The size of the undertaking feels gargantuan, but more and expanded operations like this will have to be built at great expense to meet California’s ambitious goals to divert three-quarters of organic waste out of landfills by 2025 and use it as compost, required by a 2016 state law called SB 1383.

Already the state is far behind its goals, missing its 2020 mark of cutting in half how much organic waste ends up in landfills compared to 2014. And with a Jan. 1, 2022, deadline for jurisdictions to have a plan to keep those apple cores and pumpkins out of landfills or potentially face fines of up to $10,000 per violation per day, some cities are scrambling to get their programs up and running, or to qualify for a waiver to push out the deadlines.