Recology, formerly known as Norcal Waste Systems, is a waste management company headquartered in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. The company collects and processes

municipal solid waste Municipal solid waste (MSW), commonly known as trash or garbage in the United States and rubbish in Britain, is a waste type consisting of everyday items that are discarded by the public. "Garbage" can also refer specifically to food waste ...

, reclaiming reusable materials. The company also operates transfer stations,

materials recovery facilities A materials recovery facility, materials reclamation facility, materials recycling facility or Multi re-use facility (MRF, pronounced "murf") is a specialized plant that receives, separates and prepares recyclable materials for marketing to end-u ...

(MRFs), a number of

landfills A landfill site, also known as a tip, dump, rubbish dump, garbage dump, or dumping ground, is a site for the disposal of waste materials. Landfill is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of the waste ...

, and continues to spearhead renewable energy projects. Recology is the largest organics

compost Compost is a mixture of ingredients used as plant fertilizer and to improve soil's physical, chemical and biological properties. It is commonly prepared by decomposing plant, food waste, recycling organic materials and manure. The resulting ...

facility operator by volume in the United States. Recology Inc. is the parent to approximately 40 operating companies, including Recology San Francisco, Recology CleanScapes (

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...

), and Recology Portland.

Description

Recology Lodal Garbage Truck 14425 in San Francisco

Recology promotes

recycling Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. The Energy recycling, recovery of energy from waste materials is often included in this concept. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability t ...

composting Compost is a mixture of ingredients used as plant fertilizer and to improve soil's physical, chemical and biological properties. It is commonly prepared by decomposing plant, food waste, recycling organic materials and manure. The resulting ...

, and other waste-reduction programs to minimize the amount of materials sent to landfills. Just south of San Francisco, Recology brings solid and residential waste from Recology San Mateo County to the Shoreway Environmental Center, a large, multi-purpose

center and Materials Recovery Facility that is operated by South Bay Recycling, a joint venture between Recology and Potential Industries. In early 2009, after an investigation, the company obtained a court order against various organized illegal "poachers" who were raiding curbside recycling containers to sell the contents for scrap. As of 2015, the company employed approximately 3,000 employees, with revenues of approx $800 million. The company is 100% employee-owned through an

employee stock ownership plan Employee stock ownership, or employee share ownership, is where a company's employees own shares in that company (or in the parent company of a group of companies). US employees typically acquire shares through a share option plan. In the UK, Emp ...

(ESOP).

History

The company has a long history in the

Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Gov ...

, and holds a no-bid contract for garbage collection in

. In 1932, the city granted a permanent concession to the city's 97 independent garbage collectors; shortly thereafter those 97 independents banded together to form the company that would become Norcal Waste Systems. Since that time, the company has held a permanent no-bid, no-franchise-fee contract to collect the city's garbage and recyclables. The company works closely wit
SF Environment
to achieve the City's diversion and sustainability goals. In 2012, San Francisco voters considered Proposition A, a ballot measure that would have put the City's waste collection to five separate competitive-bid contracts. Residents Tony Kelly and retired Judge Quentin Kopp collected enough signatures to put Proposition A on the city's

ballot A ballot is a device used to cast votes in an election and may be found as a piece of paper or a small ball used in secret voting. It was originally a small ball (see blackballing) used to record decisions made by voters in Italy around the 16 ...

. Prop A was overwhelmingly voted down, with 77% of the vote going for the continuation of Recology's services. In 2021, subsidiaries of Recology operating in San Francisco were assessed $36 million in criminal penalties following a federal court case involving bribery and fraud.

Artist-in-residence program

Recology, with the impetus of environmental artist

Jo Hanson Jo Hanson (1918–2007) was an American environmental artist and activist. She lived in San Francisco, California. She was known for using urban trash to create works of art. Biography Jo Hanson was born on August 1, 1918, in Carbondale, Illin ...

, created an

artist-in-residence Artist-in-residence, or artist residencies, encompass a wide spectrum of artistic programs which involve a collaboration between artists and hosting organisations, institutions, or communities. They are programs which provide artists with space a ...

program in 1990, allowing local artists to use materials found in its materials recovery and processing facilities to create art. It was the first, and for a long period, only such program in the United States. The residency has since become highly competitive, hosting artists from across the country. Among the program's alumni are

Nathaniel Stookey Nathaniel Stookey (born 1970, San Francisco, California) is an American composer and musician. Education Stookey is the son of Richard Phelps Stookey, an attorney and novelist, and Martha Milton Stookey, an actor, stage director, and teacher. B ...

, who composed ''Junkestra'', a

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" al ...

composition for thirty instruments made out of the company's refuse, Terry Berlier, who now sits on the board of the program, muralist

Sirron Norris Sirron Norris is an American illustrator, muralist, and arts educator. He is known for his work on the FOX animated television show ''Bob's Burgers'' and for numerous cartoon-style public murals, including ones at Balmy Alley, Clarion Alley, and ...

, and filmmaker Nomi Talisman.

The PBS NewsHour ''PBS NewsHour'' is an American evening television news program broadcast on over 350 PBS member stations. It airs seven nights a week, and is known for its in-depth coverage of issues and current events. Anchored by Judy Woodruff, the progr ...

highlighted the AIR Program in thei
Canvas series
in 2019.{{cite web , last1=Wise , first1=Kat , title=This San Francisco art exhibit takes another look at trash , url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/this-san-francisco-art-exhibit-takes-another-look-at-trash , website=pbs.org , publisher=PBS , access-date=20 May 2019

References

External links

Official websiteArtist-in-Residence Program

Description

History

Artist-in-residence program

References

External links

See also