San Francisco’s waste reduction goals are beneficial not only to the planet but also city budgets.
By 2010, New Haven had accomplished its ambitious goal to recycle or divert 77 percent of waste generated in American cities at that time.
Mayor Breed announced new zero-waste goals and pledged to reduce waste generation by 15 percent by 2030. We explore the policies, programs and partnerships which are making this possible.
Mandatory Recycling and Composting
San Francisco’s innovative recycling and composting programs are central to its Zero Waste goals. By producing rich soil for local farms while simultaneously cutting emissions through digestion, recycling reduces waste sent directly to landfills or incinerators.
San Francisco passed a law mandating recycling for businesses, residents, and multi-family buildings with four or more units in 2009. The aim was to increase waste diversion while decreasing greenhouse gas emissions; organic material buried in landfills emits methane which is 21 times more powerful than carbon emissions; through mandatory recycling and composting programs the city achieved their goal of 72% diversion rate for municipal waste.
San Francisco is determined to increase its diversion rate further, and has taken steps to do so by shifting public perception of what constitutes “trash” from what can be recycled or composted, creating educational tools and initiatives designed to support this effort.
Recology works with the Department of Environment to make sure all businesses have recycling bins. If any do not, letters are sent requesting they do so. RecycleWhere also provides citizens and businesses alike with information on what can be recycled or composted in their area.
One of the greatest challenges associated with recycling and composting containers is getting people to properly use them. People often place items in the wrong bins, such as placing food scraps in blue recycling rather than green compost bins. To assist residents and businesses, the Department of Environment has developed a tool called “SFRecycles Signmaker.”
Another key initiative proposed by the City is creating a curbside organics program for all residential and multi-family buildings with five or more units. Under this proposal, residents would place yard waste and food scraps into separate bins that will be collected along with recyclables and trash collection - thus helping eliminate garbage bags left on sidewalks that attract rats while diverting organic material from landfills and decreasing greenhouse gases produced during transportation.
Residential and Commercial Roles
San Francisco offers many opportunities for waste reduction. The key is in shifting our attitudes about garbage and changing how we live, work and play together. While changing behavior may be challenging, history shows it can be done successfully: cities like New York have successfully eliminated indoor smoking while people have learned to abide with street sweeping rules.
San Francisco is well on its way towards zero waste. Since 1989 when state law mandated waste reduction ordinances for adoption by local governments, several such ordinances have been put in place to help achieve our goals of diversion from landfill to blue and green bins, driving an overall 78% diversion rate from landfill.
Trash remains the primary component of San Francisco’s waste stream, yet our high diversion rate makes it easier for us to avoid sending materials directly to landfills and use some of it as fertile soil for local farms and vineyards.
Our three-stream source-separated recycling and composting system, the Fantastic 3, has been operational for more than two decades. Businesses and households alike utilize it to sort trash, recyclables and compostables into black, blue and green carts which are then collected by double-chambered back-loading trucks as well as smaller side-loading trucks before being brought to Recycle Center where high tech screens, magnets and optical sorters separate out contaminants while sorting paper from metals before baling it all up and shipping it off for recycling plants across America or even worldwide.
All food scraps and yard trimmings collected as part of the green bin program are turned into compost that is then used to nourish nearby farms and gardens, helping reduce fossil fuel usage while stimulating local economies; in fact, for every ton diverted from landfills 20 jobs are created in local economies.
As part of its effort towards zero waste, the airport is currently working toward reaching its “Zero Net Energy, Carbon and Waste” goal - an ambitious set of targets designed to conserve our precious natural resources while supporting community well-being and climate protection. Together with tenants, project teams and key stakeholders from within and outside of its walls, this milestone should be reached by 2024.
Dealing with Hazardous and Electronic Waste
American households generate approximately 4.4 pounds of waste daily, of which 34% is recycled or composted while the remainder goes directly into landfills. San Francisco stands out with its recycling and composting initiatives that divert up to 80% from landfills through innovative public policy and educational efforts.
