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SF Environment gives zero-waste training to city employees, highlights diversion progress
Summary
City staff presented a zero-waste training for employees, highlighting San Francisco’s diversion history, legal milestones (AB 939), current diversion levels and practical steps for offices, and noting gaps in upstream waste generation despite rising recycling rates.
Julie Bryant, City Government Zero Waste Senior Coordinator at the Department of the Environment, presented the department’s training for city employees and reviewed San Francisco’s zero-waste history and practical office practices.
Bryant explained that California’s AB 939 set municipal diversion goals and that San Francisco has since adopted more ambitious targets, including a 75 percent landfill diversion resolution and a local goal of zero waste by 2020. She said the city currently diverts roughly 50 percent of material from landfill and that diversion and composting rates have risen even as total generation has begun to climb again. "Even though recycling is going up and disposal is going down, really, we're seeing a general increase in generation," Bryant said, adding that reducing consumption remains the most important step.
The presentation included program details for employees: use of the virtual warehouse (an online materials-exchange program that tracks redistributed furniture and supplies), mandatory recycling and composting requirements, and lists of common recyclable and compostable items. Bryant said the city saved more than $1,000,000 in disposal costs through recycling and composting measures and described the composting process (about 60 days) and the city’s recycling hub at Pier 96.
Commissioners asked about measurement and transparency. Bryant and staff said the program measures redistributed goods in tons, items and estimated dollars saved, and they pointed commissioners to the department’s annual report posted on sfenvironment.org/sfgovrecycles. Commissioner Josefowicz asked how the virtual warehouse quantifies exchanges; staff said they record tons and dollar savings and that last year redistribution in the office programs yielded over $1 million in avoided purchases.
Public commenters praised the department’s efforts but urged clearer public information about plastic recycling limits. Eric Brooks of the San Francisco Green Party commended the department while cautioning that most plastics are heavily downcycled and that the city should make the limits of plastic recycling explicit on its public materials.
The presentation concluded with practical advice for employees—prioritize reduce and reuse, rinse containers, and use certified compostable bags for green bins—and staff offered to provide additional materials and links for internal training.
The commission did not take formal action on the training item; the presentation was followed by Q&A and public comments.
