The amount of waste produced overall in Phoenix has been rising steadily over time, and an increase is anticipated in 2023 as well. It indicates that better waste management procedures need to be implemented. A projected 1.4 million tons of waste will be produced by Phoenix residents by 2050, up from an estimated 922,000 tons in 2020. The fact that "residential" waste makes up the majority of Phoenix's waste production shows the importance of promoting sustainable waste management among households. Businesses have been producing more waste than homes, and this increase has been more rapid. This could be a sign that companies need to adopt sustainable practices and take greater responsibility for their waste.

Advancing from the above dashboard to below visualization helps us understand that the waste generated by businesses is anticipated to surpass waste generated by households in 2023. The amount of recycling and composting is rising yearly, which shows that Phoenix's waste management procedures have improved. In all industries, plastic is the waste type that is produced the most, and that trend is expected to continue in 2023. Since it is anticipated that annual waste production will rise, there is a clear need for efficient waste reduction strategies.

Phoenix generated 1.5 million tons of waste overall in 2021, of which 32% was recycled, 20% was composted, and 48% was disposed of in landfills. It is anticipated that by 2022, there will be 1.6 million tons of waste produced overall, with 50% of that waste being sent to landfills. The amount of waste generated overall is anticipated to reach 1.7 million tons in 2023, and 51% of that waste is anticipated to be sent to landfills. Construction and demolition waste, which makes up 37% of the total waste produced in Phoenix in 2021, is the most common type of waste. The second-largest type of waste generated is organic waste, which comprises yard waste and food waste and makes up 27% of the total amount of waste generated in 2021.

Total Waste Produced by Customer Type in Phoenix in 2021

This visualization below might assist us to develop waste reduction strategies for each customer type. For instance, focusing outreach and education campaigns on waste reduction on single-family homes may have a bigger impact than doing the same for multi-family homes. Similar to this, collaborating with companies in the food industry to cut waste at the source could result in significant drops in overall waste production. The most waste was generated by residential customers, then by commercial, and finally by industrial customers. Single-family homes produced more waste than multi-family homes among residential customers. Restaurants, cafes, and other businesses that produce food generated significantly more waste than other kinds of businesses. In comparison to other industrial customers, the construction industry produced the most waste.

Waste Analysis 2021-2023

In the dashboard, "Total Waste Produced by Customer Type," for 2021 it's interesting to see that Residential customers produce significantly more waste than Commercial customers. This highlights the importance of promoting responsible waste management practices to households, as they are the major contributors to the overall waste production in the city. The dashboard also shows a breakdown of waste produced by each customer type over time, which could be useful for identifying trends and patterns in waste generation.

Waste Type Analysis:

The highest amount of brush and bulk waste was collected in February 2021, with a total of 47.3 tons. This waste type includes items like tree limbs, furniture, and appliances.

The largest amount of household hazardous waste was collected in April 2021, with a total of 27.4 tons. This waste type includes items like paint, cleaning chemicals, and batteries.

The highest amount of green organics waste was collected in May 2021, with a total of 1,393.3 tons. This waste type includes items like yard waste, grass clippings, and tree trimmings.

The highest amount of recycling waste was collected in January 2021, with a total of 6,771.6 tons. This waste type includes items like paper, plastic, and glass.

The highest amount of trash waste was collected in February 2021, with a total of 47,706.6 tons. This waste type includes items like food waste, non-recyclable plastics, and other non-hazardous materials.

In the visualization "Phoenix Solid Waste Analysis - GRLR date 2022," we can see that the total amount of waste produced in 2022 (as of October) is already higher than the total amount produced in 2021. This could point to a rising waste production trend over time. Green organics waste production in 2022 is already greater than total production in 2021. This might be the result of a number of things, like an increase in landscaping or gardening work, or more locals opting to participate in the program for recycling green organics. The amount of bulk waste produced in 2022 is also trending higher than in 2021, indicating a possible increase in large-scale clean-up or renovation projects.

The "Total Waste Produced by Day in 2023" visualization also revealed another intriguing fact: waste production tends to rise toward the end of the week, with Thursday, Friday, and Saturday having the highest levels. This might be the result of things like heightened business activity toward the end of the week or household cleanups over the weekend.

