History

Since 1951 – Turning Waste Into Resources

More than 100 years ago waste from the Monterey Peninsula was routinely dumped into the ocean. Several decades later a private dump operated on the coastal area of what is now Sand City. City leaders knew there had to be a better way to manage refuse. In 1951, the Monterey County Board of Supervisors established the Monterey Peninsula Garbage and Refuse Disposal District, now known as ReGen Monterey (see enabling legislation California Public Resources Code). The first order of business was to find a suitable location for a sanitary landfill to replace the old “dumps” then in operation.

We are fortunate our first Board had the foresight to purchase the large piece of property we occupy today. The Monterey Peninsula Landfill opened in 1965 and over the years we have added programs to reduce, reuse and recycle. From our early cardboard recycling in 1953, the first production of electricity from landfill gas in 1983, the establishment of the Last Chance Mercantile in 1991, to our Materials Recovery Facility that came on-line in 1996, the integrated facilities we operate today embody our mission of “turning waste into resources”.

Over the years, ReGen Monterey has won numerous awards including being recognized in 1998 as the Best Solid Waste System in North America and in 2016 the California Resource Recovery Association recognized ReGen Monterey with a Zero Waste Achievement Award.