The commission shall act in an advisory capacity to the city council and shall have the following duties and responsibilities, functions, and objectives: 

• Advise the city council on long range policy for environmental services matters.
• Advise the city council on policy for source reduction.
• Advise the city council on policy for market development of recycled materials and activities of the Southern Alameda County Recycling Market Development Zone.
• Advise the city council on policy for recycling.
• Assist the city with marketing, public education, outreach, and promotion activities in order to stimulate the greatest possible participation in source reduction, reuse, and recycling activities.
• Assist the city in establishing programs with nonprofit organizations and community groups in promoting local diversion of materials from the waste stream by being an active nexus between the city and the community and other friends and supporters of residential and commercial/industrial recycling programs.
• Provide a forum to receive public comment on environmental services management.
• Provide advisory recommendations as necessary to integrated waste management planning documents and their amendments.
• Coordinate and work cooperatively with the comparative waste diversion advisory bodies of other local communities and agencies.
• At the request of the city council, the environmental services commission may perform other advisory functions not noted above.