Los Angeles, California, Aug. 25, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Los Angeles Sanitation and Environment (LASAN) is completing the latest phase of OrganicsLA, an ongoing education and outreach campaign that ranks among the most far-reaching organics recycling public education efforts ever launched by a U.S. city. Backed by community research, multilingual digital outreach, direct business engagement, and hands-on neighborhood events, the campaign has equipped millions of Angelenos with the knowledge and tools to put food scraps like vegetable peels, fruit rinds, eggshells, and coffee grounds into the green bin, where they become compost for California farms.

WHY THIS MATTERS
As the nation’s second largest city, Los Angeles is leading one of the country’s strongest efforts to keep food waste out of landfills.

Climate Impact
Every household and business in Los Angeles has access to organics collection through the city’s curbside program or through the commercial franchise system.  That makes using the green bin one of the simplest and most accessible climate actions in the city: a daily habit that cuts methane emissions and helps protect the planet for future generations.

From Scraps to Soil
Instead of sitting in landfills, LA’s food scraps are collected by LASAN and its partners, transported to composting facilities, and turned into nutrient-rich compost. Each year, more than 100,000 tons of this compost are delivered to 80+ California farms and ranches, where they enrich the soil that grows fruits and vegetables sold back to Angelenos at farmers markets and grocery stores.

Statewide Law
California Senate Bill 1383, the nation’s landmark organics recycling law, required a 75% reduction in organic waste disposal by 2025. OrganicsLA is Los Angeles’ education-first strategy to help residents and businesses comply through multilingual outreach, digital tools, and simple everyday actions.

CAMPAIGN BY THE NUMBERS
Funded by CalRecycle, California’s Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, , the OrganicsLA campaign delivered a research-driven, multilingual effort spanning digital media, direct community engagement, and original content production:

  • 4 residential focus groups (English and Spanish) plus 12 restaurant owner/manager interviews
  • 300+ in-person restaurant visits for onsite education
  • 72 original videos produced
  • 213 individual ad campaigns deployed across Facebook, Instagram,  TikTok, YouTube, LinkedIn, Nextdoor, and Google
  • 5 languages: English, Spanish, Korean, Armenian, Chinese, Farsi, Russian, Arabic, Vietnamese, Hindi, Japanese, Bengali, Thai, Tagalog, and Khmer
  • 21+ million video views
  • 68.7+ million digital impressions across platforms

COMPREHENSIVE EDUCATION AND OUTREACH

Community Research
The campaign was built on direct community input. LASAN conducted four residential focus groups—two in English and two in Spanish, along with 12 in-depth interviews with restaurant owners and managers across Los Angeles. These conversations identified common questions, barriers, and motivators around green bin use, and directly shaped the campaign’s messaging, visuals, creative assets, and outreach channels.

Direct Community Engagement
The team conducted more than 300 in-person restaurant visits to answer questions, share materials, and provide onsite education. In addition, LASAN produced OrganicsLA event displays and in-home organics recycling reminders for community festivals, neighborhood meetings, and city events to teach residents what goes in the green bin. In 2026 alone, roughly 8,000 residents took part  in LASAN’s signature Earth Day event in April and its Solid Waste Yard open houses throughout May and June, where attendees were provided practical and reusable items like vegetable peelers and bento lunch boxes with messages to reinforce sorting habits at home.

Digital & Social Media Campaign
The six-month, three-phase online campaign used an inclusive, microtargeted approach to reach Angelenos on the platforms they use every day, in the languages they speak. Across Facebook, Instagram, Nextdoor, TikTok, YouTube, Google, and LinkedIn, the campaign deployed 72 videos and 213 ads in 15 languages. Messages were microtargeted to reflect each viewer’s lifestyle, interests, age group, or job role, helping both residents and business owners see how the green bin fits naturally into their everyday routines.

