Agency Update - Fall 2024

2024 Legislative Update

The legislative season in California has concluded, and we are excited to announce that Governor Newsom has signed AB 2346, a bill sponsored by our agency to make common-sense adjustments to the SB 1383 recycled organic waste product procurement requirements. AB 2346 offers flexibility and more options for local governments to meet these requirements, which have proved challenging. This achievement was made possible by the commitment and collaboration of our agency staff, member agencies, composters, and other stakeholders—thank you all!

Additionally, several other bills we supported, focusing on decarbonization and electrification, circular economy solutions and plastic pollution prevention, and the building of transparent and healthy food systems, have also been signed. A few highlights include:

SB 1221 requires each gas utility to map neighborhoods due for gas distribution line maintenance starting July 1, 2025 to identify priority decarbonization zones. It also covers 30 pilot projects for the decarbonization of these identified zones, partially paid for by the savings from reduced gas infrastructure upgrades.
SB 1053 revises the state’s single-use carryout bag ban to eliminate the distribution of thicker film plastic bags. Starting January 1, 2026, most stores are prohibited from providing, distributing, or selling a bag to a consumer at the point of sale except recycled paper bags for a minimum of 10 cents.
SB 707 establishes the Responsible Textile Recovery Act of 2024, which creates an extended producer responsibility program for stewardship of textiles under the oversight of CalRecycle, including the responsible disposal of textiles.
AB 660 standardizes date labels for food by requiring food manufacturers, processors, and retailers responsible for the labeling of food to communicate only quality and safety dates starting July 1, 2026.

The Impacts of Food Waste

Every year, an extraordinary amount of food is wasted in the United States. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, nearly 40% of all food, or 130 billion pounds, is wasted. This trend of wasted food is also prevalent at the local level in Alameda County. In our latest Waste Characterization Study, compostable organics such as food and plant debris represent the largest single category of material in our waste stream. A lot of resources go into growing food, but unfortunately rather than being eaten, food is ending up in the landfill where it releases harmful greenhouse gases or in the compost. There are practical steps one can take to reduce wasted food at home, such as storing food properly or transforming leftovers into new delicious meals.

As part of our Stop Food Waste campaign outreach, we partnered with Edible East Bay to publish a sponsored article titled "Why Worry About Wasted Food?" in their fall print edition. The article elaborates on the financial and environmental impacts of wasted food from households and shares simple steps we can all take to reduce wasted food at home.

Read On

New Waste Characterization Study Findings

StopWaste conducts periodic waste characterization studies to better understand what’s in our waste streams. Our recent study documented and analyzed the content and quantity of all three streams: landfill, recycling, and organics, for the first time. This study provides a valuable snapshot in time of the materials that comprise our waste stream and help to inform our agency priorities and help refine our programs. After sorting more than 600 sample items into 10 major categories (e.g., paper) and 72 material types (e.g.,paper grocery bags, aseptic cartons, and uncoated corrugated cardboard), the study revealed some promising trends in overall waste tonnage in Alameda County while illuminating ongoing challenges related to consumption, sorting, and contamination. Read on for some key trends and takeaways.

Learn More

Employee Spotlight

Shasta Phillips

Program Manager

Shasta is a Program Manager and has been at the agency for six years. He is part of the enforcement and compliance team and is the agency’s lead data enthusiast. He has extensive experience working in the public sector, having previously worked at the Marin Water District for more than 15 years. Shasta has a B.S. in Wildlife Management from Humboldt State University.

How did you start your career in environmental science?

I studied Wildlife Management at Humboldt State University. As a kid, I loved watching nature shows. I noticed other kids my age didn’t watch nature shows, and I’d watch them as though they were cartoons. I was also always good at math and science in school, so I leaned towards this pathway. And actually, in high school I wanted to be an actor—theater was my first love. But then I read a statistic that only 12% of actors make money acting and the other 88%, I suppose, are still waiting table. My buddies were also going to Humboldt, and I knew the school had a great environmental science program; that’s how I ended up specializing in birds. There was a point in time, before finals, that I could name every bird in California on sight—I can no longer do that.

What do you do at StopWaste?

Now with the new state law, SB 1383, I support our member agencies with enforcement of businesses and multi-family properties, and make sure they have recycling and compost service, or a waiver. I build out processes that allow us to implement enforcement and administer citations, when needed, and optimize it to reduce administrative burdens. I also run the Data Enthusiast group, a group that convenes to look at sets of data together in efforts to improve data literacy at the agency.Overall, my role is focused on data analysis. As the data comes in, I help evaluate it, understand it, and help communicate it with staff, and our stakeholders.

What’s a practice or motto you live by?

In the last ten years, I had this experience driving over the bridge, being stopped in traffic in a car, and I was super angry that somebody cut me off. And I thought, this is no way to live. I was angry, and I think I was starting to feel my age a bit, too—I was in my 30s. But what I leaned into was mindfulness. The motto that I take from mindfulness is this intentionality around life and that we have a choice of how we react to the things we can’t change. Intentional living is what I strive for with the ways I interact with people, and things I do versus seeking the next destination.

What are some skills that have helped you succeed in your role?

Critical thinking
Good systems thinking
Good communication skills
Data Analytics
Humor?

What do you enjoy doing outside?

I play a lot of alternative sports. Sports that no one has ever heard of, or can’t make you money are probably sports I’ve tried to play. Right now, I’m playing disc golf, spike ball, pickleball, and ultimate frisbee. I also do some theater stuff. I do some improv, I did stand up comedy for several years, and now I’m starting to get back into it. Hanging out with my family, my wife and my son, is also very important to me. We try to get outdoors often. I’m also interested in green buildings, and learning how to repair and fix up our house in an environmentally conscious way—that's been a real challenge.