Politics & Government

Supervisors Chan and Miley Propose Ordinance Against Poaching Recyclables

County supervisors present proposed ordinance for fining poachers of curbside recyclables.

Once bottles and cans are curbside, they’re supposed to be left there until picked up by recycling trucks, local officials say.

That’s one of the reasons Alameda County is proposing an ordinance to ratchet up enforcement against the poaching of recyclables, a common practice among those who generate income by collecting recyclables and redeeming them for nickels and dimes.

The issue was brought to their attention by Castro Valley residents through the Castro Valley Municipal Advisory Council.

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Local residents had a chance to weigh in on the county’s proposed ordinance against poaching recyclables on Wednesday when it was discussed at the San Lorenzo Unincorporated Services Committee meeting by county Supervisors Nate Miley and Wilma Chan.

Comments ranged from support for the proposed ordinance to indifference to concern that it would be discriminatory against out-of-work Latinos who rely on recyclables to generate income.

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“We have to ask ourselves, ‘Do we want this kind of activity to be the norm?’” said Castro Valley resident Casey Jatczak. “I think a lot of us in the unincorporated areas don’t want this kind of activity going on.”

Poaching recyclables is illegal now, but it is hardly enforced in unincorporated areas. And the method for catching and punishing offenders requires residents to make citizen's arrests or for law enforcement officers to catch offenders in the act, Sheriff’s Sgt. Bret Scheuller said.

“It really is a theft,” Scheuller said. “Recyclables belong to Waste Management once they make it to the curb.”

Jatczak is concerned that if recycling theft laws aren’t enforced, then profits are reduced for Waste Management—the company that contracts with the county to pick up curbside recyclables—and could lead to increased fees for curbside waste pickup.

Poaching recyclables would garner a $100 fine for the first infraction, $200 for the second violation and $500 for each additional time after that within the same year.

A fourth violation within five years could lead to criminal prosecution.

"This issue is not about the individual homeless person, but it is about the organized groups who arrive in trucks and go through peoples curbside trash and on some occasions have been abusive and have frightened residents who have confronted them," said Bob Swanson, Supervisor Miley's liaison to Castro Valley.

"Sometimes these criminals go through trash to steel peoples identities along with recyclables and that causes many problems like destroying a person’s credit," Swanson said.

"The Sanitary Districts, along with Waste Management have quotas of recyclables to meet. If those recyclables are stolen for the profit of organized criminals the honest citizens all will have to pay more on their bills," Swanson said.

Sheriff's deputies write the tickets and the Board of Zoning Adjustments levy the fines. Violation are not administered through the courts, Swanson said.

Click here to download a draft copy of the “Poaching Recycling Ordinance” available now on the Alameda County Unincorporated Communities website.

Review of Redevelopment, New District Boundaries

Also during the meeting, the supervisors went over decisions made by the board about the county’s redevelopment agency and pending boundary changes to the five supervisorial districts.

While Gov. Jerry Brown has eliminated local redevelopment agencies to cut costs, new state legislation allows local governments to keep their redevelopment programs running if they contribute to a fund for education and special districts.

It will cost the county more than $10 million up front and $2.4 million per year, but the supervisors voted earlier this month to retain its redevelopment program.

“Without redevelopment money, it would really stifle our ability to do things out here in the unincorporated communities,” Miley said.

The meeting concluded with the supervisors explaining the county’s redrawn district lines.

District 4, which is represented by Miley and includes Ashland and Cherryland, will lose Dublin and gain Pleasanton, with other minor boundary changes. District 3, which is reprsented by Chan and includes San Lorenzo, will have minimal boundary changes. 

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