The City contracts with Urban Ore to salvage reusable materials from the transfer station floor, and under the resolution and new contract, the City will pay Urban Ore $47.74 for each ton salvaged for reuse (up to $114,576 during the three-year contract term). In 2020, Urban Ore had gross sales of over $2.7 million. As of 2020, Urban Ore provided 32 living wage jobs with income-sharing performance incentives, profit sharing, and benefits. Top selling categories include doors, furniture, windows, and hardware. These goods then circulate throughout the local economy. Urban Ore sells its merchandise at affordable price points to its customer base, which includes local artisans, contractors, property managers, and residents. Urban Ore’s 30,000 square foot reuse warehouse finds new homes for household items and building materials. The company also has an Outside Trader Department that does pick-ups and deliveries throughout the Bay Area. Urban Ore offers its drop-off service at no cost, and sometimes staff pay out cash or store credit in exchange for high-quality goods this amount is approximately $100,000 annually. Most items are dropped off on Urban Ore’s site by 50-100 self-haulers per day. It’s been estimated that 7,000 additional tons of reusable goods pass through Urban Ore’s doors. During the same year, the company recycled 357 tons of materials, including ferrous and non-ferrous metals, glass, ceramics, electronics, plastics, textiles, auto batteries, paper, and cardboard. Reduces the City’s transportation costs to haul waste to the landfill.ĭuring 2018, Urban Ore salvaged 823 tons from the transfer station floor and hauled them to its 3-acre site, which includes a 30,000 square-foot warehouse.

Reduces manufacturing resource use and energy impacts by returning goods and materials to the commerce cycle.

Assists in attaining Berkeley's Zero Waste and Climate Action Plan goals.

This salvage contract has multiple benefits for the City: Historically, Berkeley paid Urban Ore $40 per ton for materials salvaged, which was less than the cost of landfilling and disposal, but from 2012 to June 2020 the salvage payment was eliminated. In addition, the Transfer Station’s operational expenses associated with long-haul transportation and landfill use are also reduced.' - Berkeley City Council Salvage Contact Resolution Rationale for Recommendation' 'This salvage and reuse/recycling program supports increased diversion of materials from landfills and helps move the City toward its Zero Waste Goal. This is the same amount that the City pays another third party for hauling and landfill disposal tipping fees. In July 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Berkeley City Council renewed Urban Ore’s contract and re-established its salvage service fee of $47.74 for every ton salvaged from the City’s transfer station. Urban Ore salvagers also spot and report hazardous materials to City staff to avoid illegal disposal. There, the materials are processed and sold for reuse and recycling. Urban Ore is allocated space on the transfer station property for a staff shed and a box truck which transports the salvaged materials to the company’s reuse retail and recycling Ecopark on the other side of town. Urban Ore has exclusive rights to salvage reusable materials from the City’s transfer station tip floor, where materials are collected and hauled to the landfill. The City of Berkeley owns and operates its transfer station, and the City has a contract with a locally owned for-profit business called Urban Ore, which was founded in 1980. The disposable cup charge is intended to incentivize reusable cups customers bringing their own reusable cups do not pay the $0.25 charge. This is the first ordinance in the nation to require that food vendors utilize reusable foodware for on-premises dining, and to require a $0.25 itemized charge on customers’ receipts for all disposable take-out beverage cups.

In 2019, the City adopted the Berkeley Single Use Foodware and Litter Reduction Ordinance to reduce the use and disposal of single use foodware, including cups, lids, utensils, straws, clamshells, and other disposables that contribute to street litter, marine pollution, harm to wildlife, greenhouse gas emissions, and waste sent to landfills. Reuse is a key zero waste strategy for extending the life of materials and products.

Berkeley has a longstanding commitment to reducing and ultimately eliminating the waste that goes to landfills and established one of the first municipal recycling programs in the nation.

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