Total Waste Produced 2021-2023

Total Waste Produced 2021-23 results highlight the need for increased efforts to reduce waste and improve recycling and composting programs in both residential and commercial settings.

The total amount of waste produced in 2021 is estimated to be 1.4 million tons, with residential waste accounting for the vast majority (74.9%). Commercial customers generate significantly less waste than residential customers, accounting for only 12.8% of total waste generated. Yard waste (31.3%) and recycling (27.5%) account for a sizable portion of residential waste generated. The majority of waste produced (70.6%) is landfill waste, followed by recycling (19.5%) and green organics (9.8%).

Conclusion: Visual Analysis and Insights on Phoenix's Solid Waste Production

In 2021, Phoenix's total waste production was 1,423,023 tons, which was collected by curbside, bulk trash, or material hauled directly to the city's transfer stations before being transported to the Buckeye, AZ landfill. In 2021, food waste and yard waste were the two most significant components of Phoenix's municipal solid waste, accounting for 23% and 18% of total waste, respectively. While the overall trend in Phoenix waste production has been increasing in recent years, there were some interesting fluctuations in the amount of waste produced by different customer types in 2021. Multi-family customers, for example, saw a 3% increase in waste production over the previous year, while commercial customers saw a 2% decrease.

Finally, Phoenix's Solid Waste Division is actively working to reduce waste production in the city through various initiatives such as composting programs and public education campaigns. Individuals can help by reducing their own waste through practices such as recycling, composting, and avoiding single-use products. These are just a few of the findings we've made while investigating Phoenix's Solid Waste Analysis dashboards. If you want to learn more about waste production trends in the city, we encourage you to look through the dashboards.

From Trash to Treasure: Mesa's Recycling Journey 2013-2021

The visualization's findings can be used to highlight Mesa's efforts to boost recycling rates and reduce waste, as well as potential areas for improvement in their recycling programs. The City of Mesa recycled more than 23 million pounds of total material between 2013 and 2021. Mixed paper is the most commonly recycled material in Mesa, followed by cardboard, yard waste, and metal. Residential recycling appears to be more successful than commercial recycling in Mesa, with significantly more material collected from residential customers.

The data representation below shows that the number of barrels collected each year is significantly greater than the number of barrels missed. For example, in 2020, over 230,000 barrels were collected with only about 8,000 barrels being missed. This suggests that Mesa's waste management system is generally effective, with only a small percentage of barrels missing each year. When compared to previous years, the number of missed barrels increased significantly in 2019 and 2020, with over 1,500 barrels missed in both years.

Tempe's Waste Diversion Efforts: A Step Towards a Greener Future

The percentage of waste diverted in Tempe has steadily increased from around 25% in 2015 to over 40% in 2020. This indicates that the city has been successful in its efforts to reduce waste and increase recycling and composting. In 2020, the largest portion of waste generated in Tempe was still sent to the landfill (over 55%), while around 32% was recycled and just over 12% was composted. This highlights the continued need for waste reduction and diversion efforts in the city. The most commonly recycled items in Tempe are paper and cardboard, followed by metal and glass. Plastic and other materials make up a smaller portion of recycled materials. This suggests that there may be room for improvement in plastic recycling efforts in the city. The dashboard also shows that some neighborhoods in Tempe have much higher recycling rates than others. For example, the "Rural-Tempe Neighborhoods" area has a recycling rate of over 50%, while the "North Tempe Neighborhoods" area has a recycling rate of just over 20%. This could be due to differences in access to recycling programs, education about recycling, or other factors.

Residential customers have consistently generated the majority of waste in Tempe from 2016 to 2020, accounting for around 80% of all waste generated each year. Although the amount of waste generated by commercial customers is much smaller than that generated by residential customers, the percentage of waste diverted from landfills by commercial customers is consistently higher than that of residential customers. The amount of waste generated by the citywide category (which includes government buildings, parks, and other city-owned properties) has remained relatively stable over the years, with a slight decrease in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The total amount of waste generated in Tempe has been steadily increasing over the years, with a notable increase between 2019 and 2020. Despite the increase in waste generation, the amount of waste diverted from landfills has also been increasing each year, with a significant jump in 2020 due to the implementation of new waste diversion programs.