SB 1383 Compliance: Replate Makes it Easy!
In 2023, the state of California was reported as wasting more than 13 million tons of food.
Food waste continues to be a serious environmental issue in the state, as this food overwhelmingly ends up in landfills - where it’s left to break down and pollute the atmosphere.
Catering events often produce unpredictable amounts of food surplus. Here at Replate, we ensure that such high-quality, nutritious food is re-circulated back into the community rather than thrown out.
To address this ongoing crisis, the California Air Resources Board in conjunction with Calrecycle drafted up CA SB1383 - a state-specific piece of legislation that aims to reduce the volume of food waste that ends up in landfills.
Put simply, this law requires that any business designated as a ‘food generator’ must establish and maintain plans to donate their edible food surplus rather than throw it out. Examples of food generators are varied, and can include places like hospitals, caterers, hotels, or even event venues.
In order to be in compliance with SB1383, these businesses must:
Establish documented arrangements with a food recovery organization (FRO).
Maintain accurate donation records, including (but not limited to) poundage and food type (i.e. canned vs. prepared).
Ensure that the maximum amount of surplus food is being donated during each scheduled pick up.
Our donor dashboard - where donation pickups can be scheduled, canceled, and otherwise edited.
Here at Replate, our online food rescue platform makes demonstrating compliance as easy as possible for our food donors. When a food donor creates an account with us, they now have a centralized place to:
✔ set, edit, and otherwise customize their donation schedules.
✔ easily view their donation records by date.
✔ download/view impact reports.
This type of recordkeeping is required by SB1383 - and Replate’s innovative food donor platform is tailored specifically to ensure that both we and our food donors are in compliance with the law.
The impact reports that we provide (example below) can easily be shared and/or downloaded - giving food generators more control over their sustainability data.
For a quick and concise overview of SB1383 related features - check out this short video from our product team .
Calrecycle has a sliding scale of penalties for any generators that fail to be in compliance with SB1383 - it’s worth noting that both local county governments and individual food generators will be subject to their own respective compliance inspections - there are different sets of penalties for each.
Via Calrecycle:
By partnering with a food rescue organization like Replate, commercial edible food generators in California can ensure that they:
✔ are in compliance with the law.
✔ are having a positive impact on the local community.
✔ and are significantly reducing their carbon footprint.
Now that inspections and audits for SB1383 compliance are underway, establishing food rescue arrangements is of the utmost importance for all California food generators - regardless of size.
Food donation is now a part of the law in California, and we hope to see other states adopt similar measures in the near future!
SB1383 questions? Schedule some time with our partnerships team!
Need to be in compliance? To sign-up to become a food donor, click here!
Did you miss our first series of posts on SB1383? Catch up here with Part 1!