City of San José
Home MenuPopular Searches
68℉Zero Waste Element (ZWE)
Zero Waste Element (ZWE)
Climate Smart San José (Climate Smart) is the City's long term climate action plan. When the plan was first published in 2018, solid waste was identified as a topic for future consideration. The Zero Waste Element (ZWE) is designed to supplement the goals of Climate Smart with strategies to mitigate the climate impacts of solid waste and reach the City's carbon neutrality by 2030 goals. These strategies will focus on maximizing recycling, increasing landfill diversion, reducing consumption and ensuring that all materials can be recycled or repurposed for a longer product life cycle.
In 2024, the San José City Council will review the ZWE for potential integration into the City's Climate Smart initiative.
Public Meetings
The City hosted a virtual public meetings via Zoom to provide an overview of the Zero Waste Element (ZWE) and gather community feedback on its finalized draft version. The meetings was opened to both San José residents and businesses.
Community survey
In February, the City of San José sought community feedback from both residents and members of the business community to gain a better understanding of the current level of awareness of waste and recycling, attitudes toward recycling, composting, waste prevention, and the critical barriers and motivators related to selected zero waste strategies included in the Zero Waste Element (ZWE).
ZWE FUTURE GOALS
The Zero Waste Hierarchy, created by the Zero Waste International Alliance describes a progression of policies and strategies to support the Zero Waste system. Over the course of the ZWE planning timeframe, through 2050, the City of San José will commit to the first six focus areas on the zero waste hierarchy. The top of the hierarchy highlights the best approach to minimize waste, while the bottom suggests the least favorable option.
Implementation of the zero waste strategies, in partnership with the City's residents and businesses, will help the City of San José reduce waste, increase diversion from landfill and contribute to the City's goal of carbon neutrality by 2030. These strategies are expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 400,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MTCO2e) per year.