OXNARD : Panel OKs Permit to Build Recycling Plant

The Oxnard Planning Commission has approved construction of a waste-sorting and recycling facility on 16.5 acres of farmland in northeast Oxnard.

By its action Thursday, the commission cleared the way for the city to open a materials-recovery facility before the county can approve a competing recycling center in Camarillo.

The Oxnard City Council has already agreed to issue $500,000 in bonds or certificates to finance construction of the 150,000-square-foot facility to be operated by BLT Enterprises of Los Angeles.

The facility is designed to handle up to 2,780 tons of solid waste each day, although initially the city will haul an average of only 790 tons of refuse each day to the facility.

Designed to help meet a state-mandated goal for cities to divert a fourth of their solid waste by 1995, the material recovery facility will eventually operate around the clock, seven days a week, and employ 240 people.

Recyclable material will be manually separated from the city’s trash at the facility, which will also feature a center where residents can sell recyclables. The facility also will have community meeting rooms and a collection center for household hazardous wastes.

Among the materials to be recovered at the facility will be newspapers, wood, plant waste, glass, aluminum, plastics and metals. Residual waste will be disposed of at whatever landfills are open in the county at the time.

Before backing the project unanimously, the commission approved adding signals to two intersections and other measures to reduce the impact the facility’s anticipated traffic will have on the area.