San Francisco Reached One Million Tons Composted On Tuesday

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The City’s residents and businesses reached a major milestone Tuesday, in their efforts to help protect the environment – one million tons of food scraps and plants collected for composting in San Francisco.

Environmentalists, city officials, and representatives of Recology, San Francisco’s recycling company gathered at 10:30 a.m. at Scoma’s Restaurant on Fisherman’s Wharf to highlight environmental benefits achieved through the program.

Each day, San Franciscans compost more than 600 tons of food scraps and plant cuttings, more than any other city in North America, through the curbside compost program provided by the San Francisco-based recycling company, Recology. Since its inception in 1996, the program has generated more than 600,000 cubic yards of nutrient-rich compost.

“Composting one million tons since we started the green bin program is a true environmental milestone achieved by San Franciscans,” said Mike Sangiacomo, President and CEO of Recology. “Let’s keep the great momentum going and compost all food scraps and yard trimmings.”

The program alone has diverted one million tons waste from landfill disposal. Reportedly by reducing methane, a potent greenhouse gas produced in landfills, and by sequestering carbon in the topsoil of local farms, the program has created a total CO2E benefit of more than 305,944 metric tons – equal to offsetting emissions from all vehicles crossing the Bay Bridge for two years.*

“Residents and businesses have embraced the City’s goal of zero waste and are actively composting their coffee grounds, food scraps and plant cuttings,” said Melanie Nutter, Director of SF Environment. “The compost program not only gets us one step closer to our goal of Waste Zero by 2020, it’s also a critical component in reducing carbon emissions around the Bay Area.”

Stay tuned.

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