DATA STORY
Trash to Primary Landfill
San Francisco's average workday tons of trash going to primary landfill
Controller's OfficeMeasure description
Trash to primary landfill is a measure of the average workday tons of garbage sent to the City's primary landfill each month. It is a key indicator of the City's current recycling and composting practices as it works toward the goal of achieving Zero Waste. The Department of the Environment is responsible for tracking the performance of this measure as part of its waste reduction efforts.
San Francisco's Zero Waste goal is to reduce waste generation by 15% and landfill disposal by 50% by 2030.
Why this measure is important
Reporting on Trash to Primary Landfill provides the public, elected officials, and City staff with a current snapshot of San Francisco's progress in achieving zero waste. Zero waste means that the City sends no garbage to landfill or high-temperature destruction facilities. Achieving this goal is important because recycling and composting helps the City to conserve resources, combat climate change, and create jobs.
The interactive chart below presents the City's average workday tons refuse sent to primary landfill.
The chart's legend is below:
- Y-axis: Workday tons of trash going to primary landfill
- X-axis: Calendar year
- Note: Tonnage actuals below the 1,550-ton target line are preferred.
Trash to Primary Landfill Dashboard
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How performance is measured
The average workday Trash to Primary Landfill is calculated using the following methodology:
Total workday tons of trash going to primary landfill divided by the total workdays in the month.
The number displayed on the Sustainability and Climate Action scorecard page represents a fiscal year average of the raw daily values, and therefore may differ slightly than average of the monthly averages in the chart above.
Data notes and sources
All Trash to Primary Landfill data come from the San Francisco Department of the Environment. Data are reported with a two to three-month lag. For example, May's data will be available at the end of July.
Additional information
City Performance Scorecards
This page is part of the City Performance Scorecards.
Return to the Sustainability & Climate Action Scorecard.
Return to the City Performance Scorecards Home Page.