Published on 11/21/2025
When it comes to sustainability, Recology Sonoma Marin doesn’t just talk the talk — they walk it. By joining Sonoma Clean Power’s 100% renewable EverGreen service, the company is powering its operations with clean, locally generated energy while taking bold steps toward its “Waste Zero” future.
For Recology Sonoma Marin, joining Sonoma Clean Power’s EverGreen service was an easy choice.
As a 100% employee-owned company serving more than one million customers across California, Oregon, and Washington, Recology lives by its credo: “Waste Zero.” From using recycled materials to build and maintain facilities to powering operations with clean energy, sustainability is more than a goal — it’s a way of life.
Like Sonoma Clean Power, Recology strives not only to serve its community but to be part of it.
“Investing locally as much as possible is key,” says Marie Kneemeyer, Public Education Manager at Recology Sonoma Marin. “Sonoma Clean Power’s EverGreen service is a perfect example of investing in locally generated energy.”
EverGreen is the nation’s first and only 100% locally generated, 100% renewable electricity service — a service available exclusively to Sonoma and Mendocino County customers.
By enrolling in EverGreen, Recology Sonoma Marin is keeping its energy dollars local and helping build a more sustainable, resilient future for the North Bay.
Recology has set ambitious sustainability targets for 2028, including:
Since 2018, Recology has reduced its overall greenhouse gas emissions by 23% by switching to renewable fuels and cleaner electricity. Fuel-related emissions alone have dropped 77%, and the company is now testing electric garbage trucks with a goal of eliminating fuel emissions entirely by 2028.
In May 2024, Recology also launched the nation’s first hydrogen fuel cell refuse truck, operating in San Francisco — a milestone for cleaner waste collection.
Recology's hydrogen fuel cell refuse truck in San Francisco
“Sonoma Clean Power’s EverGreen service is a perfect example of investing in locally generated energy.”
Public Education Manager
Recology Sonoma Marin
Recology’s sustainability leadership extends beyond infrastructure. The company partners with local artists to turn trash into art, hosts the annual “Trashion Fashion” show, and runs hands-on education and outreach programs across the region.
Education makes a measurable difference. A 2024 report from The Recycling Partnership found that 76% of recyclable residential materials nationwide never make it into the recycling system. But in California, 75% of households in Recology’s service areas actively recycle, compared with 65% in other service areas — proof that education works.
“At Recology we put a lot of time and energy into our education and outreach," says Kneemeyer. "We want to meet our customers where they are and make it as easy as possible to learn how to recycle right and compost correctly.”
In 2024 alone, Recology helped avoid 1.7 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions by processing recyclable and compostable materials instead of sending them to landfills — more than ten times the emissions produced by its own operations.
Recology Sonoma Marin’s participation in EverGreen shows how local partnerships can make a global impact — powering communities with clean energy, creating jobs, and proving that a “Waste Zero” future is within reach. “We want to walk the walk and talk the talk,” says Kneemeyer. “If we say we’re committed to sustainability, we want to demonstrate that — and joining EverGreen is one of the ways we do it.”
