San Francisco

Recycling in San Francisco

San Francisco has a goal of having "zero waste" by 2020. This is in response to California's mandate for a recycling rate of 50% by 2003. San Francisco is currently recycling 70% of its waste, which is the highest recycling rate in the United States! In 1996, San Francisco was recycling at a rate of 35%. The large increase is due to their innovative policies. San Francisco is aiming to achieve a self-imposed recycling rate of 75% by 2010.

"The Fantastic Three"

San Francisco began a city-wide recycling program dubbed "The Fantastic Three" in 2000. Under the program, residents are given three carts: blue for recyclables, green for compost, and black for garbage.

The city of San Francisco sees waste as a "design flaw". Norcal Waste Systems handles the city's waste at a $38 million facility an hour outside the city. Two different trucks are used to collect waste. The first truck collects both garbage and recyclables, and a second truck collects compost. San Francisco has a single stream recycling program, where recyclables are unsorted. Having a dual-stream would have required another truck, and the city deemed this undesirable due to the narrow city streams. Additionally, the collection trucks run on a 20% blend of biodiesel.

Compost is produced from the food scraps collected, and is sold as Four Course Compost for $8-10/cubic yard. Many wineries in the Napa Valley region use compost on their grape vines. Additionally, residents are entitled to 10 gallons of compost for free. The city also offers free backyard composting classes, which are very popular (about 20,000 people have taken the course). The Fantastic Three was the first program in the United States to collect food scraps curbside for composting. The city collects about 300 tons of compostable materials each day.

Economic Incentives

"The most important thing we do is incentivize people financially to do the right thing and make it more expensive for them to do the wrong thing.“- Jared Blumenfeld, director of San Francisco's environmental department

Currently, the monthly collection rate for the three carts (32 gallons each) is $23.58. This rate reflects an increase of $1.29 (5.79%) with the start of the Fantastic Three program. If residents are able to recycle and compost a large amount of their trash, they can get a smaller garbage cart (20 gallons). This smaller garbage cart has a collection fee of $18.16 per month, which reflects a 23% discount.

Approximately 20% of residents are using the smaller 20 gallon garbage cart. This figure is expected to increase.

The Future

San Francisco has a reputation for taking a stand to protect the environment. Recently, in July 2007, the city banned styrofoam. In November 2007, plastic bags were outlawed at grocery stores and pharmacies (retail businesses and small grocery stores can still use the bags). Most currently, on April 23, 2008, Mayor Gavin Newsom announced that the city is considering an ordinance that would make recycling required by law. Other cities already have similar legislation, including Seattle, Santa Cruz, and San Diego. This measure is in response to a 2006 study, which found that 70% of what San Francisco puts in the garbage could be recycled or composted instead.

References

Gunther, Marc. "The End of Garbage." March 15, 2007. Fortune Magazine. Available at: http://freeenergy.ca/news/126/ARTICLE/1252/2007-03-15.html

Jepson Prairie Organics. http://www.jepsonprairieorganics.com

San Francisco Recycling Program. http://www.sfrecycling.com