LOS ANGELES, CA (June 28, 2019)—Today, Commissioner Kevin James, President of the Board of Public Works, presented two Los Angeles-based businesses with the recycLA Star during Friday's Board of Public Works meeting. The recycLA Star Award program celebrates local businesses and property managers that are going above and beyond to divert materials from landfills by changing how they operate in order to achieve the highest levels of recycling.
And together, our efforts are paying off - since January 2018, recycLA has hit several milestones with recycling and landfill diversion. To date:
- recycLA Service Providers (RSPs) have collected over 73,527 tons in the blue bin;
- over 4,100 tons of food has been rescued; and
- recycLA has replaced previous diesel trucks with 496 clean fuel trucks
DOLLAR SHAVE CLUB:
Dollar Shave Club was founded in Los Angeles in 2011 and has grown into a global business that delivers razors and other grooming products direct-to-consumer’s doors. The Dollar Shave Club’s corporate headquarters sets an excellent example to other businesses on how to successfully divert recycling, and organics, diverting a full 64% of waste from landfills. Under the recycLA program and Athens Services’ zero waste partnership, the Dollar Shave Club’s recycling programs have become more targeted and effective.
The Dollar Shave Club credits their success to a total team effort. Being environmentally conscious is part of their culture, and it cascades down to their third-party service vendors, and into the way they operate every day. They have eliminated single-use paper cups, and switched to a KeepCup program to reduce daily waste. They have incorporated sustainability as a part of the building itself. Kitchen cabinets, for example, have three built-in bins for trash, recycling and compost. The three-bin system is also in all communal areas. Employees do not have trash cans beneath their desks and must get up to throw away trash. By normalizing this behavior, they ensure a culture of care for the environment.
Dollar Shave Club also gives back to the community with:
- A bi-annual Red Cross Blood Drives;
- A partnership with a local homeless youth resource center in Venice to offer supplies, technology support, clothing and mentorship, in addition to employees sponsoring and serving lunch each month;
- And they sponsor an annual Food and Toy Drive that benefits the LA Food Bank and other local organizations.
PREUX & PROPER:
Preux & Proper opened in downtown Los Angeles in 2014. The original owner, Joshua Kopel, was later joined by Chef Sammy Mansour as Co-Partner. Preux & Proper was fully vested in the recycLA program in March of 2018. Chef Sammy led his team to become one of the most sustainable kitchens in Los Angeles, with help from NASA’s zero waste team. Their diversion rate went from 0% to 45% in just over a year.
Chef Sammy Mansour has been instrumental in educating staff on food waste, recycling and sustainability. Compost bins are located at work stations to eliminate food waste going into the garbage; Vegetable-based oil is recycled for biofuel; and
Dishes are prepared using methods that reduce food waste and source sustainable ingredients from farmers, ranchers and fishermen. Chef Sammy’s advocacy towards sustainability positioned him as LA’s local leader for the Chefs Collaborative, a national nonprofit network that aims to make sustainable practices second nature for every chef in the United States.
Beyond their commitment in the kitchen, Chef Sammy and Joshua are focused on our global environment. Chef Sammy is a member of Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Blue Ribbon Task Force. Members are selected for their leadership roles in their culinary field and commitment to sustainable seafood and a healthy ocean. Joshua Kopel served on the Board of Directors of the Friends of Runyon Canyon (2013-2016), a non-profit focused on the protection of local Los Angeles park areas.