JMS Kaplan Journal  By Josh Babin
March 19, 2008

For most San Diegans, the trashcan is the final destination for their soft drink, but to a determined few, those beverage containers are their paycheck.

Lou, as he’s known in the competitive local recycling community, is one of those determined trash hunters. He makes his primary income by collecting cans, glass bottles and plastic containers that other people toss away. Once he has enough to fill his van, he turns in his haul to a recycling site and pockets the redemption value.

And it’s not just Lou who profits from his loot.

People are paid to weigh cans and bottles and put them into containers. The owner of the containers sells their products to a larger collection area. The larger collection area sells the material in even bigger bulk quantities. And truck drivers are paid to transport the containers between destinations.

“Everybody makes a living from what I bring in,” Lou said.

Lou estimates that he takes in an average of $50 a day - more than $1,000 a month. But the money doesn’t come easily. From turf wars to maintenance costs and long hours, this line of business has its sacrifices.

While Lou says he cares about the environment, he admits the money is his primary motivation for recycling. Others are aware of the profit potential, which has made digging into trashcans a highly competitive and secretive business. The competition is so strong, in fact, that Lou did not want his route or last name revealed.

“You’ve got to be on it. If you’re not on it someone else will be. I’ve chased out people. I’ve broke their spirit,” Lou said.

Lou isn’t a large guy. Even though he lives and works out of his van, he generally wears a clean T-shirt, shorts and a baseball cap and has an amiable personality. By chasing out, he says he doesn’t mean he physically assaulting his competitors– he just beats them to the product by staking out his route early.

If he gets all the recyclables before anyone else, others will be discouraged and stop recycling on his route.

But sometimes the job does get physical. Mike Bowens weighs bottles and cans at Recycle Depot, a College Area business that pays consumers for their recyclables by the pound. He said he has seen fights break out between recyclers.

“[They say] get off my route,” Bowens said.

Lou gets most of his material from public garbage cans on city streets or around major businesses. He says he never goes through residential neighborhoods and doesn’t recycle at night because he doesn’t want to be seen as a suspicious figure. He also frowns on recycling material from blue bins in front of people’s houses.

“When you’re on a blue bin on someone’s property you’re stealing. I don’t care how you sugar coat it,” he said.

The Drop Off

Bowens opens Recycle Depot at nine in the morning. He says he expects Lou will be there within the hour. Sure enough, just before 10 a.m., Lou shows up driving a van loaded to the roof with bulging bags and metal containers filled with cans. His primary mode of transportation, his bicycle, is also in the van along with his small dog, Buddy, who sleeps in the passenger seat.

It takes Lou almost two hours to separate and weigh all the bottles and cans, but it was a good haul. He made $120.

“It’s not like this everyday,” he said.

He started this collection around noon the day before and worked into the evening. He then woke up around six in the morning and collected until Recycle Depot opened. He cashes in every 24 hours and works about 12 hours a day, six days a week. On Sundays he checks into a motel, where he can relax and give Buddy a bath.

Lou uses his bicycle to make his rounds. A metal cage on wheels is attached to his bike. Once the cage fills up, he bags the goods at his van, where it will be stored until the next day.

He tries to fill his cage at least three times a day, but recycling has its seasons, according to Lou. He makes less money in the summers and during Christmas. He said that even though it’s hotter in the summer, he doesn’t find as many bottles. He guesses that’s because people buy larger bulk containers, which means there is less to throw away.

Lou said he’s on a tight budget so he can have what he calls “a recycler’s lifestyle.” That means living out of his van, so he doesn’t have rent to pay. He also said he doesn’t spend a lot of money on alcohol.

With the money Lou makes, he can pay for what he calls “business expenses” – primarily repairing damages from constant use of his bike and van. Recent maintenance on his van cost him more than $800.

He’ll also be able to pay for his medical expenses – upcoming dental surgery could run $3,000. While he won’t be able to pay it all up front, he says he has worked out a plan with the dentist to make monthly payments of $200. And of course there’s food for himself and Buddy.

Once a house painter, Lou started recycling around four years ago after getting stabbed in the hand. Since he was no longer able to paint, he took up collecting cans.

“One thing leads to another,” he said, adding that he plans to continue in this line of work as long as he can.

“I never got anywhere working for someone else. I’m an entrepreneur,” he said.

Living Off Trash

Lou brings his cans to several locations in San Diego. Recycle Depot is one of them. Bowens calls Lou one of the “Big Timers” because of his consistently large hauls.

But some loads can get even bigger, especially when there’s a team behind the effort. A few weeks ago, a person brought in a U-Haul truck filled with recycled material, Bowens said, adding that large deposits are usually the result of family operations.

This collection area is on University Avenue in City Heights, where Bowens said it is common to see each family member assigned a different job: collecting, sorting or smashing. These larger hauls occur less frequently - monthly instead of daily, according to Bowens.

At the drop off, the customer separates the material into baskets: glass, several different kinds of plastics or cans. After an employee weighs the material, the customer is paid. Once these containers are filled, a semi-truck pulls into the parking lot. The large containers are hoisted onto the truck and taken to a larger collection area. From there, the material will go to the actual recycling plant, where the end result can be sold for a profit.

James Prince is the owner of Recycle Depot. He said his company has recycled one million tons of material since he began his recycling business in 1997.

“I’m living off of other people’s trash,” Prince said.

According to the California Department of Conservation 71 percent of California’s beverage containers were recycled during a six-month study from January 2007 to June 2007.

Prince said recycled material is used in everything from the paint on city streets to the concrete of the sidewalks.

Prince is optimistic about the future of his industry.

“Everyday there’s more trash,” Prince said. “It’s never going to stop.”

And as long as there’s a value to that trash, there’ll be people to collect it.