The campaign unfolded in three phases:

  • Phase 1 – Build Awareness: Showed why the green bin matters by explaining what happens to food scraps after they leave the kitchen. Phase 1 delivered more than 19.1 million impressions and over 9.3 million video views.
  • Phase 2 – Shift Daily Habits: Used simple, relatable messages reflecting real routines—meal prep, family dinners, restaurant cleanups—to show how organics recycling fits seamlessly into everyday life. Phase 2 delivered more than 40.5 million impressions and over 11.7 million video views.
  • Phase 3 – Make Action Easy: Provided ready-to-use, downloadable toolkits with flyers, signs, reminders, and shareable content for restaurant owners and managers, multi-unit property managers, parents and caregivers, sustainability advocates, and community leaders. Phase 3 delivered more than 9.1 million impressions and more than 27,000 clicks to the website.

Campaign Tagline: “Let’s put our waste to work. Green Bin it, LA.”

Learn More: Watch 90-second video Your Kitchen Scraps Belong in the Green Bin 

TOOLS FOR ANGELENOS
LASAN offers two free interactive tools that make sorting decisions easier, with both available 24/7.

Professor Green
Professor Green is your personal organics expert, available 24/7 on your smartphone and on LASAN’s website. Residents can use Professor Green for instant guidance about organics, food waste, and the green bin, with assistance available in 17 languages. www.lacitysan.org/professorgreen 

The SORT LA App
SORT LA is LASAN’s free sorting app, available at sanitation.lacity.gov/sort and on the App Store and Google Play. Residents type in any item, from yogurt containers to plastic cups to pizza boxes, and SORT LA provides clear, LA-specific instructions on which bin to use. SORT LA 

ORGANICS COLLECTION AT SCALE
OrganicsLA’s education campaign supports one of the largest curbside organics programs in the nation. Today, the program serves approximately 750,000 households citywide and collects more than 400,000 tons of organics annually for processing at composting facilities. 

MEDIA KIT
LASAN OrganicsLA Media Kit

QUOTES
Joone Kim-Lopez, Executive Director and General Manager, LASAN: “The Green Bin it, L.A. campaign shows what’s possible when we invest in education and meet people where they are. By reaching millions of Angelenos in 15 languages through digital tools, community events, and direct business outreach, we’ve made it easier for every household and business to understand why the green bin matters and how to use it. This comprehensive effort is helping our city reduce climate pollution while protecting the planet for future generations.”

Mayor Karen Bass, Office of Mayor of Los Angeles: “My Climate Action Plan provides a strategic roadmap to eliminate organic waste in landfills by 2035, and I’m proud that Los Angeles is leading one of the largest organic recycling education efforts in the country. Our OrganicsLA campaign is bringing Angelenos in every neighborhood together to build a cleaner, more sustainable city by turning small actions into historic progress.”   

Lisa Hart, Executive Director, Los Angeles Neighborhood Council Sustainability Alliance: “Education can turn good policy into everyday practice. The OrganicsLA campaign helps residents see how simple actions, such as putting kitchen scraps in the green bin, can make a real difference in our neighborhoods and support the farms that grow healthy food for Angelenos. When people understand the why and the how, they want to take part, and that shared effort makes our communities stronger.” 

Ryan Jackson, Executive Director, LA Compost: “Composting is the beautiful process of turning food scraps into healthy soils. LASAN’s OrganicsLA campaign highlights how this practice benefits the environment, our neighborhoods and the food system. When we keep organics out of landfills, we cut harmful emissions, support local farms, and create a stronger connection between Angelenos and the land that sustains us.”

ABOUT LASAN
Los Angeles Sanitation and Environment (LASAN) is the nation’s largest municipal sanitation agency, providing collection and environmental services to more than 4 million residents and thousands of businesses across a 600-square-mile service area. Through its recycLA partnership with 11 private waste haulers, LASAN extends organics recycling and other services to commercial and multifamily properties across the city.

LA Sanitation – protecting public health and the environment through clean water, solid resources and watershed protection. For more information, visit LA Sanitation & Environment | City of Los Angeles (www.sanitation.lacity.gov).  

PSA translations are available: Korean | Spanish

Contact Info

Los Angeles Sanitation and Environment, City of Los Angeles
+1 213-978-0333

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Los Angeles Sanitation and Environment, City of Los Angeles