California DOC Awards Grant Money

The state of Caifornia’s Department of Conservation has awarded $1 million in recycling grants to various organizations.

In all, 18 projects received grants aimed at increasing the number of bottle and can recycling opportunities throughout the state at schools, sporting events and other public venues. Department of Conservation recycling grants are paid for with unclaimed refunds of California Refund Value beverage containers, and are awarded at no cost to the state's general fund.

More than 18 billion CRV containers were sold in California in 2002, and about 10.6 billion were recycled. That leaves 7.5 billion bottles and cans – worth about $187 million in CRV– that ended up in the trash instead of the recycling bin last year.

"Convenient recycling is the key to increased recycling,” said Darryl Young, director of the Department of Conservation. “These local projects will reach busy Californians at a variety of places where they are likely to consume bottles of water, cans of soda and other on-the-go beverages. When we finish our drinks, we need to have a place to recycle our containers. These grants will help make recycling not only the right thing to do, but the easy thing to do.”

The winning grant proposals were selected through a competitive scoring process from among 91 applicants. The largest grant, $170,665, went to the IV Waste Management Task Force to establish recycling collection and increase awareness in Imperial County and the communities of Brawley, Calexico, Calipatria, El Centro, Holtville, Imperial and Westmoreland. The smallest grant, $7,301, went to the West Contra Costa Integrated Waste Management Board to establish recycling at special events in west Contra Costa County.

The Department of Conservation awarded the following grants:

Eureka High School: Purchase and install recycling bins at 40 locations on campus, and fund a recycling coordinator position to oversee implementation and collection of data and containers. $42,500.

Folsom Lake/El Dorado Centers, Los Rios Community College District: Establish a beverage container recycling program at the Folsom Lake/El Dorado Centers of the Los Rios Community College District. $8,660.

IV Waste Management Task Force: Establish an education/awareness and collection service in 8 jurisdictions (Brawley, Calexico, Calipatria, El Centro, Imperial, Westmoreland and Imperial County). $170,665.

Los Angeles Unified School District: Establish beverage container recycling programs at additional high schools in and around the Los Angeles Unified School District, including sporting fields. $44,728.

Mammoth Mountain Ski Area: Expand recycling collection at Mammoth Mountain’s new year-round pedestrian resort village and establish a “bin bank” for events within the village. $63,122.

San Diego City Schools: Establish a recycling program at 100 elementary schools in San Diego, and form/sustain education clubs and environmental education program to educate up to 2,000 students per year. $75,139.

Santa Monica College: Expand existing beverage container recycling program at Santa Monica College and its satellite campuses. $25,147.

West Contra Costa Integrated Waste Management Facility, San Pablo: Establish recycling at special events in west Contra Costa County. $7,301.

Zoological Society of San Diego: Expand recycling program at the San Diego Zoo and develop instructional signage to post at the recycling areas. $17,784.

City of Berkeley, Department of Public Works: Provide collection bins to South Asian and other ethnic restaurants and provide recycling outreach, education and hands-on training in their primary language. $85,565.

City of Hope National Medical Center: Establish recycling program by placing 56 collection kiosks at City of Hope Medical Center and Beckman Research Institute. Conduct public education and outreach. $56,960. 

City of Isleton, Sacramento County: Establish a recycling program and public awareness campaign at the annual Crawdad Festival in Isleton. $36,808. 

City of Lancaster, Los Angeles County: Establish a recycling program at two large sports complexes that host major soccer, tennis and softball events. $97,022.

City of Menlo Park, San Mateo County: Replace existing recycling bins in Menlo Park’s downtown shopping areas, civic center and bus stops. $9,925. 

City of Napa, Public Works, Napa County: Develop and implement a single-stream recycling collection system, partnering with the Napa Valley School District and Napa Garbage Services, Inc., with a focus on 50 schools and 300 businesses. $86,143.

City of Vallejo, Solano County: Establish a beverage container recycling program at public venues, expand recycling at Marine World and provide an educational component. $36,623.

CR & R, Orange County: Privately owned environmental services company to establish a special events recycling program for CRV bottles and cans and provide an education program in south Orange County. $65,220.

El Dorado County Environmental Management Department: Establish a beverage container recycling program at Apple Hill, where more than 550,000 visitors tour annually. Purchase recycling bins, signage, advertising and promotional items. $70,688.