By Neil Farrell
If you collect recyclable cans and bottles for cash redemption, the choices for where to redeem them have become fewer and farther between, after a recycling company closed two centers in Morro Bay and one in Los Osos.
According to Bill Worrell, executive director of the Integrated Waste Management Authority, the company, rePlanet, closed some 191 recycling centers on Jan. 31 mostly in Northern California, laying off 278 employees. The abrupt closures were because the State agency that subsidizes them, CalRecycle, “reduced the amount of payment and that, along with lower market prices for the recyclables, caused the sites to close.”
The rePlanet closures come on top of additional closures of independent recycling centers, which the State has no idea as to how many. Worrell said they were caught off guard. “The IWMA did not know this was going to happen,” he told Tolosa Press. “Apparently it has been a problem throughout California.”
According to an email from CalRecycle, which Worrell shared, “These [closed] centers primarily purchased only California Redemption Value [CRV] beverage containers. This represents a mere 10% of all certified recycling centers; however, the majority of these closures were located in Northern California.”
CalRecycle continued, “The payment reductions come at a time when, as everyone knows, commodity prices are at a low point, and have been declining for a few years. The redemption centers rely on commodity sales for perhaps one-third to one-half of their total revenues.
“The implications of these closures is that it will be harder for Californians to receive the refunds that are due to them on deposit beverage containers.”
RePlanet issued a news release on its website (rePlanet.com). “Following the most recent reduction in State fees on Jan. 1, 2016 and after enduring 12 months of unprecedented declines in commodities pricing of aluminum and PET plastic, coupled with the mandated rise in operating costs as a result of minimum wage increases and required health and workers compensation insurance, the Company has concluded that operation of these recycling centers is no longer sustainable.”
RePlanet said it has been working with CalRecycle to address the problems. “Change is needed and rePlanet will continue to work diligently with the State of California and the Division of Recycling to develop solutions that will keep containers out of landfills and ensure the viability of the recycling industry long into the future.”
It acknowledges the closures are causing a hardship. “We know these site closures will have a significant impact on our employees, grocer partners, customers and the recycling community at large. If and when the State makes the necessary changes that allow us to operate profitably, we welcome the opportunity to reopen as many recycling centers as possible.”
Several recycling centers in SLO County remain open, including seven owned by rePlanet, but the closest one to Morro Bay and Los Osos is in SLO at Target on Los Osos Valley Road. There is another in Cambria at 1275 Tamson Dr.
Two others in SLO remain open at 3900 Broad St., (Marigold Center) and 277 Higuera St., (at the now closed Smart & Final Store). Arroyo Grande has three, at 564 Mesa View Dr., (by S. Halcyon Drive), 890 Sheridan Rd., and 1464 Grand Ave., (at Courtland). Paso Robles has three, and Nipomo and Oceano one each (12 total in SLO County). There is of course, no guarantee that the issues that forced the site closures won’t force more centers to do likewise.
And those distant sites likely do little good for people in the Estero Bay communities, who depend on the recycling monies, in particular the homeless and poor, as transporting cans and bottles by vehicle would likely eat up much of the money they get.
And for a person without a car, taking multiple large bags of bottles and cans on a bus, while allowed, could prove to be troublesome.
CalRecycle has a toll-free phone number to call with questions, 1-800-RECYCLE, and offers some options:
• To find other recycling opportunities, a list of operational programs is available on our website. Users can input a local zip code, and the nearest recycling center, or other program, will be displayed (see: www.calrecycle.ca.gov/BevContainer/Recyclers/Directory/Default.aspx?lang=en-US).
• In some areas, new recycling center operators may fill the vacancy left by rePlanet. Consumers with small amounts of material may be able to hold onto the material until that happens.
• In other areas, after a few months of no service from a certified recycling center, some retailers who sell CRV beverage containers may be required to redeem in store, and consumers can return the containers there for a return of the CRV they paid.
• Consumers who do not wish to receive their CRV back can either donate material to certified drop off or collection programs, non-profit community service programs, or place materials in their curbside recycling bin, if they have access to such a program.
The issue reveals the difficulty of having a mandatory program of recycling, verses depending on commodity markets to pay for much of it. Too much recycled material is causing the markets to slump worldwide and Worrell said the reimbursement shortfall is affecting the garbage companies too.
“As part of their franchise agreements with each city,” Worrell explained, “the garbage companies are required to recycle the blue bin material. The Materials Recovery Facility at Cold Canyon Landfill [the only landfill north of Cuesta Grade] recycles about 90% of what it receives; the other 10% is contamination, which is not recyclable. Contamination includes non-recyclable items such as Styrofoam, plastic bags and batteries. The bottom line is that getting less money for recyclables is still better than paying a landfill tip fee.”
Worrell said the State has a contingency policy for this but it takes a while to get done, so he’s asking the State to hurry it up. “There is a process that CalRecycle follows,” Worrell said, “that will result in either a new recycling center opening or the stores having to take the material back. This process can take up to 5 months.”
There isn’t much his agency can do about this. “The IWMA has no authority over this program, it is run by the State of California,” he said. “I have been in contact with CalRecycle and tried to expedite the process to open new centers as much as I can.”