Computer Recycling in Emeryville

Emeryville is one of the Bay Area’s smallest cities by land area — just over two square miles — but it punches well above its weight when it comes to innovation, economic density, and environmental action. With a population of approximately 13,000 residents, the city sits at the crossroads of Oakland and Berkeley, occupying a former industrial waterfront that has been steadily transformed into one of the East Bay’s most active commercial and mixed-use centers.

Emeryville is home to a notable cluster of technology, biotech, and creative companies, including Pixar Animation Studios and Peet’s Coffee, along with a range of pharmaceutical and research firms that have long anchored the city’s industrial zones. Its daytime population swells considerably beyond its residential count, as thousands of workers commute in daily — a dynamic that shapes both the city’s environmental footprint and its approach to transit and sustainability.

The city’s formal climate commitments date back more than a decade. Emeryville adopted a Climate Action Plan in 2008 and has since updated it with the Climate Action Plan 2.0, which sets targets aligned with California’s statewide goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions 40 percent below baseline levels by 2030 and 80 percent below baseline levels by 2050. The CAP 2.0 was developed in compliance with the Global Covenant of Mayors framework for standardized, locally led climate action, and includes 17 mitigation goals, five adaptation goals, and over 100 combined initiatives for 2030.

One of the city’s more distinctive recent actions is its gas-powered leaf blower ban, which was passed by ordinance in December 2023 and took effect on July 1, 2024. Under Emeryville Municipal Code Chapter 15, it is now illegal to operate a gas-powered leaf blower anywhere in the city. The city has directed residents and landscapers to electric alternatives, and its own Public Works maintenance team made the switch ahead of the ban taking effect. This kind of ground-level, enforcement-backed ordinance reflects Emeryville’s willingness to turn environmental policy into real, daily-life change.

Emeryville has also been grappling with the physical reality of climate change along its shoreline. In 2025, the city launched sea level rise adaptation planning in partnership with the San Francisco Estuary Partnership (SFEP), engaging a coalition of land use agencies, resource agencies, and neighboring cities along the East Bay Crescent — the stretch of shoreline from the Bay Bridge Toll Plaza to the Contra Costa County border. The Emeryville Crescent, a protected section of wildlife habitat along the city’s waterfront, sits at the center of this planning effort. A community visioning process is underway, and the city is pursuing California Ocean Protection Council SB 1 funding to conduct a formal shoreline vulnerability assessment.

Transit-wise, Emeryville operates the Emery Go-Round, a fare-free public shuttle service funded by commercial property owners through the citywide property improvement district. The shuttle connects employees, residents, and visitors to MacArthur BART Station with 15-minute frequency, offering a practical, car-free commute option in a city where the daytime worker population far outnumbers residents. This employer-supported transit model is a meaningful part of Emeryville’s broader effort to reduce vehicle miles traveled and its associated emissions.

Together, these efforts paint a picture of a small city with an unusually active environmental agenda — one where businesses and residents share responsibility for keeping Emeryville’s footprint in line with its ambitions.