Category: Newsletter

Join us at the Capitol for NCRA’s Advocacy Day 2026

You are invited to join us on June 17 for our 3rd annual Advocacy Day in over a decade!

Free for members, $70 for non-members, which includes a one-year membership, and $25 for students/teachers/low-income non-members (which includes a 6-month membership).

⚠️ATTN Members: Please contact the office for the registration code.⚠️

RSVP Here.

This interactive event runs from 9am – 4:30pm, including lunch and a light breakfast. Optional no-host happy hour following our legislative visits.

The 2026 program includes presentations from Joanne Brasch, Director of Advocacy and Outreach, California Product Stewardship Council (CPSC) and Krystal Raynes, Policy Associate, Californians Against Waste (CAW), and more.

Topics include legislation basics, EPR and how to lobby effectively. We’ll also go over NCRA’s priority bills for the day and “role play” practice meetings with legislators and their staff. After lunch we’ll have meetings with legislative staff members or perhaps legislators!

Visit our Legislative Tracker for a brief overview of what’s on our radar.

Let us know who your legislators are. You can look up yours here.

Please also join us for CalRecycle Day if you are able! We’ll be attending (and speaking at, if comfortable!) a CalRecycle meeting on Tuesday, June 16th, 10-11:30am. Other opportunities for the day may include no-host group lunch and dinner/happy hour, legislative visits for experienced advocates, remote work time, CalRecycle rulemaking workshop for AB 2440, and more.

If you are interested in helping with the planning, contact Bailey Hall and Gwynn Mackellen via the website contact page.

During registration, please confirm: -Acceptance of membership options -City of residence (to make sure we’ve asked your representatives for meetings!) -Interest in attending pre-event CalRecycle meeting with other NCRA Members the day before – Tuesday, June 16th. -Any dietary restrictions (Vegetarian, Vegan, Gluten Free, Allergies, etc.) -Carpooling plans

Carpooling encouraged! Consider taking the Amtrak or other transit options.

Carpooling may be available. Need a carpool or able to provide a ride? Sign up here.

⚠️Cancellation allowed no less than 24 hours before the start of the event.

Thank You 2026 Sponsors

Platinum+

  • City of San Mateo
  • Community Conservation Centers (CCC)
  • WM (Waste Management)

Platinum

  • Recology
  • City of San José Environmental Services
  • City of Napa
  • StopWaste
  • Napa Recycling & Waste Services
  • Cascadia Consulting Group

Gold

  • City of Vallejo Recycling Division
  • HF&H Consultants
  • RecycleSmart
  • RethinkWaste
  • RecycleMore (West Contra Costa Integrated Waste Management Authority)
  • GreenWaste
  • City of Fremont
  • Routeware
  • Environmental Innovations
  • R3 Consulting Group, Inc.
  • Livermore Sanitation
  • Bay Area Bin Support

Silver

  • ACI (Alameda County Industries)
  • Ecology Center
  • SCS Engineers
  • Nothing Wasted Consulting
  • Trash Scouts
  • Zero Waste Sonoma
  • Clean Compost Consulting

Bronze

  • South San Francisco Scavenger Company
  • Livermore Recycles
  • EarthSort
  • California Resource Recovery Association (CRRA)
  • Zero Waste Marin
  • Zabble
  • HDR
  • Pacific Reclaimed

Collaborating Organizations

  • Zero Waste Youth USA
  • Californian’s Against the Waste
  • Community Bikes Santa Rosa
  • Zero Waste Youth USA (JSI chapter/program)
  • Race to Zero Waste
  • Green Education US
  • Container Recycling Institute (CRI)

Announcing Recycling Update 2026 (Media Release)

Northern California Recycling Association to host 30th Annual Recycling Update at San Francisco State University

San Francisco, CA – February 2026 – The Northern California Recycling Association (NCRA) is proud to host the 30th Annual Recycling Update (RU), the premier event for resource recovery professionals in Northern California. This year’s milestone conference will take place on Wednesday, March 25, 2026, at San Francisco State University’s McKenna Theatre, in San Francisco, CA. In person registration includes catered lunch at the Cesar Chavez Student Center and entrance to the highly popular networking event, Green Drinks. 

About RU

Recycling Update is widely recognized as the leading one day Zero Waste conference in Northern California. Known for its fast-paced, speed-dating presentation format, featuring 20 speakers from across California and the West Coast each presenting for 10 minutes on the latest innovations, programs, policies on more than just recycling; topics will cover reuse, repair, composting, outreach, extended producer responsibility (EPR), and edible food recovery. 

Since 2023, over 500 register to attend RU each year, attendees include municipal employees, refuse service providers, local and state policy makers, business leaders, university professors and facility staff, students, plastic-free and anti-incineration advocates, consultants, among many other sustainability professionals. 

Event Details

  • March 25, 2026
  • San Francisco State University – San Francisco, CA
  • Presentations: 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM at McKenna Theatre
  • Lunch at Cesar Chavez Student Center
  • After-hours Green Drinks Reception at Seven Hills Conference Center

About San Francisco State

San Francisco State University has a long-standing tradition of student-led activism and leadership in sustainability. From the historic 1968 student strike that created the nation’s first College of Ethnic Studies, to becoming the first public university to divest from fossil fuels in 2013, and most recently committing to divest from arms dealers in 2025, SF State continues to champion racial and environmental justice.

Most notably the campus is committed to Zero Waste, achieving 72% landfill diversion in 2023 through adoption of recycling and composting across the campus, an edible food recovery program, student-led clothing swaps, and Sustainable Move Out programs. 

Registration

Discounts for students, educators, and advocates start at $125. Scholarship opportunities available. Registration includes a 6 or 12-month NCRA membership. Register here.

Quote from NCRA Leadership

“For 30 years, Recycling Update has been the hub for innovation and collaboration in resource recovery in Northern California,” said Freddy Coronado, NCRA President “This milestone event is more than just recycling, it’s a celebration and sharing of proven and implemented Zero Waste solutions in California and beyond that have and continue to prevent landfilling, incineration, and the exploitation of Earth’s natural resources.”

Program Highlights?

RU delivers actionable insights and networking opportunities for advancing Zero Waste goals.

To learn more and register, visit our event website. 

Media Contact: Freddy Coronado via the NCRA Office.

NCRA Media Release, 2026 02 26 (pdf)

Ten Steps to a Better Zoom Experience

THE WEEK BEFORE THE EVENT

___  Consider plugging into your modem via an Ethernet cable/DSL versus using wifi.
___  If possible, use a laptop or desktop computer. They generally provide a better experience and work better with Zoom than mobile devices.
___  Download/Update Zoom Client for Meetings. If you postpone updates, you will be prompted to update on login and miss out.
___  Test your audio and video via Zoom. It sets up a test meeting just for you to see and hear yourself.
___  Need help? Before the event day, contact the Office with Zoom as the subject and we can arrange a test session. (But first do as directed both above and below.)

THE DAY OF THE EVENT

___  Before joining, exit all applications – including web browsers, and turn your computer off and on again.
___  Virtual backgrounds may slow access. If you must use one, choose one that is not animated.
___ To see the slides and a speaker simultaneously, select Speaker View versus Gallery.
___ Using multiple screens may make it hard for Zoom to display slides and a speaker simultaneously. It may have something to do with your account type. (We don’t know why but hope someone will figure it out.)
___  Having problems during a session? Use the Private Chat function to contact the session a Zoom Co-Host.

 

Originally posted 1/31/22