Recycling Our Way to a More Sustainable Future
A seventy-two percent diversion rate from the landfill is something to be proud of, and I congratulate every San Francisco resident, business, and visitor who helped us along the way. But we can’t rest on our laurels, not when there are so many valuable resources still going to the dump.
We recently conducted a waste stream analysis and discovered that about two thirds of the stuff people throw away—half a million tons each year—could have been recycled or turned to compost. If were able to capture everything, we would have a recycling rate of 90 percent.
That’s why I’ve introduced an ordinance that will make it mandatory for everyone —homeowners, businesses, or renters — to use our recycling and composting programs. If we can get food scrap collection service into large apartment buildings that currently don’t have it, we’re going to see another great year for recycling.
On a final note, the flip side to how much you recycle is how little you send to the landfill. Our disposal tonnage is the lowest it’s been in over 30 years. Our recycling programs can and have been implemented in cities around the world. For more info on our recycling programs please visit – http://www.sfenvironment.org/.
See also: Our series from the CEO’s of Major Solar Companies. Latest Post: Beyond Subsidized Solar Power: The Path to Grid Parity
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Image Credits: 1) TheGarbagePit 2) Mayor’s Office
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May 12th, 2009 at 4:11 pm
Good stuff. There are still some glaring obvious places where recycling could cover more ground so to speak.
Was in SFO yesterday looking intently to recycle my bottle of what had been orange juice. To my surprise no program was in place.
These areas of high traffic could up that percentile if equipped with recycling options. Thanks
May 12th, 2009 at 4:38 pm
What about all the garbage on the planes flying into SFO or any airport for that matter. None of the trash is recycled on planes… It is so easy just to collect the cans, plastic and paper.
Apparently airlines need to cut costs in other ways… no peanuts.
May 12th, 2009 at 5:01 pm
Great news. it’s with news like this that we can make a difference. The old Reduce Reuse Recycle message should be better promoted as a simple mean to a better planet.
I wish we had a mayor like Newsom promoting recycling. How about Chief Recycling Advocate in the Obama administration.
May 12th, 2009 at 5:11 pm
I thought SFO would actually be within San Bruno city limits, but it does have an SF address, so the recommendations on the SFO improvements are justified. That also makes me ask why they couldn’t put recycling bins on the BART trains (though they likely exist in the stations).
I wonder how much the sporting stadiums contribute to the recycling.
May 12th, 2009 at 5:22 pm
Actually, as I understand if from this article: 1.http://www.economist.com/science/tq/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9249262 the waste is not collected separately ( “single stream” collection), but is separated mostly automatically at a facility dedicated only to waste separation. So there is no need for a specific container for bottles, and another for cans etc.
May 12th, 2009 at 5:23 pm
I’m impressed. I would never think that would be possible, have to give it to SF for achieving this goal. Is there a site to check out what the recycle rate is for NYC, Boston or anywhere else? It would be interesting to know how other cities rank.
May 12th, 2009 at 6:03 pm
@Jeff Berlin: In SF recyclables are culled out of trash so technically there’s no need for a separate “recycling” container–just put your bottle in the “trash”.
May 12th, 2009 at 6:38 pm
@Jeff — I was under the impression that SFO sorted trash and recyclables for you.
It doesn’t make much sense to do the recycling on planes, since space is at a premium. It would make more sense to do it at the airport.
May 12th, 2009 at 6:44 pm
Amazing. As a recent transplant from SF to Honolulu i miss all the great recycling opprotunities. Everyone needs to look to SF as an example.
May 12th, 2009 at 7:33 pm
Try getting all offices in UCSF to require recycling. There is a lot of waste that comes from the medical center and supporting offices within UCSF. All UC campuses should truly be green rather than claiming they are that way.
May 12th, 2009 at 9:27 pm
@Jeff Berlin – I agree, when I was in Tokyo, the city had recycle bins for plastic bottles and aluminum cans next to EVERY vending machine, which are found on practically every street corner. Very impressed with SF though for their efforts and setting goal of recycling 75 percent by 2010. Dugg.
May 12th, 2009 at 9:32 pm
@J.Luc Marcoux – You have my vote. Newsom is awesome. Other Mayors can learn a thing or two from him on the 3 R’s.
May 13th, 2009 at 2:14 am
A huge thanks needs to go to all the homeless people that collect cans and bottles on a daily basis – proactively searching for recycleables.
May 13th, 2009 at 2:37 am
Yeah, I’m less worried about the recycles in the bin, and more worried about the trash, feces, urine, and general filth on the streets throughout the ENTIRE city.
No amount of recycling makes San Francisco a “clean” city, and it’s still far from being ecologically sound (as seen by the huge amount of congestion and pollution from the high density of people and cars at all hours of the day and night)
May 13th, 2009 at 3:15 am
Recycling is so easy and look what it can do. Props to us in San Francisco!
May 13th, 2009 at 6:15 am
This is a true success story, if SFO can do it anyone can. Governments and councils need to hear this story and perhaps use it as a benchmark for what they should be aiming for. Perhaps topics like this will be raised at the UNFCCC?
May 13th, 2009 at 3:53 pm
“New statistics released today show we are keeping 72 percent of all discards from going to the landfill – up from 70 percent the year before.”
This is really awesome news, coming from such a large city. It shows that even small steps can greatly and positively change the environment. This is a great example for the rest of the world.
Here at the University of Vermont, (http://learn.uvm.edu/igs ) we realize that creating a more sustainable world is more obtainable when it becomes accessible and is encountered in a day to day basis.
May 13th, 2009 at 5:55 pm
I wis NYC would learn from SF.
May 15th, 2009 at 6:33 am
Does anyone know if the chemical waste thats the result of recycling is included in the denominator of that percentage?
May 15th, 2009 at 1:55 pm
Wow, this is so encouraging to read that cities like San Francisco are taking such great intitiatives to live greener. I think that we can expect recyling programs to really take off in the near future and other green alternatives to landfills/incineration such as plasma gasification will help with the rest of the waste that just can’t be recycled.
These new technologies that are emerging are so interesting, and I think that we will see a positive change in the way we think about and handle our garbage. I was doing some research on the subject and came across this neat video:
http://www.plascoenergygroup.com/?Media_Centre#Animated-Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YllIj_bzl5A
Wouldn’t it be great if SFO completly eliminated dependence on landfills??
May 29th, 2009 at 4:53 am
Thanks for the post. Glad to know come cities are leading the way! We can all make a difference by making small changes everyday. Just one attempt each day towards better recycling habits, can make a world of difference. Try it, it won’t bite. angie@karmafarmonline.com
June 2nd, 2009 at 12:33 am
ehalaseycome on, you have to admit muni buses smell like urine.
June 15th, 2009 at 4:03 pm
[...] Franciscans already lead the nation in recycling – in May we announced a 72% diversion rate of all materials going to the landfill – but we want to do more. Last week we passed the nation’s first mandatory recycling and [...]