Decomposition of solid waste is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. The City of Albuquerque is taking significant steps to reduce its waste through the adoption and implementation of a Zero Waste plan.

To reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Mayor Chávez has committed to the goal of closing the Albuquerque landfill by 2030 by diverting all material out of the waste stream or into a system to convert the waste to energy.

In order to achieve the Zero Waste goal for Albuquerque, aggressive steps need to be taken now. Zero Waste can be achieved by recycling existing waste and reducing the need for recycling by reducing and reusing existing materials.

Strategies

During the Document Review Phase, team leaders developed broad evaluative criteria to rank strategies by estimated implementation costs, greenhouse gas reductions, timing and feasibility.

Read the Recycling and Zero Waste section