Recycling
2015 Goals
- Reduce waste.
- Increase recycling and eliminate waste by 2040.
- Foster the highest and best use of materials.
Indicator/Metric
- Price difference between garbage can sizes.
- Residential recycling rate.
- Outreach Plan for residents and business to reduce waste and increase recycling.
- Average amount of waste landfilled per refuse account.
- Contamination rate in residential curbside recycling.
- Contamination rate in residential green waste.
- Annual amount of glass collected.
- Number of food scrap composting and/or energy recovery facilities in Salt Lake Valley.
- Number of garbage collection cycles per month.
- Formal plan and code revisions to increase commercial recycling.
- Number of requirements for recycling construction and demolition materials.
Starting Point
- 60-gallon service costs 9% more than 40-gallon service in 2011.
- 34% in 2011.
- No formal plan in 2011.
- 2,260 pounds per year in 2012.
- 17% in 2011.
- 11% in 2011.
- 1,450 tons in 2011.
- None in 2011.
- 4 in 2011.
- No formal plan in 2011.
- None in 2011.
2015 Target
- Price difference of at least 35%.
- 50% of residential waste diverted by 2015.
- Plan developed and implemented.
- 2,034 pounds per year or less (10% reduction).
- Contamination <5% of total curbside recycling collected.
- Contamination <5% of total green waste collected.
- 3,600 tons per year.
- At least one composting or energy recovery facility in the valley that processes food scraps.
- Feasibility study of bi-weekly collection completed. Two collection cycles per month implemented IF recommended by study.
- Formal plan developed and adopted. Code revisions adopted as necessary to implement plan.
- Requirement for recycling C&D materials for new projects and sizable expansions adopted and implemented.
Current Status
- 29% price difference in 2014.
- In 2014, 40.8% of household waste was diverted from the landfill through residential recycling.
- Several innovative new pilot projects are in the works for 2014. Projects will take a neighborhood-based approach to decrease bin contamination rates, increase households that downsize their garbage bins, and increase the number of households that are registered for voluntary curbside glass recycling.
- In 2014, the average waste landfilled per refuse account was 2,176 pounds. This rate has consistently decreased since 2012.
- In 2014, the recycling bin contamination rate was 6.6%. This rate has consistently decreased each year.
- In the fiscal year of 2014, 1,695 tons of glass was collected and recycled. Glass recycling has remained relatively stable over the last few years. When initial projections were made for 2015, it was based on an over estimate of the amount of glass in the Salt Lake City waste stream.
- A site plan currently being developed for an upgraded compost facility capable of processing all food scraps at the Salt Lake Valley Solid Waste Management Facility.
- Feasibility study for bi-weekly garbage collection will be completed when curbside compost program is expanded to include food scraps.
- The Business and Multi-Family Recycling Ordinance was passed by the Salt Lake City Council December 2015. More information is available at SLCgreen.com.
- Ordinance has been adopted requiring recycling of construction and demolition materials.
