Agency Update - Winter 2026

StopWaste Pilots Solar Panel Collection Event

In partnership with the California Product Stewardship Council, StopWaste hosted a free, one-day residential solar panel collection event at the Fremont Recycling & Transfer Station for Alameda County residents. Event staff collected 171 solar panels, and of those, 47 panels were tested and confirmed suitable for reuse, while 124 panels were designated for recycling.

Funded by CalRecycle, this initiative helps keep hazardous materials from being disposed of improperly and supports market development for used solar panels. Launched in 2025, the initiative began with research and case studies to explore the emerging field of solar panel reuse and recycling in Alameda County. Outreach planning efforts targeted solar contractors and professionals to identify best practices and to inform our outreach strategy to reach more residents and businesses.

Our next solar panel collection event is planned for spring 2026 and will include continued promotional outreach to homeowners with unwanted solar panels for reuse, repair, and recycling.

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Agency Amends Local Ordinance to Align with State Plastic Bag Law

Image of postcard that says "State Law Bans Plastic Bags"

Effective January 1, 2026, a new California law bans all plastic film bags at checkout for most stores—including grocery, convenience, drug, and liquor stores—and only permits recycled paper bags for a 10-cent charge. To align with the state law, StopWaste amended our local ordinance known as the Reusable Bag Ordinance. Outreach efforts to affected stores started in the summer to help prepare them for the change in January.

Since 2012, our Agency has been committed to reducing the use of single-use checkout bags and promoting the use of reusable bags in Alameda County. Using reusable bags helps reduce litter and waste, protects creeks and the bay, and conserves natural resources. Every year, roughly 4,000 tons of plastic bags end up in Alameda County’s landfill. The new law tackles the checkout plastic bag conundrum by eliminating the offering of all plastic bags—thin or thick—in food and alcohol retail stores. Stores that are not impacted by the new state law should continue to follow Alameda County’s Reusable Bag Ordinance, including retailers that sell non-food products, such as clothing or hardware stores, and eating establishments.

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Grantee Spotlight: Food Recovery Collaboration at UC Berkeley

Woman holding reusable container with food.

In an effort to provide accessible and equitable services that support students facing food insecurity, the Bear Pantry at University Village and the UC Berkeley Basic Needs Center (BNC) joined forces to expand their capacity to serve more students and their families in the University community.

Bear Pantry and BNC have well-established food recovery and donation with proven impact and reach within the campus community. However, they faced a gap in capacity as community need increased. StopWaste grant funding helped both organizations scale up operations. Bear Pantry implemented a virtual line management system to improve food distribution efficiency. With new data collection, Bear Pantry can predict busy times which helps with equitable distribution and resulting in less food waste. Additionally, they extended their operating hours to weekends, which increased access to more students and families and resulted in the cultivation of new partnerships with food donors such as Just Fare and Dandelion Kitchen, securing hundreds of additional prepared meals for pantry visitors.

BNC piloted reusable trays and containers for their campus food donation and recovery operations. Their model focuses on recovering food from UC Berkeley’s dining halls, stadiums, and sports events. To further reduce waste and model sustainable food recovery practices, BNC replaced single-use aluminum trays with 40 reusable containers, lids, and insulated carrying containers to transport recovered food. In Spring 2025, donations from one dining hall alone prevented the use of 384 single-use aluminum trays. This pilot opened the door for future expansion and deeper collaboration between BNC food recovery programs and campus dining operations. After completing their collaborative grant and expanding their programs, Bear Pantry and BNC increased their edible food recovery capacity by 20,000 pounds, recovering a total of 431,057 pounds of food.

StopWaste is committed to investing in food recovery organizations through our grants program to sustain and expand edible food recovery. We will also continue to advocate for policy and funding at the state level to support food donation and recovery initiatives like these. To learn more about our grantees and the impactful work they do, check out our Previously Funded Grants.

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Employee Spotlight

Sean Adamchik

Program Services Specialist

Sean Adamchik joined StopWaste in 2019 as a Program Services Specialist. Before StopWaste, they wore many hats as a courier, baker, cake decorator, and court clerk. Sean studied Geography at UC Berkeley and was born and raised in the East Bay in San Leandro.

What do you do at StopWaste?

I sit on the Organics Reduction and Recycling Ordinance (ORRO) team and work closely on SB 1383 compliance. One of the things I really enjoy working on is reviewing and processing compliance from food generators. Through this process, we’re able to see how each food generator is handling edible surplus food. It’s interesting because each business is unique. My role provides me with the opportunity to interact with community members from different sectors. When I’m interacting with the public, I feel pride in guiding them through the process of compliance, and that means breaking down the rules and explaining it to them in ways they understand. I help them make sense of what can seem like an intimidating system to navigate through. I enjoy being part of the process where I can make someone’s life easier.

Another project I oversee is the free indoor food scraps bin program. We offer supplies like bins and stickers for businesses and multifamily properties for free to start collecting organics on-site. Being able to provide a resource to our community is exciting because you get to help those who want to do the right thing take initiative.

How has StopWaste influenced you?

I’m much more mindful about my consumption. It has influenced my habits—the food I eat, the packaging of the products I purchase, how often I drive my car, opting for used goods over brand new ones, how I use energy in my apartment—all things that I may have already been doing before, but now I’m much more mindful about my daily actions.

What’s a motto you live by?

“Right now it’s like this.” It’s a saying by a Buddhist monk. Like any other motto, it’s open to interpretation and everyone has their own take on it, but for me it’s about equanimity and trying to be in the present moment without the desire for it to be different. So that means enjoying the good times and accepting that hard times will happen but will pass. I try to be mindful that life is always shifting and find that the more I live by this motto, the more ease I find in my life.

What do you enjoy doing outside of work?

I love being outside. I enjoy being at the beach and wandering up in the hill and trees—any time of the year. Greyhound Rock Beach is one of my favorite beaches, located on the San Mateo coast, it’s on the smaller side so it doesn’t get too crowded, and it gets the most beautiful sunsets. I also love bird watching. As for indoor activities, I am a big fan of Stephen King novels and love to dig into those when new ones drop. Most recently, I’ve been on a roll with international crime dramas on Netflix. Other fun hobbies are baking and meditating.

My goal for this year is to get back to live figure drawing and photography—I miss it. And though it may sound corny, I also think any time that I can spend with my partner is the best. I really value good quality time doing whatever we’re up to.