Recology’s exclusive partnership with the city is key to its success. By working together as one entity, Recology ensures all businesses adhere to uniform regulations while residents and workers separate trash, recyclables and compostables correctly. Furthermore, this arrangement streamlines administrative tasks like billing allowing employees to focus more easily on reaching long-term goals.
San Francisco’s “Fantastic Three” system is known for keeping trash, recycling and compostables distinct. Black, blue and green bins provide storage solutions for each type of material collected through double-chambered back-loading trucks; smaller side-loaders collect compostables. Size incentives ensure residents choose appropriate bins.
GreenCitizen, a local company dedicated to refurbishing and reselling electronics, works with the city to reduce materials going to landfills by keeping components from being shipped abroad for unregulated incineration. GreenCitizen is part of the Electronics Takeback Coalition which is pushing federal officials to ban electronics exports; additionally it works with R2- or e-Stewards certified vendors within 150 miles.
While programs like e-Stewards and regulations from the EPA are helpful, to reduce hazardous waste entering landfills the most effective solution is changing consumer culture when purchasing goods, encouraging durable, reusable and repairable products with easily disassembling mechanisms when they no longer serve their intended purposes or are no longer useful.
Keeping San Francisco’s Streets and Public Spaces Clean
San Francisco is a densely populated city, and to ensure every resident can participate in its Zero Waste Program requires intensive citizen engagement and education. As part of these efforts, various multilingual, photo-rich outreach initiatives such as presentations and door-to-door visits (currently virtual or on hold due to the hepatitis A pandemic) have been put in place, while 311 has also expanded its Connected Worker app so community members can directly request street and sidewalk cleaning from crews in their districts.
San Francisco has made recycling and composting mandatory, passed a stringent Mandatory Recycling and Composting Ordinance, banned environmentally hazardous products like single-use plastic bags, implemented market incentives such as charging extra fees for large trash bins and increasing collection fees on containers that are larger than necessary - these steps have enabled it to achieve a waste diversion rate of 77%; far higher than the national average of 21%.
To meet its 2020 Zero Waste goal, the city needs to further reduce waste production while increasing recycling materials used. To do so will require significant effort in changing people’s mindsets, habits, and culture regarding food scraps and wet waste disposal.
This effort requires cooperation among city government entities as well as outside groups - from the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability and Environment, San Francisco Department of Public Works, Department of Environmental Health, city utility agencies, private companies and communities.
The Zero Waste Advisory Committee is helping guide San Francisco toward its 2025 goals. Composed of the founders and operations managers of Urban Ore, an iconic Berkeley materials reuse organization; three former presidents of Northern California Recycling Association; the Director of Research at SPRAWLDEF; Operations Manager of San Francisco Waste Reduction Programs and Head of National Zero Waste practice at global engineering firm; this committee is making an impactful statement about San Francisco.
The committee provides advice and direction on various policies, such as an ordinance to limit and eventually ban organic waste from landfills and incinerators, and on creating resource recovery systems in communities to support local agriculture, horticulture and economic development. Through such efforts, communities will transition away from long-term waste disposal methods like incineration to value-added local recovery systems that generate jobs while contributing to long-term local economies.
In Conclusion
San Francisco’s Zero Waste Program is a remarkable achievement in terms of waste reduction, and the city’s commitment to its goals is both admirable and inspiring. By mandating recycling and composting, and providing citizens with the tools and education necessary to separate their waste effectively, San Francisco has achieved an impressive 78% diversion rate from landfill. The city is continuing to push towards its goal of zero waste, with ambitious new targets and initiatives on the horizon.
While there are certainly challenges to be faced in the quest for a trash-free future, San Francisco’s success shows that it is possible to make significant progress in waste reduction. By working together to shift attitudes and behaviors around waste, we can create a more sustainable future for ourselves and for the planet. San Francisco’s Zero Waste Program provides a shining example of what can be achieved when we commit to a shared vision of sustainability.