Who We Are
The Northern California Recycling Association (NCRA) is a 501(c)(6) non-profit organization founded in 1978 to promote environmentally sound discards management. Our 300 plus members are individuals engaged in state and local Zero Waste initiatives. We provide communities, industry leaders, employees, students, job-seekers and activists the opportunity to collaborate in evolving Zero Waste education and advocacy. Everyone is invited to support our mission, goals and vision, and we are committed to total inclusion.
Mission
The mission of NCRA has evolved beyond recycling advocacy to the inclusion of materials discards management via twenty-first-century Zero Waste principles and practices. Our broader mission is to End Waste.
Vision
NCRA envisions a growing worldwide sustainable Circular Economy Operating System, which supersedes the Era of Waste, of toxic burn and bury.
Goals
- Advocate for the “Highest and Best Use” hierarchical disposition of no-longer-wanted materials, to preserve original forms as much as practical, to first reduce, then to reuse, to recycle, to compost, and lastly to landfill. These are cost-effective, environmentally sustainable methods of re-purposing materials, that are beneficial for resource and energy conservation, for atmospheric carbon mitigation, and for climate protection.
- Oppose incineration and landfilling. Such disposal methods are environmentally toxic, polluting, imprudent, and contrary to Zero Waste philosophy.
- Commit to promoting reuseable products and moving away from a disposable society, particularly single-use plastics.
- Support food waste reduction initiatives, particularly programs intended to rescue and timely distribute edible food.
- Support federal, state, and local government policy and legislative proposals, inclusive of environmental and climate justice concerns, that are intended to help industry facilitate these and other measures minimizing the volume and toxicity of the solid waste stream, and reducing air, land and water pollution.
- Encourage businesses, governmental entities, and individuals to exchange information freely; and promotes sound and ethical business practices in the field of discarded material management, and in the pursuit of Zero Waste.
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4/14/2020