Year in Review

January

OCWR creates landfill laborer recruitment video featuring employees and promoting job opportunities available at our landfills.
COMPOST 2023 ∼ Keeping up-to-date on the industry, our OCWR team attends the US Composting Council annual conference and tradeshow.
OCWR rings in the Year of the Tiger with First Distrist Supervisor Andrew Do at the Orange County Tet Festival at Mile Square Park.

OCWR featured on cover of Waste Advantage Magazine.
OCWR partners with Discovery Cube OC for outreach and recognition of Teacher Champion Awards night.

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CalRecycle awards OCWR $3M grant to expand Bee Canyon Greenery to 30 acres.
OCWR participates with Anaheim Ducks First Flight Field Trip at the Honda Center.
Discovery Cube unveils new water table in OCWR’s Organics Waste Lab exhibit.
2023 Public Works Officers Institute - The Changing Landscape of Recycling: Local Market Development and Participation, featuring Tom Koutroulis as panel speaker.
OCWR partners with Caltrans for a Silverado community cleanup event as part of the Clean California program.
OCWR meets its 2023 SB 1383 Recovered Organic Waste Procurement Target of 3,067 tons.
OCWR finalizes feasibility studies for Source Separated Organics (SSO) facilities (Phase 2) and anaerobic digestion (Phase 3) at active landfill sites.

OCWR Hosts Countywide Compost Giveaway, distributing nearly 162.7 tons of ready-to-use compost in a single day.
Earth Day celebration at Discovery Cube and partnership for compost and Wiggly Worm presentations at OC Public Libraries.
Launch of first ReGroup collaboration meetings with city partners.
OCWR and Angel's Baseball present scholarships to OC Schools.
OCWR receives USCC STA certification for composted mulch at Bee Canyon Greenery.
Santa Margarita Water District giveaway - 42 tons of OCWR's compost and mulch distributed.
OCWR presents at Yorba Linda Women's Club providing tips for sorting and recycling to celebrate Earth Day.

Phase 1 of new flare installed at Prima.
OCWR begins collaboration with wastewater partners/facilities for digester feedstock opportunities.
OCWR participated in OC Vendor outreach event.
OCWR participated in the Fourth District's CalFresh community event.
OCWR's Household Hazardous Waste Collection Centers begin collecting smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors providing recycling solutions for the community.

Fourth District Supervisor Doug Chaffee joins OCWR at Ceremonial Grand Opening of Valencia Greenery providing a system-wide solution that meets new organics mandates.
OCWR received two 2023 Achievement Awards from the National Association of Counties (NACo) for:
1. Regional community compost education program for Orange County.
2. A smart misting system at the Prima Deshecha Landfill (PDL) in San Juan Capistrano.
OCWR and Montauk announce plans for renewable natural gas project at Frank R. Bowerman Landfill.
OCWR participated in OC Green Expo providing education and sustainable resources for local residents.
OCWR partners with SWANA, to host “SB 1383 at Work” educational outreach tour.
OCWR and Fourth District host “50 Future Leaders” tour at Olinda Alpha Landfill.

Inside the Outdoors kicks off day camps, providing environmental education to foster creativity and curiosity through games and experiments.
OCWR celebrates Rossmoor cleanup event.
OCWR's Tom Koutroulis presents at Washington State Work Group on Organics Management to Reduce and Control Climate Change.
OCWR receives first shipment of grant-funded food scrap pails for community distribution in support of organics recycling and education.

Fifth District Supervisor Katrina Foley and Second District Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento led Climate Resiliency Investigative Hearing with OC Waste & Recycling.
Grand Jury tours Frank R. Bowerman Landfill.
OCWR and Anaheim Ducks partner with OC educators, to produce “Bad Apples” educational outreach video.

OCWR participates in Irvine Global Village Festival.
OCWR shares recycling best practices at South County Disaster Expo.
Lunch at the Landfill raised over $33K for the United Way of Orange County.
SB 1383 Educational outreach postcard was delivered to 50,000 residents.
OCWR hosts pesticide collection event at Prima Deshecha Landfill collecting 2,650 pounds of pesticides.
OCWR attends H2O for HOAs event to showcase compost and mulch products.
OCWR's Director Tom Koutroulis featured on OC Talk Radio to talk about SB 1383 and reducing emissions of short-lived climate pollutants.

Hosted successful countywide Compost Giveaway on November 4, distributing 168.9 tons of compost and mulch to residents.
OCWR Celebrates America Recycles Day® campaign.
OCWR's Director Tom Koutroulis chairs Resource Recovery and Waste & Recycling panel for related legislative and advisory board at California State Association of Counties (CSAC) and County Engineers Association of California (CEAC).

Fifth District Supervisor Katrina Foley and OCWR celebrate ceremonial opening and VIP Ribbon Cutting of Prima Deshecha Landfill's new scale booth and entrance upgrades in San Juan Capistrano, marking a momentous step towards heightened efficiency, safety, and ecological sustainability.
Kimberly Ho is elected Chairwoman of the Waste Management Commission for 2024; Ted Bui is elected Vice Chairman.
OCWR partners with OC Fire Authority, OC Public Works and Third District Supervisor Don Wagner, to provide compost wattles to canyon residents for erosion control during the El Nino rain season.