Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) can be challenging for multifamily. Solar retrofits can take years. Water-efficiency upgrades require capital. Emissions reporting requires new software. However, there’s one ESG lever sitting outside every unit door and around the community. It’s trash.
Waste management is one of the most actionable and visible areas where owners and operators can drive real ESG progress. The best part is that it doesn’t require a capital improvement plan or a multi-year rollout. It only requires a program, a process, and a partner that can prove it’s working.
Landfill Diversion Starts at the Curb
Multifamily communities face a recycling access problem. A 2025 waste management guidebook from The Ohio State University’s Knowlton School of Architecture, developed with the Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio, found that while 97% of single-family homes in Franklin County had access to curbside recycling, only 38% of multifamily communities offered a comparable service. More than half of the county’s residents live in apartments. That access gap is not an anomaly, and similar gaps exist throughout the country.
The Environmental Protection Agency estimates the current recycling rate at about 32%, against a goal of 50% by 2030. Only about 43% of homes actively participate in recycling programs, and more than three-quarters of recyclable material never makes it into those bins, according to The Recycling Partnership’s 2024 State of Recycling Report. The biggest bottleneck in the recycling system is what happens at the point of disposal, and that’s where owners and operators have leverage. A well-designed, well-communicated program addresses the household-participation problem.
In many areas, increasing recycling is becoming imperative. Local and state governments continually implement regulations that leave multifamily communities no choice. California has one of the most ambitious climate laws, which mandates reductions in organic waste disposal, including a 75% overall reduction and the recovery of at least 20% of edible food that would otherwise be wasted. Colorado’s No More Waste initiative, passed by voters in 2022 and taking effect this year, requires multifamily communities and restaurants to offer recycling services.
Residents Are Watching
ESG is more than a reporting exercise for investors. Expectations are rising among renters, making programs crucial to maintaining satisfaction. Trash is one of the most important areas for residents, who view it as a shared responsibility and a key driver of how they feel about their community, according to the 2024 NMHC Renter Preferences Survey.
Younger renters weigh sustainability and accountability more heavily when deciding where to rent and whether to renew. Waste is one of the few sustainability issues residents can evaluate firsthand. A trash program and valet service that address residents’ environmental concerns provide far more value than a glossy ESG statement.
Data, Scheduling and Accountability
The way owners and operators get the most out of ESG and waste management value is by developing three habits:
Report the Data — Diversion rates, pickup rates, and contamination trends don’t need to remain hidden and shouldn’t. Sharing simple, resident-facing metrics, such as how much waste was diverted from landfills or service levels compared to previous years, turns an invisible utility into a visible commitment. The story only works if communities can back the numbers.
Schedule Smart — Static, one-size-fits-all pickup schedules create two failures that residents can notice: overflowing bins and wasted truck trips. Trash volumes can vary widely during the holidays and move-in/move-out times vs. the rest of the year. Seasonally adjusted scheduling based on actual demand keeps common areas clean, cuts unnecessary emissions from half-empty pickups, and appeals more to renters.
Hold Service Accountable — A proactive waste program cannot function with a “set it and forget it” approach. Missed pickups, gaps in valet service, contamination incidents, and resident complaints need to be tracked and treated as operational KPIs. This also means partnering with a vendor who truly understands the impact their service has on resident retention and assists with that accountability. Owners, operators, onsite teams, and residents want actions, not excuses. One major property management company saw recycling increase by an average of 17% across three California regions, and composting began in all three areas, according to data from Ally Waste.
The common thread among these habits is that good ESG and good waste management are the same, just viewed from different angles. Diverting more waste from landfills to recycling appeals to residents. Smarter scheduling cuts emissions and operational costs. Accountability improves success across the board while reducing resident complaints. It protects retention and renewal, which are metrics every multifamily operator answers to. Residents are already watching, and smart waste management is an ESG win hiding in plain sight.