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Case Studies

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County of San Diego

Strategic Plan to Reduce Waste (2016-17)

Project Background

In 2015, the Board of Supervisors of the County of San Diego (County) made a commitment to work towards increasing the County’s diversion efforts and directed staff to develop a strategy for reaching a 75% diversion goal by 2020 and Zero Waste by 2040.

HF&H was hired by the County and developed an actionable Strategic Plan to Reduce Waste to move the County from a diversion level of 62% to their high diversion goals. The Strategic Plan identifies program and policy changes, diversion estimates, and program costs and presents a realistic program/policy timeline. The planning effort included an assessment of current conditions consisting of: an inventory of current programs and policies; infrastructure inventory; analysis of waste composition, tonnage, and hauler account information; and, analysis of County collection, processing, and disposal data for the County’s internal operations. Our scope also included assessment of program and policy diversion potential, costs, GHG impacts, job creation potential, and other factors. 

Stakeholder engagement was a key aspect of the project. HF&H planned and facilitated approximately 18 meetings with various stakeholders; prepared education materials including website content, press releases, and public notices; and, developed online questionnaires to obtain input from residents and businesses.

Project Results

In April 2017, the Board of Supervisors received the Final Strategic Plan to Reduce Waste and authorized an implementation plan to achieve 75% diversion by 2025.