Customers of all ages line up in their pickup trucks, two-door
clunkers and European-made sedans in front of the outdoor counter
at Western Recycling, all day long, six days a week, waiting to
drop off loads of empty cans, bottles and scrap metal onto the
heavy-
Customers of all ages line up in their pickup trucks, two-door clunkers and European-made sedans in front of the outdoor counter at Western Recycling, all day long, six days a week, waiting to drop off loads of empty cans, bottles and scrap metal onto the heavy-duty industrial scale that determines the value of their trash.
Morgan Hill residents Nonie Ressler and her 9-year-old niece Allison Scott drop off garbage bags full of aluminum cans about once a week to obtain refunds for their California Redemption Value, which is currently about $1.60 per pound.
To teach her niece the value of recycling and earning money, Ressler lets Allison pick up the household recycling at some rental properties she owns, and lets her keep the redemption proceeds. And Ressler brings non-redeemable recyclables to Western Recycling, up to and including inoperable washer-dryers and other appliances.
Having been a customer of Morgan Hill’s only recycling center for more than 20 years, starting before the company moved to its current location at 16290 Railroad Ave., Ressler was a local petitioner for state recycling regulations that allowed such facilities to open.
“The point is to get bottles and cans off the beaches and the streets,” Ressler said late Wednesday morning, just before lunch time as the line grew.
Western Recycling has been in operation for about 22 years, 15 of which have been in their current location. Started by Joanne Subia on Depot Street, the recycling center grew over the years. It is now co-owned by Subia and her son Brian, who grew up helping his grandfather sort out copper wire for sale as scrap, and collecting cans and bottles for pocket money.
Brian’s girlfriend, Nikki Tuft, worked at Western for five years, gaining the experience that led to her current job overseeing recycling programs for the city of Los Banos. The couple’s 7-year-old son enjoys occasionally helping his grandmother at Western Recycling, and Joanne’s father used to run a landfill in San Juan Bautista.
And almost everyone who regularly drops off recyclable items at Western’s yard knows Ernie Regalado, Joanne’s nephew and Brian’s cousin. Regalado, 37, has worked for the company for 19 years and has watched some of his long-time customers grow up. Western Recycling’s only full-time employee other than Joanne, Regalado weighs the items and determines how much each customer is owed. He also sorts the trash and, along with a small part-time staff, operates machinery that crushes and bales cardboard, aluminum cans and plastic bottles.
“It’s changed a lot. With the (struggling) economy, we’re getting a lot more customers,” Regalado said.
Some customers – homeless people and other residents who rummage through garbage bins – come in every day, and some local businesses found out 22 years ago they could save money on trash pickup if they drop off their recyclable garbage at the center.
But now, Western Recycling will no longer be Morgan Hill’s only drop-off recycling facility, and the company is even struggling for survival as the owners search for a new home after their current site was unexpectedly purchased by a competitor. Western Recycling has until July 23 to vacate the property they have leased for more than two decades, Joanne Subia said. For a facility of that size, and one that requires a list of licenses, permits and certifications, that’s not enough time.
Scrambling to find a new location, Western Recycling hopes to appear before the city’s planning commission July 13 to seek approval for a permit to run the same kind of operation indoors, at a warehouse near the intersection of Butterfield Boulevard and Barrett Avenue, Subia said.
Land use restrictions for recycling centers confine such facilities only to heavy industrial property, which is most commonly found along the railroad tracks in Morgan Hill, according to city Manager Ed Tewes.
The Subias say they were pushed off the property by a potential investor who first approached them about buying the company, then decided instead to purchase the property without telling them.
The new owner of the property, Bruce Emam of Caspian Trading, plans to continue using the location for a recycling center named Westside Recycling. The new company, which will open some time next month, will offer the same services that the current tenant does, but with what the Subias say is a key difference.
While Western Recycling sells its stock to larger facilities in San Jose, Santa Clara and Watsonville, the new company will ship its recyclables overseas. Emam said Westside Recycling will be his first foray into the recycling industry, but he plans to open more in other communities if the Morgan Hill site works for him. He said the companies will eventually import its stock “directly to China.”
Emam doesn’t think his purchase of the property was sneaky or unfair. While the Subias say they opened up their books to Emam and his partners and began discussions about a partnership, Emam said he never saw their financial information and only spoke with Western’s owners for “about five minutes” as part of his search for a site. He said he declined to invest in the existing company because the property owner at the time was unwilling to extend the lease, and was only interested in selling the $1.6-million property.
“We would prefer to keep the same crew, if they are willing to stay,” he added.
But Subia said if she gains approval to continue at a new site, she wants to take her staff with her. She feels that Emam and his company “stole” Western Recycling, and she would have worked for him and “showed him the ropes” if he had purchased her business.
“If I had the money, I would have loved to buy (the property). But how can you squeeze blood out of turnip?” Subia said.
What’s accepted at Western Recycling
For cash redemption (market prices vary):
- California Redemption Value items: Aluminum cans ($1.60 per pound); glass bottles (10.5 cents per pound); plastic # 1 bottles ($.93 per pound); plastic # 2, one-gallon jugs ($.51 per pound)
-
Car and truck batteries ($.05 per pound)
Scrap items
- Copper ($1.50 per pound)
-
Number 2 and number 2 solids ($1.20 per pound)
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Brass ($.60 per pound)
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Aluminum ($.25 per pound)
-
AC radiators ($.50 per pound)
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Clean stainless steel ($.25 per pound)
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Varieties of copper wire and non-CRV glass
Accepted for free dropoff, but no cash redemption:
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Appliances
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E-waste, including computers, monitors, cell phones
