General Information

Oroville Recycling Zone

The California Recycling Market Development Zone is an area that is set aside in a community that designed to attract business that will convert goods from the waste stream into recycled products.

The Recycling Market Zone program combines recycling with economic development to fuel new businesses, expand existing ones, create jobs, and divert waste from landfills.

California’s 30 million residents generate 44 million tons of waste each year. Decreasing landfill capacity has forced communities to reconsider what they do with trash. Recycling has diverted waste from landfills at increasing quantities. As the ability to recycle increases, new markets for recycled materials are being developed. The Recycling Marketing Development Zones are one fundamental step to creating these markets.

The RMDZ program provides attractive loans, technical assistance and free product marketing to zone located businesses that use materials from the waste stream to manufacture their products. The zones cover roughly 71,790 square miles of California from the Oregon border to San Diego.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is “market development” or recyclables?
A: Market development is the creation and development of markets for product made in part from post-consumer waste materials diverted from the waste stream. When these diverted materials are used to produce new products, the products are referred to as recycled-content products.

Q: Why is market development for recyclables important?
A: With a projected population for more than 36 million by year 2000, California’s waste stream is expected to show tremendous growth through the end of the century. In addition, if California cities and counties meet the mandate of a 50 percent reduction in the amount of waste going to landfills and additional 15 million tons or recyclables will be available for reuse or recycling by year 2000.

Q: What other benefits can we foresee from market development of recycles materials?
A: Jobs. An estimated 20,000 jobs could be created in California’s manufacturing sector, another 25,000 jobs in sorting and processing, and tens of thousands more in ancillary jobs.

Q: Is there a market for recycled materials?
A: Yes, but it fluctuates according to supply and demand and; local, national and international economics. Through it’s policies, regulations, and State law, the California Integrated Waste Management Board is working vigorously to help create greater demand for recyclable materials-from manufacturers as well as consumers.

Q: Are there barriers to developing markets for recycled materials?
A: Board analyses show that barriers include the following:

• Lack of reliable market information
• Lack of consistent supplies of sufficient quality
• High costs in using secondary materials (i.e., supply of materials generally is not matched with demand for those materials at prices that cover collection, transportation, and processing costs).
• Manufacturer and consumer wariness of products made from secondary materials
• Financial barriers (e.g., difficulties businesses face in obtaining long-term credit). The RMDZ Loan Program was designed to address the financial barriers by providing low-cost, long-term financing.

Q: Why is the loan program so important to recycling businesses?
A: Many conventional lenders hesitate to fund recycling-based manufacturing because in their view, it involves unproven technologies. Although the RMDZ loan program requires the same types of security collateral as a conventional lender, familiarity with the industry enables the Board to finance new, yet promising, recycling technologies.

Q: What incentives are local communities providing to businesses?
A: Local communities are encourage to relax or suspend local building codes and zoning laws to eliminate or reduce construction taxes within zones. They are also encouraged to expand infrastructure to serve recycling businesses.

Q: How has the RMDZ program helped other businesses?
A: For examples of what other businesses have done with help from this program, see the business profiles.

Q: Does my business reside in a qualifying area of California?
A: To find out, conduct a search of your address.