Restaurants

AB 827: Mandatory Recycling and Organics Recycling Bins
Effective July 1, 2020, Assembly Bill 827 (AB 827) mandates food service establishments to provide customers with disposal carts for three types of materials - food scraps, recyclables, and trash - generated from products purchased and consumed on-site.

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Which businesses are subject to the law?
  • Businesses covered in Mandatory Commercial Recycling (AB 341) and Mandatory Commercial Organics Recycling (AB 1826) laws.
  • Any food-generating establishment where customers bus their own tables, such as fast-food restaurants.
What is required by this law?
Businesses must provide customers with recycling and organics carts adjacent to each in-house trash cart (restroom carts are excluded). Carts must be in clear view and easily accessible. Proper labels must be placed on carts to indicate which materials can be placed inside.

  1. Common organic materials include plate scapings (leftover food) and food-soiled paper.
  2. Common recyclable materials include clean and dry paper and cardboard, empty and dry aluminum cans and plastic beverage bottles.
  3. Common trash materials include plastic single-use utensils, plastic straws, condiment packets, and soft drink cups.
If all materials are consumed off-site and the business does not already provide a trash cart for customers, then organic recycling collection carts are not needed.

Exemptions
  • Full-service restaurants are exempt; they are not required to provide customers with organics and recycling collection carts. However, businesses must provide properly-labeled carts next to trash carts for employees to separate all post-consumer material. For more information about mandatory employee training, click here.
  • Due to COVID-19, if customers are not allowed to consume products on-site, then businesses do not need to supply proper carts and signage at this time. Businesses will need to have carts in place when customers are allowed to consume products on-site again.
Getting Started
Businesses may create their own signage for disposal carts or utilize examples from CalRecycle's website.

Edible Food Recovery
Businesses who produce food are required to donate the maximum amount of edible food they would otherwise throw away, to food recovery organizations under Senate Bill 1383 (SB 1383). For more information, click here.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Browse through a list of frequently asked questions, click here.

For Food Recovery FAQs, click here.
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  • Mandatory Employee Training
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  • Commercial Food Generator FAQs
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