The Greater Valley Conservation Corps is now spearheading the Ripon Recycling Center.

The non-profit is a division of California Local Conservation Corps, which provides recycling jobs, education, and career training for those who are age 18 to 26.

No discussion was necessary at the Aug. 13 Ripon City Council meeting when the Recycling Center Operating Agreement was greenlit between the City of Ripon and GVCC.

With it came the following changes that should benefit both residents and the city, according to Public Works Director James Pease in his staff report:

·         Hours of operation is now Tuesday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturday, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. This will increase the availability of the recycling center, from 24 hours per week to 47 hours per week, Pease noted.

·         Accepted items include cardboard, mixed paper / newspaper, glass, CRV (aluminum cans and plastic bottles), mattresses and electronic waste (TVs, computers, monitors, radios, power tools, etc.). The added mattress drop-off location and expanded electronic waste recycling collection comes at no cost to residents.

·         Eliminated items include Styrofoam and mixed / junk plastic, which currently are not being recycled and incur landfill tipping fees, said Pease, adding, this will reduce the overall operating expenses at the Recycling Center (residents, instead, can continue placing these items in the black trash bin).

·         The GVCC will receive all revenue generated from the glass, CRV, mattresses, and electronics.

·         The City will haul and receive revenue generated from the mixed paper / newspaper and cardboard, which will go directly back into the Garbage Enterprise Operating fund.

The City had in partnership with the Ripon Unified School District since 2005, in turn, raising funds for participating school-based parent faculty groups.

“The recycling program also aided the City in meeting certain CalRecycle mandated goals for reducing residential and business waste,” Pease said.

RUSD and the parent faculty groups would provide volunteers to staff the recycling center while the City managed the location and transportation along with maintenance of the cardboard compactor.

Recruiting volunteers in recent years began to become a challenge. The City had to hire two part-time employees last December to assist with the staffing of the recycling center.

The agreement with RUSD ended in May with the City being the lone operator of the recycling center.

According to Pease, the City advertised to local non-profits the opportunity for a partnership – the City would provide volunteers to staff the recycling center with all funds generated going directly to that non-profit – but the response was very limited.

Enter GVCC, which approached the City on the partnership.

For the City, the goal of the partnership with GVCC will be to lower expenses of the Garbage Enterprise Fund, which is passed on to residents, while provide more availability to the public to recycle material, expand the types of recyclable material, and increase the overall amount of recyclable material received.

The agreement is a one year that expires at the end of July 2025.

Staff will evaluate the operation and progress of the recycling center in the first quarter of 2025.