CIWMB Press Room Archives

New Green Jobs Expand Recycling: Loan to Ability Counts promotes higher uses for discarded plastic,
creates jobs for people with disabilities

SACRAMENTO--The California Integrated Waste Management Board today approved a $685,000 loan to Ability Counts, Inc., a California nonprofit that provides vocational training and employment for individuals with developmental disabilities.

This low-interest loan will allow Ability Counts to create 30 new green jobs and will divert 1,230 tons of plastic hangers annually away from landfills and into higher-value products.

“This loan is a prime example of how everything and everyone has value,” said Board Chair Margo Reid Brown. “The Board encourages the creation of new and innovative solutions that put people work in green jobs while protecting the environment.”

Ability Counts, Inc. is managed by a volunteer Board of Directors and provides vocational training and employment to 470 developmentally disabled individuals. Plastic recycling, the company’s primary occupational skill, employs more than 100 people. The company borrowed $271,000 from the Board in 2002; the loan was sold to a bank in 2004 and is being repaid as agreed.

The company is using the new loan proceeds to assist with a move to a larger site in order to expand its hanger recycling operation. All hangers collected by the company are reused, whether they are returned to department stores as hangers or are shredded, granulated, and sold as feedstock to be used to manufacture a new product, such as new hangers.

Just 15 percent of plastic hangers nationwide are properly recycled. Billions end up in landfills, where they can leach toxins into the groundwater.

This low-interest loan is part of a concerted effort by the Board’s Recycling Market Development Zone program to strengthen and expand the domestic market for recycled materials, while providing California recyclers with alternatives to export markets that consume much of the state’s recyclables.

In California, recycling is a viable, mainstream industry that is equivalent to the size of the motion picture industry. The state’s recycling industry accounts for about 85,000 jobs, generates $4 billion yearly in salaries and wages, and produces $10 billion worth of goods and services.

Worldwide prices paid for recyclables, including used cardboard, paper, and scrap metals, have plunged in recent months amid a global economic crisis.

Ability Counts, Inc. is located in Riverside County, which is within the Agua Mansa Recycling Market Development Zone. There are 33 market development zones throughout California, covering roughly half of the state. The program plans to increase its coverage this year.

From July 1, 2009 through Oct. 29, 2009, the Board will allow local communities outside existing RMDZ boundaries to apply for inclusion in the expanded coverage zones. The intent is to make additional recycling-content manufacturers eligible for RMDZ assistance, which can come in the form of low-interest loans, technical assistance, and creative partnerships.

Recycling Market Development Zone Program Highlights

• For the first time since 1996, the RMDZ program is seeking to broaden its statewide coverage to increase the number of new and existing businesses eligible for loans and technical assistance to help launch or expand recycled-product ventures.
• Local communities added to the RDMZ coverage zones will benefit from new jobs and increased revenues. The environment benefits from reduced greenhouse gas emissions and natural resources used in manufacturing, and from reducing the flow of solid waste into landfills.
• Priority recyclables under the expanded business assistance zones will include construction and demolition materials, organics, paper, and plastics.
• The RMDZ program offers technical assistance and low-interest loans of up to $2 million as incentives to grow the recycled-materials segment of California’s economy. Businesses in approximately half of the state are now eligible for assistance under the program, which began in 1990 and has now issued in excess of $100 million in loans.
• Businesses receiving RMDZ assistance have added nearly 9,000 jobs to the state’s workforce and annually keep more than 7 million tons of recyclable materials from ending up in landfills.
• RMDZ zones statewide now cover about one-half of the population. Some are individual cities and counties, while others include multiple jurisdictions.
• The key to the success of RMDZ is local contact with existing and start-up businesses.

The California Integrated Waste Management Board is the state's leading authority on recycling and waste reduction. It promotes reducing waste whenever possible, managing all materials to their highest and best use and protecting public health and safety and the environment.

The California Integrated Waste Management Board is one of six boards, departments, and offices within the California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal/EPA).

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