Recipient Organization
CITY OF LOS ANGELES
1149 S BROADWAY
LOS ANGELES,CA 90015
Performing Department
LA Sanitation and Envirornment
Non Technical Summary
The City of Los Angeles (City or LA) is located in Southern California and is the second largest city in the United States with a population of 4 million. The City is densely populated, with an average of 8,300 people per square mile, and ethnically diverse communities that are roughly 48% Hispanic, 9% Black, 12% Asian, and 28% White. Despite its size and wealth, the City is affected by environmental justice issues, including air pollution (ozone, PM 2.5), food security issues, and poverty. Roughly 57% of the census tracts in Los Angeles are considered to be disadvantaged environmental justice (EJ) communities per CalEnviroScreen 4.0.Los Angeles Sanitation & Environment (LASAN) is responsible for the curbside collection of residential solid waste via four streams: 1) refuse (black bin), 2) recyclables (blue bin), 3)yard trimmings and food waste in the (green bin), and 4) horse manure (brown bin) from 750,000+ single family residences and apartment complexes with up to 4 units. LASAN operates two mulching facilities, the Lopez Canyon Environmental Center and the Harbor Mulching Facility, and one composting facility, the Griffith Park Compost Facility, which composts trimmings from Griffith Park, manure from herbivores at the LA Zoo, and wastewater digestate.The City of Los Angeles is committed to addressing climate change, addressing food insecurity, advancing the goals of EJ, and diverting organics from landfills. The Mayor and City Council have implemented aggressive, innovative environmental policies and programs to address climate change.In 2019, LA's Green New Deal set an ambitious goal to achieve zero waste by: increasing the landfill diversion rate to 90% by 2025 and to 100% by 2050 and eliminating organic waste sent to landfillby 2028.In 2020, the City Council adopted a Healthy Soils motion that emphasized regenerative climate solutions and encouraged the use of public lands for small-scale composting. Ultimately, it spurred the creation of the City's Healthy Soils Program and publication of the groundbreaking Healthy Soils Strategy for the City of LA.Additionally, in 2016 California adopted Senate Bill 1383 (SB 1383), a statewide mandate to keep organic waste out of landfills to reduce short-lived climate pollutants and greenhouse gases.SB 1383 mandates municipalities to divert 75% of their organic waste from landfills by 2025 and rescue 20%+ of edible food currently sent to landfills for human consumption.To accomplish the ambitious goals set by the LA City Council, the Mayor, and SB 1383, LASAN launched the OrganicsLA program, a curbside organics recycling program for the City of LA.As of January 2023, LASAN has expanded residential organics collection to all 750,000 residential households in the City. Residents are now required to place food scraps, food-soiled paper, and yard waste in their green bin. The commingled organic waste is processed to create compost to be used by California farmers. The City recognizes that performing public outreach and offering a variety of means for Angelenos to participate in composting will lead to the greatest success and highest diversion rates.In partnership with LA Compost, LASAN is doing outreach to teach Angelenos that turning food scraps and yard waste into nutrient-rich compost is essential to divert organic materials from landfills, avoid harmful methane emissions, and produce a great soil amendment to bolster soil health. LASAN and LA Compost are emphasizing three ways to participate, each with specific advantages: Backyard Composting: Composting at home is the most environmentally friendly option as it has the smallest carbon footprint. LASAN has provided backyard composting workshops at facilities across the City for 20+ years on how to compost food waste at home.Community Composting: If composting at home is not an option, community composting is the next best choice.Angelenos are encouraged to donate food scraps to LA Compost's community composting operations at farmers' market food-scrap collection events.OrganicsLA: At a minimum, residents must participate in the OrganicsLA program, adding organics to their green bins for curbside collection. Material is transported to commercial composting facilities in California's Central Valley, where it is composted and sold back to the agricultural industry.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
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Applied
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Developmental
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Goals / Objectives
Project Overview: USDA grant funds will enable LASAN and LA Compost to collaborate to support a total of 20 Farmers' Market Drop-off sites and 6 Regional Compost Hub sites for a total of 26 food waste reduction and composting locations in the City of Los Angeles. At least 14 sites will be within or adjacent to CalEnviroScreen disadvantaged communities, promoting EJ initiatives and tackling the climate crisis in vulnerable communities. This effort will build on the precedent set with the 2021-2023 USDA CCFWR Grant, and expanded with supplemental grant funds from the Los Angeles Board of Public Works (BPW), which have been incredibly successful in helping the City of Los Angeles meet food waste diversion goals set by California via SB 1383 and by LA's Green New Deal. Additional USDA funding will provide ongoing support for the existing network and grow it by establishing 5 new Farmers' Market drop-off sites and 1 additional Regional Compost Hub site, growing community-level