All hospitals
San Francisco, CA· 796 beds

UCSF Health

Part of the University of California's system wide commitment to carbon neutrality and zero waste. UCSF Health hit a 78 ton waste reduction target in FY2024 and runs an active waste analytics program across all streams.

UC zero waste pledgeWaste analytics
Sustainability report
Peer benchmark

Compare to peers

Better than peers on progress
97%
vs. 36 peers · median 48%
Better than peers on waste/bed
50%
peer median 6.0 t/bed/yr
Your progress
83%
3 stated goals

Percentiles compare this hospital against peers in the selected set. Higher is better on both metrics.

Stated commitments

Goals & progress

UC system zero waste (90% landfill diversion)
Target 90% by 2030 · baseline 2018
On track
60% of the way to goal4 yrs remaining
Source: UC 2025 Annual Sustainable Practices Report
Projected impact if deployed
Current 60%Projected 66.7%
+6.7 pts
Est. 201 tons/yr of waste diverted across the matched solutions.
Contributing solutions

Directional estimate. Tons modeled from this hospital's annual waste footprint and category benchmarks (Practice Greenhealth, vendor case studies). Diminishing returns applied when multiple solutions share a category.

Behind on this goal — 3 peers further along:
FY2024 waste reduction target
Target 78 tons by 2024 · baseline 2023 · Met via cross stream analysis & operational changes
Achieved
100% of the way to goal0 yrs remaining
Source: UCSF Health 2024 Report
Projected impact if deployed
Contributing solutions

Directional estimate. Tons modeled from this hospital's annual waste footprint and category benchmarks (Practice Greenhealth, vendor case studies). Diminishing returns applied when multiple solutions share a category.

Healthy Food in Health Care standards (Practice Greenhealth)
Target Maintain by 2025 · baseline 2018
At risk
90% of the way to goal0 yrs remaining
Source: UCSF Nutrition & Food Services
Projected impact if deployed
Current 90%Projected 92.4%
+2.4 pts
Est. 286 tons/yr of waste diverted across the matched solutions.
Contributing solutions

Directional estimate. Tons modeled from this hospital's annual waste footprint and category benchmarks (Practice Greenhealth, vendor case studies). Diminishing returns applied when multiple solutions share a category.

Vendor match

Solutions that map to these goals

Products from our solutions directory that align with this hospital's stated commitments and active projects.

Compostable supplies
BioGown compostable isolation gown
Terraloam

The first closed loop, 100% compostable medical isolation gown. Replaces single use plastic gowns with a plant based alternative collected and composted through a take back program.

Impact: 176K+ gowns diverted from landfill, 95% collection rate, Premier Innovation Award winner.
View details →
Recycling & circularity
BioDigester on site composter
Terraloam

On site aerobic digester that turns up to 220 lbs of hospital food waste and Terraloam compostable film gowns into finished compost in 24 hours closing the loop between cafeteria and clinical waste streams.

Impact: Diverts ~40 tons/yr of combined food waste and compostable PPE per unit from landfill or incineration with no off site hauling.
View details →
Recycling & circularity
GENERATIONS closed loop lab plastic recycling
BD + Envetec

On site treatment system that decontaminates and recycles polystyrene petri dishes, PET tubes, medical tubing and polypropylene syringes back into usable resin.

Impact: Pilot study confirmed recovered resin meets virgin grade specs for re manufacture into healthcare plastics.
View details →
Compostable supplies
Plastic free medication cup
Plastilose

First fully plastic free, PFAS free medication cup, made from bacterial cellulose. Naturally biodegrades in ~3 months and is ISO 10993 biocompatibility tested.

Impact: Replaces billions of single use plastic souffle cups used for med pass each year.
View details →
Food service
Plant based compostable foodservice ware
Vegware

Compostable cups, lids, cutlery and clamshells for hospital cafeterias and patient meal trays certified industrially compostable.

Impact: Replaces petroleum plastics in one of hospitals' largest non clinical waste streams.
View details →
Food service
Compostable patient meal service
World Centric

BPI certified compostable trays, bowls and utensils used by health systems including Kaiser Permanente for patient meals.

Impact: Eliminates millions of foam and PP meal containers per year at deployed systems.
View details →
Underway

Waste reduction projects

RecyclingSince 2024
Cross stream waste analysis
Identified path to 78 ton FY24 reduction
RecyclingSince 2022
Waste to Art competition
Community awareness across UCSF
Proof points

Case studies & pilot programs

Publicly documented programs where this hospital or its parent system reported measurable results.

Single-use plastics2024

Soft Plastic Compactor pilot for pharmacy bags

UCSF Mission Bay partnered with Clear Drop to pilot a Soft Plastic Compactor in the inpatient pharmacy, capturing clear medication bags a stream with no traditional recycling pathway for guaranteed recycling.

Result
Proved a closed loop route for a previously unrecyclable hospital plastic stream.
Source: Clear Drop / UCSF Health