San Francisco running out of landfill space.

Steven Averett, Content Director, Waste Group

April 1, 2009

1 Min Read
San Fran Jam

San Francisco may only have five years of landfill capacity left. According to San Francisco city documents, the city could reach it's contracted quota at the Altamont Landfill (owned by Houston-based Waste Management) as early as 2014. In response, San Francisco accepted bids from three landfill operators interested in taking the roughly 500,000 tons of nonrecycled and noncomposted residential and commercial waste the city produces annually. Distance is a factor as the San Fransico Board of Supervisors chooses whether to renew the Altamont (located 62 miles east of the city) contract with Waste Management or opts for the Ostrom Road Landfill (133 miles northeast), owned by San Francisco-based Norcal Waste Systems, or the Keller Canyon Landfill (42 miles northeast), owned by Phoenix-based Republic Services.

San Francisco, which boasts the highest diversion rate in the country at 70 percent, has set a zero waste goal by 2020, though it still expects to be producing residual waste at that time.

About the Author(s)

Steven Averett

Content Director, Waste Group, Waste360

Steven Averett joined the Waste Age staff in February 2006. Since then he has helped the magazine expand its coverage and garner a range of awards from FOLIO, the American Society of Business Publication Editors (ASBPE) and the Magazine Association of the Southeast (MAGS). He recently won a Gold Award from ASBPE for humor writing.

Before joining Waste Age, Steven spent three years as the staff writer for Industrial Engineer magazine, where he won a gold GAMMA Award from MAGS for Best Feature. He has written and edited material covering a wide range of topics, including video games, film, manufacturing, and aeronautics.

Steven is a graduate of the University of Georgia, where he earned a BA in English.

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