(E) Every quarter, I usually go to the Re-Planet recycling center located close to California Avenue in Palo Alto. I bring any bottle or can that I can recycle to the center, and in exchange receive a few bucks that I give to a homeless person. But, this Saturday, what a surprise, it was closed! And by googling, I learned from an article from the Mercury News that Re-Planet closed all its recycling centers across California on August 5th.

This is really bad news for a couple of reasons….

First, 750 low-income employees working at Re-Planet were laid off.

Second, a lot of homeless people and low-income people take the time to collect bottles and cans from the streets, and in exchange receive a little bit of money that helps them to pay for a few meals. And, without that money, we are making the life of those people even more horrible.

And, last without those recycle centers, more bottles and can reach the landfills. And, we do not need that.

As described in the Mercury News article, as payments from the California State to recycling centers have shrunk over years, and the value of aluminum and plastics stay low, recycling centers such as Re-Planet have struggled to stay in business. Furthermore, Re-Planet centers are located in the parking lots of grocery stores that are expensive to rent.

In any case, I am hoping that a viable solution will be found for recycling by the State of California or non-profit organizations.

Note: The picture above is from the Re-Planet Web site.

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