Mayor Muriel Bowser:

DC environmental organizations, advocates, and District citizens support your efforts to find a qualified and motivated professional to lead the DC Department of Public Works (DPW) into the next decade. The selection of the next DPW Director may be the most transformational action you can take to make our public works agency a national leader.

Our shared experience with the short tenure of the last two DPW Directors showed us how critical it is to find a leader who wants to succeed with DPW’s many obligations - from snow removal, to fleet management, to trash collection, to waste diversion.

In 2019, your administration released the Sustainable DC 2.0 plan. This plan set a an ambitious but doable "zero-waste" 80% diversion (waste diverted away from landfill and incineration) by 2032. This is an admirable goal. Most of DC’s waste is recyclable, yet here in DC, most of our waste goes to landfill and incineration. 

And sadly, since the District’s baseline waste diversion percentage was set back in 2015, our waste diversion percentage has only increased by 1.96% as of 2017 (the latest data available). While our recent DPW Directors have done an admirable job of improving snow removal and trash collection over the past few years (despite an international pandemic), the District’s waste diversion rate remains abysmal and not worthy of our potential.

You have witnessed first-hand how trash can impact our health and wellbeing and diminish the quality of life in our neighborhoods, parks, and rivers. How we manage our waste is also critical in efforts to lower greenhouse gas emissions that are causing the climate crisis.

That is why the District needs a DPW director who knows how to move District trash, manage the fleet, and deal with snow, but also have an in-depth understanding of the fundamentals of creating a zero-waste city and making good on your Sustainable DC 2.0 goals.

The "Zero Waste Omnibus Amendment Act of 2020", that you recently signed, is a plan of action that will help the District join zero-waste cities like San Francisco, Austin, and many others. A new director that understands and wants to implement this bill is what the District needs.

Our request:

• Continue your national search to find a new DC DPW Director that has a proven and core understanding of zero-waste principles and is excited about adding DC to the list of zero-waste focused cities.
• Fully fund the "Zero Waste Omnibus Amendment Act of 2020" that you recently signed. This is a template for action that can transform DPW and change how we look at and value effective waste management strategies.

Thank you.