SANTA CRUZ COUNTY — Vision Recycling, a local green waste recycling company, is resisting a proposal from Santa Cruz County that company officials say could lead to a loss of jobs and an increase in traffic.
Vision Recycling currently contracts with the county to pick up green waste and convert it to 12 recycled compost and mulch products, which they developed over the 21 years they have been in business with the community.
The company’s contract expires at the end of the year, and county staff is recommending that the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors approve a contract with the Salinas-based Keith Day Trucking Company.
The problem, said Vision Recycling co-owner Tom DelConte, is that the Keith Day Trucking Company would ship the green waste to Monterey County, which would mean an increase in local truck traffic to the tune of 4,000 truck trips a year.
DelConte also expressed concern about his 22 employees losing their jobs, although Keith Day has reportedly told county officials he will consider keeping 7 or less employees, there is still an expressed concern for the 15 to 22 employees who are facing a potential loss of their job.
As of now Vision Recycling makes it possible for residents to have soil delivered to their front doors, but if this plan proceeds forward locals will no longer have access to this, DelConte said.
County officials say that residents have complained about odor and water quality issues from compost piles at Vision Recycling’s Ben Lomond location, and that there was a recent fire at a location in Benicia.
“Vision has current temperature records and best management practices that make this fire suspicious,” DelConte said. “As the pile temperatures were well below danger levels prior to the fire, potential causes are still inconclusive pending further determinations. Possible causes are glass or metal reflection in the record-breaking heat wave. As the cause is yet under consideration, the staff is inappropriately jumping to conclusions.”
Watsonville City Councilman Lowell Hurst, also a member of the Santa Cruz County Solid Waste Task Force, said the county should keep a “local focus.”
“We should stay as local as possible, that’s why I support the Vision’s vision,” he said.
If the proposal proceeds forward, Vision Recycling will no longer be working with the county.
The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors will discuss the issue at its regular board meeting on Tuesday at 9 a.m. in the Governmental Center Building at 701 Ocean St. For information, visit www.co.santa-cruz.ca.us.
