Our Vision:  Recology:  a world without waste_^TM

Recology, an employee-owned company, sees a world without waste, where resources are used and re-used in a sustainable ecosystem that strives for their best and highest use.

Recology carries out its vision of a world without waste through educational programs and innovative engineering services.

Our Mission:  Recology builds exceptional resource ecosystems_^TM

Recology is a company dedicated to building exceptional resource ecosystems that protect the environment and sustains our communities. 

Where the world sees waste, Recology see resources.  Most of the world’s waste-related resources are being stored in unsustainable landfills or are being partially reprocessed into low-end products.  A fundamental challenge to the communities and the environment is to return resources to their best and highest use.

Recology services move the proportion of resources that communities today call “waste” to their greatest productive re-use, thus creating a fundamental shift from traditional “waste management” practices to a fully-integrated resource ecosystem paradigm.  The Recology resource ecosystem is comprised of four critical components:  Collection, Recovery, Processing, and Marketing, which are all interconnected to optimize the material resources Recology recovers.

Services Recology Provides

Recology manages municipal solid waste disposal and recycling services as well as creates solutions that span the needs of urban, suburban and rural communities. Our services include urban street and commercial facility cleaning, landscaping and maintenance; waste collection, recovery, processing, sorting and transfer; waste recycling education and optimization consulting; organic material (i.e., yard trimmings and food scrap) collection and production into nutrient-rich compost, soil amendments, mulch products and/or gas through anaerobic digestion to create electricity and energy to fuel our CNG trucks; and landfill management.

Our name, Recology, reflects our unique success record in driving resource recovery to unparalleled levels through recycling, composting and engineering sustainable ecosystems.

Recology companies operate in California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington coordinating dozens of recycling programs to recover a variety of materials.  Recology programs have been replicated throughout the country and serve as a national model for resource recovery initiatives.  We are:

• The largest employee-owned company in the resource recovery industry, partnered with over 113 communities;
• Parent to over 40 subsidiaries that provides integrated services to over 670,000 residential and 95,000 commercial customers in California, Oregon, Nevada and Washington; and
• Recognized as the industry leader in resource recovery, having established the first and largest curbside yard trimmings and food scraps collection program in the country.

WASTE ZERO is our rallying cry to make the best and highest use of all resources. Our commitments are to provide first-class customer service, to positively contribute to the quality of life within the communities we serve and to reduce our negative impacts on the environment. Our achievements are driven by our awareness of the impact on our children, the communities we serve and the planet we all share.

History

A trusted pioneer since 1921

Our company's roots have always been in recycling and employee ownership. The original "scavengers" sorted through society's refuse to find what was salvageable. We rewashed, repackaged, and sold bottles to wineries. We sorted rags and papers from other refuse and before synthetic fibers, clothes were also repurposed. Wood, food scraps, and all other reusable materials found their next best use.

The Early Years
Enterprise & Innovation
A Firm Foundation
90 Years of Leadership
The Early Years

The original Bay Area garbage men, or "scavengers", came to San Francisco from Italy in the late 19th century. At that time, scavenging in San Francisco was a disorderly and inefficient business. Hundreds of independent collectors competed for business. The 1906 earthquake and fire temporarily improved business, but did little to bring order to the chaos of garbage collection.

Recology is an integrated resource recovery and landfill diversion company, offering refuse collection, recycling, composting, transfer station and landfill operations, and environmental services.
More than five generations ago, Recology pioneered recycling. We recycled up to fifty percent of refuse long before recycling became fashionable or mandated by law. Today, Recology continues its innovative approach to resource recovery, industry leadership and sustainable practices in the communities we serve.