Zero Waste & Litter Cabinet released its two-year report today

The City released its 2019 Zero Waste & Litter Report, two years after the cabinet shared its roadmap.

In its report released today, the Cabinet boasts that of 31 recommendations set in the Zero Waste and Litter Action Plan, 71% are complete, 16% are in progress and 13% have yet to be addressed. The goals and progress are shared in screenshots here:

What else is the city saying they’re doing about litter? Here are the biggest points from their report:

5 Takeaways from the 2019 Zero Waste Progress Report

• Plans for an urban composting facility at Rising Sun: The city released an RFP to establish an urban composting facility in Philadelphia to support residential and commercial composting, which would be the first urban composting permit in the Commonwealth. According to the report, the RFP timeline expects work to commence in March 2020.
• A 41% reduction in illegal dumping. The Cabinet helped to reduce the amount of heavy illegal dumping cleaned up by City departments from 11,525 tons in FY16 to 6,808 tons in FY19 through increased enforcement and execution of a communications campaign.
• Supporting a ban on plastic bags to reduce the amount of single-use plastics and prevent litter on Philadelphia’s streets, vacant lots, waterways, and public spaces. Read more on the ban here.
• Create a Community Composting Network. The Zero Waste & Litter Cabinet is working with Parks & Recreation and the Office of Sustainability to establish a resident-involved, community-scale composting systems across the city.
• C40 Thriving Cities Initiative. Philadelphia was chosen as one of three global cities selected to organize a local coalition of community stakeholders to implement a ‘Thriving Cities Roadmap’ of consumption-reducing actions. They held their first “Thriving Cities” workshop in Sept 2019.

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Julie Hancher is Editor-in-Chief of Green Philly, sharing her expertise of all things sustainable in the city of brotherly love. She enjoys long walks in the park with local beer and greening her travels, cooking & cat, Sir Floofus Drake. View all posts by Julie Hancher