solutions to food waste reduction. In addition, community-based organizations (CBOs), Polo's Pantry and Test Plot, will rescue and distribute edible food and engage in soil enhancement and native ecosystem restoration.Objective 1: By March 2026, LASAN in partnership with LA Compost will operate 20 Farmers' Market Food Scrap Drop-off Program locations in Los Angeles City.ACTIVITIES: As an activity promoted within LA's Green New Deal, LA residents can bring their food waste to their local farmers' market, where LA Compost provides a food waste drop-off site and promotes localized community-level composting. LA Compost staff and volunteers will operate food scrap collection at 20 weekly farmers' market locations. Food scraps will be collected, weighed, and transported to a local regional compost hub for processing. Markets have been strategically paired with regional hubs to reduce vehicle miles traveled within a 10-mile radius and ensure the availability of finished compost to local gardeners and neighboring communities. At all farmers' market locations, LA Compost and LASAN will collaborate with other CBOs to share information on how individuals can support waste diversion efforts in the City.In addition to collecting food scraps, LA Compost and LASAN are actively distributing kitchen food waste pails that can be used to collect and transport food scraps at farmers' markets, hosting bilingual compost education workshops, and engaging volunteers to participate in community composting efforts. Additionally, LASAN and LA Compost will work with CBO Polo's Pantry to support edible food rescue at farmers' markets to be distributed to hungry individuals and advance racial equity.As part of this process, LASAN and LA Compost staff will develop an interactive map with locations and dates for all active City of LA farmers' markets to aid strategic network expansion to provide equitable access to community composting, support outreach to residents in all 15 LA City Council Districts, including historically underserved, low-income, EJ communities, that do not have backyards or space to compost, and serve as a resource for individuals in their environmentally-friendly drop-off pursuits.RATIONALE: Bolstering the network of farmers' market food scrap collection sites and partnering with CBOs to rescue edible food will support SB 1383 compliance and help achieve Citywide food rescue and organics recycling goals set forth in LA's Green New Deal. On average, each Farmers' Market drop-off site has the capacity to divert 4,000 lbs. of organics from landfill per week, diverting roughly 200,000 lbs., or 100 tons, of organics annually. Collectively, the 20 sites supported through this proposal will divert 2,000 tons of organics. According to estimates generated from the Stopwaste Partnership GHG Calculator and the EPA Waste Reduction Model (WARM), each activated Farmers' Market drop-off site holds an average capacity to remove 7.33 metric tons of CO2e emissions each month, an environmental equivalent of removing 19 vehicles from the roads of Los Angeles annually. Additionally, each drop-off site provides opportunities to interact with and educate 300 - 450 individuals per week, providing an incredible opportunity to instill the climate and environmental benefits of composting. As at least 10 farmers' market locations will be in or adjacent to EJ communities, these new drop-off locations will benefit some of LA's most vulnerable residents.Objective 2: By March 2026, LASAN in partnership with LA Compost will have established 6 Regional Compost Hubs in Los Angeles City. LA Compost will continue to maintain 5 Regional Compost Hubs located within LA City Parks. During the grant cycle, LA Compost will establish one additional Regional Compost Hub on LA City-owned property.ACTIVITIES: Regional Compost Hubs can process a large amount of organics from multiple community partners. The 6 Regional Compost Hubs will process organics collected from the 20 farmers' market drop-off sites. Finished compost from regional hubs will be applied at City parks and made readily available to local urban farmers and community members during quarterly 'All You Can Sift' compost distribution days.RATIONALE: Regional Compost Hubs have the capacity to divert ~436,800 lbs. of organics from landfill per site annually, producing 260 cubic yards of finished compost to improve soil health and avoiding 201 metric tons of CO2e, per CalRecycle's GHG Emissions Reduction Calculator. Compost application bolsters dense vegetation and enhances critical soil ecosystem services such as bioremediation, carbon capture, air and water filtration and will benefit urban agriculture, tree stewardship, wildlife habitat restoration, soil restoration and remediation, and increase climate adaptation and resilience.LA Compost and LASAN will work with CBO Test Plot for soil enhancement and native plant restoration projects near regional hubs. Regional Compost Hubs will also provide volunteer opportunities and host community workshops and events. Regional Compost Hubs are strategically located in different neighborhoods across LA to provide equitable access to programming for EJ communities. Each regional hub provides opportunities for CBOs and residents to engage through initiatives such as youth-focused STEM education, soil microscopy sessions, field trips, and compost infrastructure planning and utilization.Hubs can also raise awareness of environmental job pathways for young adults in EJ communities.Prior to launching the new regional hub, extensive community outreach will be conducted in English or Spanish to form meaningful relationships with neighbors, schools, and businesses in the vicinity.
