Shoreway Environmental Center

This is mostly about their hours for recycling. I went by to recycle a bunch of cardboard boxes. It was a little after 4:00 on a Saturday and I assumed they’d be open as I know the dump portion is open until 5:00. Nope. Recycling closes at 4:00. Way too early in my opinion. So I ask the guy at the gate if there was any way to just drop off the recycling since it was just cardboard and I wasn’t getting any money back or having to pay for recycling. He said they’d take the cardboard for the $ 35 dump fee and I could leave it in the dump. Well, that was just ridiculous so I was turned away with a car full of cardboard. I thought, well, I’ll just come back tomorrow. But no, they are CLOSED for recycling on Sundays. The dump is open on Sunday, but no recycling. Again, ridiculous. All I wanted to do was drop of some cardboard to recycle. Their limited hours make it really difficult. Would it be that hard to make a few recycling containers available at the same hours as the regular dump?

Three of us were interested to see the recycling in action. So we contacted them through email and it was a breeze. The staff was great to reply promptly and accommodate our request to sign up. The tour started on time, addressed all the questions that were raised during the tour. The staff were very knowledgeable to show the whole process. Thanks
Kamal

Terrible service. Workers had no interpersonal skills. They just stood around watching. We had an entire truckbed full of mostly plastic bottles. Probably over 3 or 4 hundred of them. We got 15 dollars for everything. They completely ripped us off. Don’t go to these thieves.

This place is clean with no broken glasses nor sharp objects on the ground. The prices for aluminum cans may not be the best within the business, but no lines to wait and staff is a lot friendlier than those I met at rePlanet :) I unloaded my cans/​bottles; the staff weighted them and handed me over with a receipt. I got my $ from the cashier office located further down. Quick in and out!

This place is okay for recycling cans. Probably slightly more efficient than those guys who run a recycling center as a single person as the lines there are usually longer. Pulled up the the area for recycle and waited until someone told me what to do. Then was told to pull up another 10 ft to the recycling area. The guy who told me to pull up was at the paint recycling and battery recycling area so I needed to wait for another person.
The good news is now I know where to bring batteries and paint to recycle. Person in that line also had to wait a couple minutes as there is no one there to save her on. Also it is more like self service, 70 yr old lady unloaded all her own recycling, some paint and other household stuff.
Now the guy comes out for the cans and tells me to place my items in the blue bins. I drop it off, it gets weighed and I get my money. The main difference here from say some of the other really bulk recycling I’ve been to is you need to load it into the trash cans yourself. The guys will just weigh it for you. In union city those guys took everything out of the car for me and placed my containers back.
Tl:dr, good place to bring recycle but it is semi self serve

Web site says open at 6am. Showed up at 8am with a car full of electronics to recycle, sign says open at 8:30. End result: wasted half a gallon of gas and 30 minutes, unnecessarily increased my carbon footprint, still have a car full of electronics to recycle. As far as I’m concerned, they are part of the problem, not the solution.

We took a wonderful, FREE tour of this facility. My 4 year old is obsessed with garbage and recycling so this was the perfect day for him. We got a chance to see how the contents of our trash cans are sorted for the landfill, recycling center, or compost making. It was fascinating for both adults and small children. Heather led a wonderful tour!

I couldn’t use the machine because my cans were «crushed» but an attendant came out and took the cans from me, then waved me forward to the cashier. NO WAITING! After experiencing the terror of waiting in line for RePlanet many times (or driving away because people in line had like 15 bags each) this was a refreshing and welcome experience. I know where I will be taking my recycling from now on.

My 8 year old daughter and I did the public tour yesterday — it was super interesting! We loved walking through the various sorting stations. It’s a must for everyone to experience, especially if you want to know more about what and how things are recycled. Heather and her colleague were friendly and well informed. All in all a very smooth and professional service!

wonderfully informative and motivational! hubby and i are avid recyclers and it was interesting to see the process from beginning to end and have our many questions answered.
this is a tour that everyone should participate in, whether they are serviced by South Bayside Waste Management Authority (SBWMA) or not.

The tour was great; staff was knowledgeable. I brought my daughters who are 7 and 11 and it was very eye-​opening for them. Definitely worth going!

This review is for the public tour that happens on the 3^rd Thursday of every month.
I’ve been wanting to come tour the Shoreway Environmental Center for THE longest time but never really wanted to take a day off for it (the public tours only happen on Thursdays). Can you imagine my excitement when I realized that my 30^th birthday fell on the 3^rd Thursday of March??! I was debating whether or not to take the day off and when I remembered the tour, it was an easy «Yes». I booked their earliest tour at 9:30am and my parents and grandpa ended up coming with me as well.
The tour ended up being SO MUCH FUN!!! We started off in the recycling center where you get an introduction and then hear and read some facts about recycling. Then they actually walk you around the machines! It was so interesting to see how everything is sorted and I had no idea that people had to manually help sort as well! A lot of it is automated but there’s still some things that fall through the cracks which requires someone to hand sort. Ex: a crushed water bottle that falls into the trash pile or plastic bags that fall into the recycling pile, etc. It gets pretty loud around the machines, so they give everyone headphones to be able to hear the guide. Only thing about this part of the tour is that small children and those in a wheelchair can’t walk around. My grandpa was in a wheelchair so my dad had to sit back with him. Then, they had a Q&A session where the audience could ask questions about what they saw and really, anything about the recycling, trash, and compost procedures.
After touring the recycling center, they take you to the compost area where you see the HUGEST compost pile! Did you know that residents can go and ask for compost? I think you can get it twice a year or something like that. I had no idea. I also had no idea that compost got so hot but you could literally see steam rising from the top of the pile.
Overall, it was a great tour and the guides were very nice and knowledgeable. I would definitely recommend it! It was so fun and interesting to see the recycling process and compost pile. I also learned a lot and realized that you could recycle a lot of things such as cooking and auto oil! Makes me happy =). It was a great start to my 30s.

This was a great tour! Really interesting. And right in the middle of the action! Lots of learning for young and old. My kids loved it. Really well-​run and professional.

Great service. Came here to drop off some old computer parts today As soon as I got there one of the friendly workers helped direct me to the correct drop off location. I was in and out in 5 minutes, all for free. I definitely be back when I need to drop off my other old computers or tv.

Parking: No parking lot if you are recycling, just a loading zone.
The machines will only take glass and aluminum. You can give any bottles (glass, plastic, and aluminum) for it to be weighted and recycled. I couldn’t find any hand sanitizer so definitely should bring some.

Try to make a living and come here it’s not easy. It’s a very expensive place to go but you can do some good recycling there. Dose this place have to be that expensive.

$ 35 for a couch!!! Really? I had a load that totaled $ 247. It consisted of household furniture and wares. As a hauler I was shocked at how expensive this place was.
Normal transfer stations are usually charging $ 125 for this type of load without charging $ 35 for a couch. Ripoff outfit!!!

Residents of San Mateo county can get free compost here. I read somewhere adding this stuff to your garden in the springtime makes for a bountiful harvest. They provide the giant paper bags for the compost but you do have to shovel it yourself. Bring a friend as it is much easier to have one person hold the bag while the other person scoops. Also the bag can get heavy so you will need a hand to lift it into the trunk of your car. It might be a good idea to have some old cardboard or trash bags to line your trunk as the compost bits leaks out from the bottom and the paper bag gets damp. Ladies, don’t come in open toe girly shoes or after getting your nails done.

Public tours! Yay!