The 2014 City of Phoenix Residential Waste Characterization Study will collect composition and quantity data that will help guide policy formation and program implementation as the city moves toward its goal of 40 percent diversion by 2020. This study is an update to the previous Phoenix waste characterization study completed in 2003.

The City of Phoenix Public Works Department's Solid Waste Strategic Plan charts a course for providing high quality, timely, cost effective, environmentally responsible, and diversity-sensitive management of solid waste. The Public Works Department launched the initiative: "Reimagine Phoenix: Transforming Trash into Resources" to inspire the Phoenix area to increase the amount of trash recycled to 40 percent by 2020 by considering how we reduce, reuse, recycle, reconsider, and reimagine healthy consumption habits to minimize waste.