Rotary club asks Grass Valley for help finding site to consolidate plastic film recycling

Christine Newsom, a member of the Nevada City Rotary Club and a Grass Valley resident, presented the club's volunteer plastic film collection program and asked the council to help find a secure site and partners to sustain and expand the effort. "Our club started a program back in 2021 whereby we collected what's called plastic film," Newsom said, describing the flexible, stretchable plastic that local curbside services do not accept.

Newsom told council volunteers had collected roughly $800 worth of material in peak months and currently deliver material to the back of the Grass Valley Save Mart for consolidation and pickup by Trex Corporation's program. She said the work is volunteer-run and the major barrier to expanding the service is a site to bale and store material until a Trex pickup is scheduled. "Funding is also needed but that's not been our biggest roadblock. It's primarily the site," Newsom said.

Why it matters: curbside services in the area do not accept plastic film, and volunteers and local businesses regularly generate the material. A permanent, sheltered collection point with a baler would let residents and small businesses contribute without relying solely on volunteer pickup. Newsom described options: leased balers at roughly $200 per month, a protected shed for bales, and intermittent collection schedules (monthly or twice monthly) to start.

Council members and staff discussed county-level coordination and the role of nonprofit partners. Newsom said previous discussions with county staff and an Interfaith Food Ministry pilot fell through, and she asked the city to keep the conversation going. The presentation did not produce an immediate council action; officials said they would follow up offline with county solid-waste and community partners.