Solid Waste Metrics
Why This Target?
The
city has long focused on increasing the share of residential and commercial waste that avoids the landfill (the
"diversion rate"). This continues to be a priority.
Per-capita tonnage is another important part of
the story. What if our community sent less to the landfill,
bought fewer things (generating less recycling), and reduced food waste
and mulched leaves on-site (generating less compost)? The diversion
rate would remain constant, but per-capita tonnages would reveal an
all-around a success.
The Data
Interpreting the Results
There was an increase in Organics (e.g. compost) in winter 2022-2023 attributable to the implementation of year-round curbside compost collection.
The fine print
The data behind these charts are available for download from the city's data catalog. The catalog also documents the relevant metadata and background, explaining further the different data sources behind the different solid waste streams and the cadence for publishing updates.