Project Methods
PHASE I: Planning and Logistics, March 2024 - December 2024In March 2024, LASAN and LA Compost will begin initial development and planning for Farmers' Market drop-off sites and regional hub implementation. LA Compost staff will coordinate and execute planning and logistics discussions with the main contacts of the anticipated farmers' market (Sustainable Economic Enterprises of Los Angeles [SEE-LA]) and regional hub locations (Department of Recreation & Parks [LARAP]). Supplies and materials for the various locations will be procured.PHASE II: Project Implementation, January 2025 - March 2026Farmers' Market Drop-offs:To address the first tier of EPA's Hierarchy: Source Reduction, LA Compost and LASAN will distribute source reduction outreach materials to consumers and incorporate source reduction tips into educational workshops at Farmers' Market drop-off locations. Resources include LA Compost's free online videos and LASAN's Food Waste Prevention website, which provides useful tips to prevent food waste and understand date labels.To address the second tier of the EPA's Hierarchy: Feeding Hungry People, LA Compost will partner with SEE-LA and stipend Polo's Pantry to rescue and redistribute edible food to feed hungry Angelenos. LA Compost will work with farmers' market vendors to coordinate the collection of edible food for Polo's Pantry to redistribute within their network. The tonnage of food recovered for redistribution at each market will be reported monthly. Inedible food scraps will be separated from edible food, weighed, recorded, and transported to proximate Regional Compost Hubs for processing. While integrating food recovery into farmers' market operations should go smoothly, minor logistical and social challenges, including vendor cooperation, onboarding staff to record edible recovered food metrics, and simultaneously operating both edible food recovery and food scrap drop-off within the space allotted for LA Compost during farmers' markets, may arise. LA Compost and LASAN are confident that with time, outreach, and staff expertise, all potential barriers can be overcome.To address the fourth tier of EPA's Hierarchy: Composting, LA Compost will support 1,800 drop-off events at 20 farmers' market food scrap drop-off events from 2024- 2026. The anticipated launch date for all 5 farmers' market drop-off events is expected to be in Q1 2025. This USDA funding will specifically support 1,200 drop-offs (960 in 2025 and 240 in Q1 2026). LA Compost will collect, weigh, and transport the food waste collected at markets to regional composting hubs. Market locations have been strategically paired with nearby regional hubs to minimize vehicle miles traveled and ensure that compost production is in the vicinity of end-users at parks, community gardens, and in adjacent neighborhoods. As LA Compost has successfully launched 10 markets in Los Angeles, highly qualified LA Compost staff can navigate launches, and overcome any site-specific challenges that may arise.Regional Compost Hubs:To address Source Reduction, the source reduction outreach materials described above will be integrated into educational workshops and volunteer orientations at Regional Compost Hubs.To address the fourth tier of EPA's Hierarchy: Composting, LASAN and LA Compost will sustain and expand a robust network of 6 Regional Compost Sites. LA Compost will utilize its staff, volunteers and CBO partners to process inedible food scraps into compost soil amendment. By March 2026, LASAN, LA Compost and relevant City departments will have added one new Regional Compost Hub location to the network, increasing local capacity to process organics via windrow compost piles and reducing municipal waste. The operation of each hub will be managed by a minimum of two of LA Compost's Compost Managers who have been trained in the Best Management Practices outlined by soil health experts and members of the California Alliance for Community Composting. Labor to support regional hubs will be supplemented by 4-6 weekly volunteers per site. Each hub will be equipped with rotary compost sifters to screen the finished compost product. Finished compost will be shared with the community at quarterly, 'All You Can Sift' days and with LARAP staff, urban gardeners, and residents for use at parks, community gardens, residential gardens, and other growing spaces across LA, engaging consumers and local agricultural producers within the food system. Amending soils in these green spaces with compost will reduce fertilizer use, improve soil quality, and encourage responsible waste management.LA Compost's Soil Scientist and Regional Coordinator will conduct pre-post soil health testing and soil quality experiments. Pre-post data of soil samples before and after the application of compost soil amendment will be reported annually and results will be shared publicly with the community and stakeholders during public events, demonstrating the benefits of compost application on soil health metrics and its ability to improve soil quality.LA Compost will stipend CBO partner Test Plot for a conservation project using compost in connection to a Regional Compost Hub location, showcasing the benefits of compost application at parks and engaging individuals around the benefits of compost in soil quality improvement. Potential logistical barriers include securing the project location and approval from park personnel.PHASE III: Project Monitoring, Metrics & Evaluation,March 2024 - March 2026As the new Farmers' Market Drop-off sites and Regional Compost Hub launch, community and regional impact will be assessed via 13 metrics in three categories: individuals engaged, ecosystem services added, and soil health.