OCC’s Recycling Center sorts out its issues, reopens under new operator

Orange Coast College’s Recycling Center is once more accepting bottles and cans, resuming operations this week under a third-party vendor after a post-pandemic slump forced the facility’s closure in 2023.

Run for decades by the campus’ Associated Students of Orange Coast College, the facility was shuttered in November of that year as the organization faced an annual loss of up to $240,000, and officials were forced to consider a new operating model.

“We opened it up in the 1970s, and it was always run by Associated Students, who had an interest in promoting sustainability,” Rich Pagel, OCC’s vice president of administrative services, said Tuesday.

Orange Coast College’s Recycling Center on Adams Avenue in Costa Mesa Wednesday welcomes customers after a long closure.

(OC Recycling)

“But it really hasn’t made money for years. With profitability on recycling there’s just a tight margin, and since the pandemic, we haven’t seen a volume of recycled goods. People got out of the habit of recycling and now just dump everything at the curb.”

College officials issued a call for bids from area businesses interested in running the recycling center on a contract basis and, in June, Santa-Ana based OC Recycling was granted the right to assume operations at the Adams Avenue center.

The company will pay a $5,000 monthly licensing fee as well as 10% of its net profits and will reimburse the college for utilities, according to its five-year contract, which may be renewed for two additional five-year periods.

In exchange, it will be able to run the enterprise under the name OC Recycling and use the facility to process the goods it collects.

Ryan and Lisa Bloom, owners of Santa Ana-based OC Recycling, have assumed operations of OCC’s Recycling Center, under a contract approved last June.

(Courtesy of Ryan Bloom)

Husband-and-wife duo Ryan and Lisa Bloom own the company and have been operating centers throughout Orange County since the business started in 2006. Today, they oversee facilities in Huntington Beach, Santa Ana and the city of Orange.

Operations at the Costa Mesa site began Wednesday under a soft opening, with plans for a ribbon-cutting with city and college officials in the works.

“We’re thrilled for the opportunity,” Ryan Bloom said in an interview on opening day. “We have a longstanding history of operating this business, and we hope the community around here is receptive to us, because we’re going to be receptive to them.”

Acknowledging the erstwhile student-run center provided job opportunities for a lot of students, Bloom said he’s open to the idea of someday bringing on students who can commit to the rigors of working at the fully fledged business.

Pagel said Tuesday he’d like the center’s employment of students to continue, if at all possible, adding that the campus and its enrollees remain interested in engaging in recycling programs.

“We used to do a lot of recycling on our campus before the pandemic,” he said. “So, we’d like to get back to those days.”

Orange Coast College’s Recycling Center in Costa Mesa is once more accepting items, after a soft opening Wednesday under new operator OC Recyling.

(Sara Cardine)