Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Circular Economy topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
San Francisco frames circular economy in Climate Action Plan update, highlights targets and barriers
Summary
Department staff briefed the Commission on framing circular economy as a sector of the Climate Action Plan, proposed embodied-carbon building targets and a multi-strategy roadmap, and identified coordination, funding and outreach as key challenges.
San Francisco Environment Department staff presented a reframed sector for the Climate Action Plan on circular economy, telling the Commission on the Environment that the update will fold upstream actions(reuse, repair, redesign, low-carbon procurement) into the plan and adopt new embodied-carbon targets for buildings.
The department said the shift from the prior "responsible consumption and production" language to a "circular economy" framing is intended to emphasize reuse, repair and design changes that reduce lifecycle, consumption-based emissions. Staff said the city already has sector-based emissions of roughly 4.1 million metric tons CO2e but that consumption-based accounting shifts the picture and highlights emissions tied to goods and food.
Cindy Comerford, climate program manager, described the vision: a regenerative system that prioritizes materials reuse and low-carbon, healthy materials in procurement and design. Brian Reyes, senior circularity coordinator, outlined five implementation strategies including construction and buildings (with a proposed goal that new construction, infrastructure and renovations achieve at least 40% less embodied carbon by 2030), food systems (reducing food waste and promoting climate-friendly diets), reuse and repair (expanding repair clinics and reuse programs), aviation/SFO (scaling airport circular practices) and developing a citywide circular economy roadmap.
Staff said the department is coordinating with infrastructure agencies such as Public Works, Port of San Francisco and SFO, and noted existing state frameworks including CalGreen building-code updates and SB 1383 organics diversion requirements as part of the policy environment.
Challenges identified by staff include reorienting the departmentand city stakeholders from an emphasis on end-of-life recycling to upstream design and procurement, high contamination rates in commercial and multifamily recycling streams, complexity and financial barriers to deconstruction and reuse of construction materials, and the need to modernize design and construction standards that date from decades-old playbooks.
Opportunities the department highlighted include expanding fix-it clinics with partners such as the Public Library and SCRAP, pilots for trash processing to extract organics from residual waste, and leveraging large upcoming capital projects (SFO terminal upgrades and port projects) where procurement and design standards could substantially reduce embodied emissions by changing materials choices at scale.
Commissioners asked about coordination with state agencies. Comerford and Reyes pointed to work with CalGreen and CalRecycle and said the department is exploring how state-level coordination can support the city's transition. Commissioners also urged staff to use plain-language framing for public outreach because "circular economy" can read as jargon for general audiences.
Public comment on the climate action plan and related food-system policy emphasized stronger language around animal agriculture and plant-based procurement; commissioners noted the comments were timely as the department refines consumption- and food-related actions.
Staff said the circular-economy text will be advanced in the Climate Action Plan update through 2025 and ultimately inform a detailed circular economy roadmap.
