Dive Brief:
- Two recycling centers in San Francisco, Community Recyclers and Smart Cycle, are currently facing legal and regulatory difficulties.
- A Safeway grocery ended a lease it had with local recycler Community Recyclers, but the company refused to leave the location. A lawsuit was filed and a settlement stipulated that the company would leave Safeway on June 30. Community Recyclers is still operating at the store.
- Meanwhile, Smart Cycle, another local recycler, set out to establish itself nearby as a replacement for the Community Recyclers facility. The business has been unable to open due to a failure to secure the necessary permits.
Dive Insight:
Although the neighborhood has amassed a plethora of solutions to its recycling dilemma, each solution is hitting a roadblock due to laws or logistics. Since 2013, recycling centers throughout the city have shuttered or are facing closure.
The city is considering a mobile recycling center, that would bring the recycling center to the community. The “pop-up” recycling units would travel to neighborhoods once or twice every month. Current laws don’t support this plan, however, and in order to adopt this project, legislation would need to be altered.
