With shelter-in-place orders being implemented due to the COVID-19 pandemic a seemingly standard act like recycling has become a point of uncertainty with many recycling centers in the area, including Turlock Scavenger, closing their doors as a safety precaution.
For Turlockers with aluminum, glass and plastic piling up at home, there is a recycling option still available in Go Green Recycling Inc., which is currently open to the public.
“Our main goal was to help with the unfortunate. For some of those homeless people this is the only source of income. If they couldn’t recycle these materials, I don’t think they would be in a good position,” owner Fawad Abraham said. “There’s also the issue of sanitation.”
While more than $100 million in California Refund Value payments were claimed in 2018, the billions of CRV eligible containers recycled each year also help eliminate the need for manufactures to use raw materials for new products.
“Also, a few weeks ago the federal government announced that all recycling centers were essential because the chain of supply was short for manufacturers. It’s important that all recycling centers remain open so manufactures have a supply,” Abraham said.
“There’s so much confusion. I’m not really sure why some centers are open and some are not,” he added. “We’re the only people open in town and it seems like were taking business from everybody who is closed.”
Although the recycling center is still open, it is not unaffected by the COVID-19 pandemic as social distancing measures have been put in place with signs directing customers to space themselves properly. Hours have also been adjusted to make sure staff is not overwhelmed, which according to Abraham, forced one of his recycling centers is Stockton to close its doors.
“There were too many customers in San Joaquin Valley and we couldn’t meet the demand,” Abraham said. “At this point we’ve taking all the measures, we’ve done all the protocols, to make sure our customers and our employees are safe.”
Go Green Recycling is currently open from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday. It is located at 1600 McCormick St., Turlock.
