award-winning edible food recovery and organic waste recycling programs.  Hundreds of new facilities are needed throughout the State of California to achieve the SB 1383 targets of reducing landfill disposal of organic waste and emissions of methane, a powerful short-lived climate pollutant 84 times more potent than carbon dioxide in terms of near-term atmospheric warming.  Counties and cities are responsible for planning to ensure adequate infrastructure capacity to process their food waste, green waste, and other organic waste.  Through InfrastructureLA and the Southern California Conversion Technology Project, Los Angeles County has been engaging local Cities, facility developers, waste haulers, and other stakeholders to prepare for SB 1383 compliance.  This presentation will provide an overview of planning efforts that led the County to new insights and the development of new programs. The presenter will also share lessons learned to help other jurisdictions implement similar strategies.