ACHIEVING ZERO WASTE IN SAN FRANCISCO: SUCCESSES AND CHALLENGES.

• Author: Sangiacomo, Michael J.

Journal of International Affairs (JIA): Can you give some background on the waste industry in San Francisco (SF)?

Michael J. Sangiacomo (MJS): Garbage companies in San Fransisco were started by Italian immigrants, mostly from little hill towns in Northern Italy. They arrived during the gold rush, and began scavenging to make a living, taking what other people threw away and finding ways to reuse, repair, or resell it. As San Francisco grew, the scavengers started formalizing their work of hauling unwanted household and business goods. The process was still very ad hoc at this point. Eventually the individual collectors organized themselves into a group known as the Scavengers Protective Union. That entity developed a productive relationship with the city of San Francisco and established itself as the reliable solution to issues associated with waste. In 1920, the city of San Francisco encouraged the Scavengers Protective Union to form a company. From there, two companies were formed in 1920 and 1921. The city issued an ordinance in 1921 that granted licenses to operate to those companies. This ordinance was amended in 1932 with an agreement that serves as the guiding force by which refuse collection is still regulated in San Francisco today.

JIA: How did Recology become involved with the city of San Fransisco in its zero waste goal? How are you helping San Fransisco reach zero waste?

MJS: Through the founding ordinance, Recology remains the exclusive service provider for waste collection in SF. We started by salvaging materials like paper, cardboard, bottles, and rags. After World War II consumerism transformed cloth to plastic, material types started to mix, and eventually became more difficult to recover and recycle. In 1989, the state of California passed Assembly Bill 939, requiring all communities to recycle 25 percent of their waste by 1995 and 50 percent by 2000. This 25% goal was based on what SF companies were already achieving. The city of San Francisco started down the path of wanting to do more, and it approached us about zero waste. They told us what they wanted to accomplish, and we told them what we thought was doable and how we planned to get there.

We started by performing a waste characterization, studying the details of the kinds of materials residents and businesses were throwing away. From there, we identified two major components of the waste stream: construction debris and organic matter. We proposed to build a construction waste facility to recover clean wood, gypsum, metals, heavy plastics, and similar recoverable materials. From there, we initiated a composting program.

In 2002, at the city's request, we launched a three-cart collection system and asked every resident and business to separate recyclables, organics, and residuals (material bound for the landfill). In 2004, the city enacted a mandatory recycling ordinance. On the coattails of recycling success, the city passed a mandatory composting ordinance in 2009. In the decade since, we have continued to work together with the City of San Francisco to find innovative solutions on our path to zero waste.

JIA: How do...