Municipal Waste Audit and Characterization Study

The County of Sonoma’s 5-year Strategic Plan identifies Climate Action and Resiliency as one of its five pillars. Within that pillar, detailed goals and objectives help direct the County’s efforts in combatting the climate crisis. The Zero Waste Audit and Characterization Study (ZWACS) was identified as a necessary step to establish a baseline understanding of current waste levels and conditions and outline a path to making all County facilities zero waste.

The County of Sonoma (County) partnered with SCS Engineers (SCS) to conduct a waste audit and analysis, including the assessment of the existing solid waste management, waste reduction, and recycling activities at a representative group of County run facilities. Waste sampling, which included the hand-sorting of waste samples from County sources, was conducted at County sites ranging in use from recreation, administration, and veteran services to detention centers, and the Sonoma County airport. The findings of the ZWACS are then compared to that of Zero Waste Sonoma’s waste characterization study conducted in 2022.

• The County of Sonoma Zero Waste Audit and Waste Characterization Study (full) (PDF: 934 kB)
• Executive Summary of the County of Sonoma Zero Waste Audit and Waste Characterization Study (English) (PDF: 195 kB)
• Executive Summary of the County of Sonoma Zero Waste Audit and Waste Characterization Study (Spanish) (PDF: 235 kB)
• Key Metrics (English) (PDF: 290 kB)
• Key Metrics (Spanish) (PDF: 355 kB)