San Francisco departments seek impound‑account funding for reuse, outreach and trash cans; Environment asks for $3 million net increase

San Francisco departments on Wednesday outlined requests to use refuse impound account funds for programs they said support cleaner streets, reuse and the city’s zero‑waste goals.

Heads‑up on the ask

Leo Chi, deputy director and chief administrative officer for San Francisco Environment, told the Refuse Rate Board the department’s impound‑account proposal includes roughly $3,000,000 more in annual spending tied to six additional staff and about $1,000,000 in non‑personnel costs. Chi said the package focuses on building reuse and deconstruction capacity, repair and reuse programs tied to state right‑to‑repair work, toxics reduction and circular‑economy efforts.

“Our department is the one that is responsible for … helping the city continue to pursue its zero‑waste goals,” Chi said, citing the city’s climate action plan and state mandates for organic recycling. The department did not provide a line‑by‑line staff breakout in the hearing; board members asked Environment to work with the Refuse Rate Administrator to provide detailed position descriptions and cost breakdowns before the next hearing.

Public Works priorities: cans, litter teams and outreach

Rachel Gordon, director of policy and communications for San Francisco Public Works, urged continued funding for street‑cleaning crews, the litter‑patrol and an outreach and enforcement team. Public Works said impound funds (about $12.5 million annually under current proposals) primarily cover labor for a range of ongoing services: a 29‑person cleaning crew, an outreach and enforcement team (10 FTE with several current vacancies) that conducts audits and education with businesses and property owners, weekly abandoned‑materials collection and mechanical street sweeping across the city.

Gordon outlined a multi‑year plan to pilot and procure a next generation of public trash cans. Public Works said an initial procurement target would seek a price point near $3,000 per can, with a staged rollout of roughly 500 cans in year one and up to 3,000 cans over three years. The department is seeking to use about $15,300,000 in existing impound‑account fund balance to buy and install new, more vandal‑resistant and sensor‑ready cans designed to reduce rummaging and street litter. Gordon said garbage cans currently deployed have limitations (weight, vandalism, lock failures and ease of rummaging) and that a modernized design could reduce sidewalk litter and maintenance costs.

Environment’s context: meeting state and climate mandates

Hillary Neer and Alexa Kelty, environment department staff, emphasized diversion and organics recovery goals and said department pilots and data show the city still landfills hundreds of thousands of tons that could be diverted. Neer pointed to the department’s recent waste characterization study showing an estimated 64% of material still going to landfill from Recology‑handled flows could be recycled or composted and argued that investments in deconstruction, reuse and organics processing support targets in the Climate Action Plan and SB 1383 (state organics law).

Next steps and board requests

Board members asked for more detailed justification of the Environment department’s $3 million increase, specifically a disaggregated list of the new FTEs, job functions, and contract or grant commitments. Jay Liao, the refuse rate administrator, asked departments to work with his office to produce those details in advance of the administrator’s proposed rate order and budget materials.

No action was taken; the presentation was informational and intended to inform the rate‑setting process.