Below you can find information about Piedmont's waste diversion rate, and other valuable information about solid waste. 

Waste Diversion Rates

Waste diversion is a statistic used to measure how much waste is being diverted from the landfill. The higher the number, the more waste is being recycled or composted. Recycled and composted waste generally produces fewer greenhouse gas emissions than waste in the landfill.

Piedmont currently has a diversion rate of 75%, meaning that 75% of waste is composted or recycled, while 25% goes to the landfill. The City’s Climate Action Plan 2.0 outlines the City’s goal to divert 85% of waste going to the landfill by 2030.

Amount of waste (tonnage)

In 2019, the City had the following amount of waste in public use facilities:

   Pounds picked up Equivalent Tons 
Garbage   163,787  81.9
 Recycling  1,833,121  2,123.0
 Compost  1,321,924  660.9

Number of Piedmont accounts

 Account type  
Single Family residential 3,713
 Multi-family residential 10 
 Commercial businesses 16 
 City facilities 14 
 PUSD


Construction and Demolition (C&D) waste data

Please visit our website here for C&D waste data. 

Waste Characterization Audit Data

The City works with Republic Services and an outside consultant to perform waste audits periodically. These audits identify how much waste is being sorted accurately by Piedmont residents. 

For the organics (green) bin, over 90% of materials audited were compostable. Recyclable materials, or materials that would be accepted into the recycling, were the most commonly missorted item in the green bin. 

For the recyclables (blue) bin, over 90% of materials were compostable. The primary missorted item was accepted organics, or items that would have been accepted in the green bin.

The main mistakes residents make are between the blue and green bin. To learn more about which items go in which bin, please visit this webpage