New Recycling Center — Key Council Decision Expected Tonight

A major milestone in replacing El Cerrito's pioneering is expected to be reached tonight when the City Council votes on the new facility's design and builders.

The decision to replace the center has been long in the making, though not everyone is eager to say goodbye to its current incarnation. On a tour of the existing facility last week, one of the center's original founders, Gregg Cook, exclaimed, "I don't know why you want to rebuild it, it looks great to me!" He's not alone, but the prevailing sentiment is that the current facility cannot adequately embody the ideals that spurred its creation. 

Why rebuild the recycling center?

The El Cerrito Recycling Center is well known, and even well loved, by many residents of El Cerrito and surrounding cities. It accepts tough-to-recycle materials like styrofoam, and includes the very popular Book Exchange, where residents drop off books they do not need and browse around for new reading material.

About 10 years ago it started to become clear that parts of the center -- largely constructed in the 1970s and not substantially updated since — needed to be upgraded. (See our separate article about the center's history.)

Some key elements, such as motor oil recycling, are not functioning, and as a whole, the center has been deemed unsafe by city building officials.

Numerous attempts to update and renovate the center have been made over the years but were blocked by a lack of funds, and the scope of those proposals didn't accomplish everything that the Environmental Services Division felt needed to be changed.

What made the rebuild a possibility was a 2008 City Council decision to change the way that curbside recycling is processed. In the past, curbside recycling was processed right here in El Cerrito, which was turning out to be a costly endeavor. By diverting curbside recycling collections to a larger facility in Stockton, the city was finally able to budget for the rebuild.

The funding for the project will come from a 10-year Integrated Waste Management Fund, much of which comes from the curbside recycling fees that residents already pay. The Environmental Services Division staff stressed that no General Fund money will be used for this project.

Choosing the right fit

Another barrier was eliminated by changing the selection process. In the past, city officials would take bids on designs that they chose for a project, which resulted in long negotiations and price uncertainty. For this project, prior to putting out a request for proposals, the city budgeted $2.8 million for the rebuild, which the competing design-build teams were limited to.

The city sought teams with experience working on a similar project as a team and that could offer extras such as increased use of renewable energy, a more attractive design, or other improvements on the basic requirements.

The Environmental Services Division is recommending that the council approve the proposal from the team of Pankow Special Projects Inc. and Noll & Tam Architects. Their approach is aligned with the philosophy of the young group of environmentalists that started the center in the early 1970s – take less from the earth and encourage others to leave the smallest possible trace.

The new center

It's impossible not to notice staff enthusiasm about their choice for the new center which would be renamed the El Cerrito Recycling and Environmental Resource Center.

Commenting on the culmination of years of planning and various attempts at renewing the center, Melanie Mintz, Environmental Manager for the city, said, "There was good communication between the department and the public, a favorable economic climate for financing, and the dedication of everyone involved."

One of the basic requirements was that the project adhere to the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED Gold certification. The Pankow/Noll & Tam went beyond, including provisions that exceed even LEED Platinum standards.

Both in its overall design and small details, the plan is devoted to sustainability. Construction grading is kept to a minimum grading, all work areas will be daylighted and a 10-kilowatt array of solar panels will provide all of the energy needed for this project, saving the city $3,300 in annual energy costs and reduce CO2 emissions by seven tons per year.

The center will also collect and store rainwater for various uses, including watering native species that will be replanted in the natural area surrounding the center and toilet flushing in the public restroom.

The new design will feature a more organized entrance with back-of-the-house operations kept to the back of the house instead of mixing, as they do now, with citizens dropping off materials.

For those who want to linger, there will be more opportunity for that as well. An expanded reuse area will make more space for the Book Exchange and allow for additional reuse materials to be added.

During the last community meeting on the rebuild, several residents stressed that they would like to see more educational initiatives made by the Environmental Services Division and the Recycling Center. Mintz said that although no such new  programs have been developed at this time, the new center will include a conference room that will allow more educational activities and a possible docent program. The conference room will reflect the center's expanded role as a resource center in addition to recycling.

The City Council meets tonight at 7:30 p.m. The agenda includes the Recycling Center, and items 7A and 7B in the downloadable agenda packet include details on the project. The Pankow/Noll & Tam plan and proposals from other design-build teams can be accessed at the Recycling Center's website.