Steps Towards Sustainable Community, Winter 2005

Arcata Community Recycling Center

In its 34th year of operation, the Arcata Community Recycling Center (ACRC) is open seven days a week, 359 days a year. ACRC is housed in an old oil storage depot, acquired from Chevron Oil and refurbished with new and reused materials including doors, door frames, and furniture. Located walking distance from Arcata’s downtown, it accepts a large array of items.

One of ACRC’s unique features is the Reuseables Depot, an on-site store. The Depot sells donated used building materials including windows, doors, sinks, paint, and light fixtures and thrift-store type items like books and housewares. Also on sale are re-refined motor oil and specialty reuse items, like a barbecue made from used washing machine tubs. In 2003, the store grossed $100,000 in sales.

Recycled materials are brought to ACRC by individuals as well as private haulers. Arcata businesses and residents may self-haul their own garbage and recyclables or pay the city franchise hauler for collection at a cost of $14.52 a month for garbage and $3.50 for recyclables. They can also contract for recycling collection with small entrepreneurs like The Recyclist (page 6). Out of Arcata’s 7,000 housing units, about 700 pay for weekly curbside recycling while about 85 percent of people pay to have their garbage collected, according to center director Mark Loughmiller.

The city pays ACRC $400,000 annually to serve Arcata residents and businesses so that the general public is not charged for dropping off materials at ACRC. Commercial haulers and Humboldt State University (HSU) are charged for mixed plastic because it often comes with garbage that has to be sorted out. The school district is charged for books.

What Comes In and Where It Goes

One of ACRC’s challenges is getting those materials recycled. While a few materials are recycled locally, most are shipped a few hundred to a few thousand miles away as described below. A few materials are picked up at ACRC by the processors, but mostly ACRC has local shippping companies deliver its materials. ACRC also holds items for local people who request them, like big glass jugs for bottling cider and CDs for a local artist.

“Less than 1 percent of what people bring into the recycling center ends up in the landfill,” notes Loughmiller. “We have a 3-yard dumpster for garbage that is picked up once a week, but it is rarely full. What often ends up in the dumpster is material contaminated with food or dirt, mixed medium materials, non-1 - 7 plastic, food scraps, book bindings, waxed cardboard, and damaged block styrofoam.”

ACRC does not take appliances or electronic waste, but these are accepted by Arcata’s sister operation in Eureka. The local St. Vincent DePaul will also take appliances. Except for batteries, oil, and paint, ACRC does not accept household hazardous waste; these wastes must be taken to the county transfer station.

ACRC also does not handle compostables. The city contracts with North Coast Compost to operate a drop-off program that accepts green yard waste and unpainted wood for composting. The city subsidizes $10 composting bins for residents. City recycling coordinator Julie Neander notes that many restaurants bring their waste food to local farmers. The city also paid for a composting bin at one local restaurant, Hole in the Wall Sandwiches (see Sunfrost article.)

Batteries are accepted at ACRC and then funneled into the county household hazardous waste system and disposed of at the landfill. “We allow the public to drop off batteries here for safe disposal,” explains Loughmiller. “For the same reason we also collect needles for the county and they deal with the disposal.”

Beverage containers with California Redemption Value (CRV) go to a variety of end-users. Clear glass bottles go to Fire & Light; see Insert. Plastic and color glass containers go to Western Strategic in San Leandro. Aluminum cans are baled and shipped to an aluminum recycler in Tennessee. “Every month, ACRC pays out about $30,000 to approximately 80 people who bring in beverage containers to collect the CRV,” explains Loughmiller. “About three-fourths of these people are houseless.” ACRC gets reimbursed for the CRV from the State as well as getting a processing fee.

Books are brought to ACRC by individuals and school districts. Some are sold in the Reusables Depot and others are put out for the public to take at no charge. While individuals are not charged for disposal, schools pay $40 a ton. ACRC bought a machine to saw off the binding of the books. The paper, which can be recycled, is separated from the binding which contains glue and plastic, so is thrown away.

Bubble wrap is accepted and given away.

Glass, both CRV and non-CRV, are combined. Since the processing fee only covers the CRV materials, ACRC loses about $7/ton because about 35 percent of the 1,400 tons of glass they ship is not CRV.

Metals, except for CRV aluminum, are shipped to Sims Metals in Redwood City.

Oil and antifreeze are dropped off by individuals, farmers, and ranchers at an average rate of 500 gallons per month. This fills ACRC’s one storage tank that is emptied by Chico Drain Oil, who also collects the antifreeze. ACRC had an oil ramp on which cars could drive up and drain out their oil; its use was discontinued due to insurance issues. Most oil is dropped off in small quantities; some farmers and ranchers will bring in up to 25 gallons at a time. ACRC receives 16 cents per quart through the Used Oil program, out of which it pays 4 cents to the people who drop it off; the rest goes to cover the cost of recycling. “The city and county have done an excellent job of raising public awareness about keeping oil out of the storm drains which flow into the bay, so more people bring it in,” notes Loughmiller.

Packing peanuts (styrofoam) are poured on to a rack made by the ACRC and any stray pieces of paper or other materials are removed. The peanuts are then poured into 12-cubic-foot plastic bags and sold to Mendes Supply, a local office store, which sells them.

Paper is collected in separate containers for white, mixed, and cardboard. It is baled by type and shipped to Weyerhaeuser Corporation in Eugene, Oregon. ACRC basically breaks even on this material because of the transportation costs.

Plastics # 1 - 7 and film plastics are accepted at ACRC. Non-CRV plastics are bailed and also transported to Weyerhaeuser in Oregon. As with paper, the cost of the materials basically covers the transportation costs.

Paint is inspected when it is brought in. Full or nearly full cans are put into a paint locker that the City of Arcata bought for ACRC with Household Hazardous Waste funds from CIWMB. ACRC uses some of this paint and encourages local businesses to take it for graffiti abatement. ACRC pays Owsleys, a local company, $1 per can to take the leftover paint. Owsleys mixes the paint and adds colors to create a variety of uniform shades. ACRC buys back the recycled paint from Owsleys and sells it with a small markup at the Reuseables Depot.

Vegetable oil is picked up quarterly by Footprint Recycling (see Insert) and recycled into biodiesel fuel.

Funding and Staffing

A nonprofit, ACRC has an annual budget of approximately $3 million. About 13 percent of its funding comes from the City of Arcata. The rest comes from CRV and hauler fees, revenues from sales to processors, and from the Reuseables Depot.

ACRC has 36 employees. About two-thirds are full-time and receive health and retirement benefits. Among staff duties are managing the materials, helping the public, bailing, and delivering. ACRC also has two full-time educators who visit schools and teach children about local recycling as well as develop ads, brochures, and other promotional materials.

ACRC is featured in a new reference insert in the new Arcata phone book. “This should promote recycling by letting people know where to go with materials and encourage them to recycle,” notes Loughmiller.

Contact information:
Arcata Community Recycling Center (ACRC)
1380 9th Street
Arcata, CA 95521
(707) 822-4542
Fax (707) 822-1672
info@arcatarecycling.org
www.arcatarecycling.org

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Last updated: August 01, 2008