Recycling Market Development Zone Program
The Recycling Market Development Zone (RMDZ) program combines recycling with economic development to fuel new businesses, expand existing ones, create jobs, and divert waste from landfills.
This program provides attractive loans, technical assistance, and free product marketing to businesses that use materials from the waste stream to manufacture their products and are located in a zone.
The zones cover roughly 88,000 square miles of California from the Oregon border to San Diego.
Assistance is provided by local zone administrators. Local government incentives may include:
- Relaxed building codes and zoning laws
- Streamlined local permit processes
- Reduced taxes and licensing and
- Increased and consistent secondary material feedstock supply.
Local incentives vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. In addition to loans, CalRecycle offers free product marketing.
Program News
Fall (virtual) ZoneWorks Event
The first of two events – covering Zone Incentive Fund (ZIF) Spending for Zone Administrators
Wednesday, November 5th, 2025, from 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM, PST
Register HERE
Winter (virtual) ZoneWorks Event
The second of two events – covering the Zone Information Reporting System (ZIRS) database
Tuesday, December 16, 2025, between 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM, PST
Register HERE
For questions, please contact BZAssist@calrecycle.ca.gov.
The RMDZ CEQA Tool Kit is a series of web pages designed to guide a potential or existing zone through the CEQA process.
Tool KitWho Are You?
Choose a link below to find information most useful to you!
For more information, contact BZAssist@calrecycle.ca.gov.