Don’t Trash It. Cash It!
An Interview with Temecula Recycling
By Mike Bundrant

As the business world goes green, one local organization is actively making our community an environmentally friendly place. Founded this year, by George Elven Moshi, Temecula Recycling offers to pay you for your recyclable waste. You’ll be surprised at what you can recycle these days. Read on and please do your part to make our valley greener.

HT: What items do you take at Temecula Recycling?

George: We take pretty much everything except wood, rubber and chemical waste.  That means we take:

• any type of metal, in any shape or form 
• all state CRV products, which include cans, bottles or glass. 
• non-CRV products such as wine bottles and regular glass jars
• any kind of mixed paper, newspaper and cardboard
• electronics - anything with a plug that will plug into an A/C outlet from blenders to mixers to TVs.
• If you want to recycle your car, we take cars, car parts - we take it all!

HT: I was surprised to find out that you even take old televisions.

George:  Well, since we are a state certified e-waste collector, we are authorized to basically collect them and palletize them.  They get shipped out to another company that then separates the TV by extracting the mercury out of the glass and basically stripping the whole TV down.  Then it stays in the U.S.  Some stuff goes to China, but all my stuff stays in the U.S.  It just gets broken down into glass, copper, plastics, wood and any electronic components. 

In some cases, a TV will get shredded after they separate the glass and mercury.  A big shredding machine shreds it down to where it separates the wood, copper, aluminum and stainless steel.

After the shredding process, the plastic gets melted down and everything else is melted.  All the metals get recycled - everything is 100 % recyclable. 

HT: How do people get paid when they bring in their recyclables?

George:  They get paid per pound on ninety-nine percent of everything.  Except for a few items like computer monitors, where we pay $2.00 per piece, everything else is by the pound.  We don’t pay for TVs, however, we don’t charge to recycle them.

HT: Seems like a no-brainer. Why pay to have trash hauled away or go to the landfill, when you can get paid to bring it to you?

George:  Exactly, you’re right.  Option one would be to pay to get rid of it or option two would be to drive it here and get paid, which then would cover your gas cost and eliminate your fee of disposing of it in a land fill.  Recycling here in the U.S. is a $200 billion per year industry and also creates jobs.  More than like fifty-thousand people recycle and reuse, which employs more than one million workers nationwide.  

And it’s really good for the environment.  Recycling requires a lot less energy and uses fewer natural resources.  Recycling preserves existing landfill space and it keeps waste from piling up in the landfills - no one wants to live next to a landfill.

Here is another thing - I read that the average American creates 7 ½ pounds of garbage per day and basically, most of it goes to a landfill where it’s compacted and buried.  So, recycling is definitely good.  It creates jobs, produces less pollution, and reduces global warming.  It also reduces water pollution.  Making goods from recycled materials generates far less water pollution than manufacturing from virgin materials.

HT: How much of what goes in the average garbage can is actually recyclable?

George:  I would say at least half.  Now, even plastic bags are being recycled.  Cardboard is being recycled…

HT: I wonder what percentage of recyclable waste in America actually gets recycled…

George: I would realistically say twenty five percent, and that may be pushing it. I went to a convention and we’re hoping that starting this year, with the economy the way it is, that everybody will start recycling.  Yes, I would say twenty five percent is accurate this year; last year was probably fifteen percent.

HT: What do you suggest people do to make it easier to recycle?

George: For the average person, I suggest buying your own bins and separating your cans, plastics and glass bottles.  Go to Home Depot and buy those 13-gallon drums.  They are about $10 dollars a piece and you end up making that money back in less than a month, just with water bottles and cans.  A lot of people have their own containers and it’s a lot cleaner.  They don’t have to share or touch the ones we have here. They like the idea of having their own barrels and they weigh them before they get here to make sure they are getting a fair price; make sure they are getting treated right.  I would say bring in your own barrels if you can afford that extra $10 dollars a barrel. 

It would be feasible if you would fill up a barrel of cans or bottles and another one of plastic.  If you are a local customer, it probably won’t cost you more than a dollar in gas to drive here and back. 

I’ve contracted with the City of Temecula and they have a commitment with the state to recycle 50% of what comes into the landfill.  In the future, my plan is to eliminate as much waste as possible by getting to 100% of it, at least for the City of Temecula.  That’s just one goal I’m aiming for.

HT: So you aren’t in competition with Waste Management?

George:  No, no - we are helping them.  They actually get paid for these items as well.  They are creating money for the city and helping the environment as well. 

HT: What are your future plans for Temecula Recycling?

George:  As far as our company here, we are trying to build a name brand.  Trying to make sure that customer service is one hundred percent the focus, making sure every need they have is fulfilled. 

We want to be a fast, in and out service.  We want to be your one-stop recycling drop so you don’t have to go to different yards.  If you have a car you want to recycle and you have some cans as well, you can do it all here.  Even community centers and office buildings can recycle paper here.  We are definitely here for the long run. 

We are investing a lot of money this year and will probably break even or loose a little bit of money, but next year word of mouth will get around and we’ll pick back up and at least survive.  We’ll see the overall picture, which is to help the community and the environment, and be around for much longer.

This year are going to have a Halloween Haunt event at Storm Stadium.  If you go to our website it’s under special events. 

Discount:
Bring in your old computer and monitor or 10 Lbs of cans and receive $5.00 off your purchase toward Toxic Terrors Haunt.

You can find Temecula Recycling on the web at www.temecularecycling.com. Or call 951-693-1500.