The Rincon Tribe believes that the protection of human health and the environment can be effectively balanced with economic and residential development on Tribal lands in a manner that honors the earth, people, plants, animals, and waters. The 2018 Rincon Tribal Environmental Plan (TEP) describes waste and hazardous materials management as being one of the Tribe’s highest priorities.

The Rincon Environmental Department’s solid waste program endeavors to maintain and improve Tribal environmental quality by implementing a cost-effective and efficient waste management program that is accessible to all residents and meets the needs of the Tribal community. The program’s goals are to:

• To promote reservation beautification and environmental protection
• To protect Tribal Members’ and other residents’ health and the environment by minimizing the detrimental human health and environmental effects brought about by illegal dumping, the abandonment of vehicles, and exposure to hazardous substances and chemical spills on the reservation;
• To reduce the potential risk to human health and the environment resulting from improper storage of household and other hazardous waste;
• To provide convenient opportunities to Tribal members and the Tribal government to significantly reduce the waste stream and protect the environment through waste reduction, re-use, and recycling; and
• To increase tribal community awareness of solid waste programs, and promoting opportunities to protect the environment and human health, and to divert a greater volume of material from landfill disposal through public education and outreach efforts.

Composting

• “The Rincon Environmental Department started a pilot composting project to collect food scraps from the Government buildings and turn this waste into usable compost.  Food scraps are collected several times per week from specialized bins and then are taken to the Rincon Transfer Station compost unit.  A mixture of food scraps and mulch or leaves is put into a Ridan composter, a contained unit that can be hand cranked to turn the developing compost.  Eventually the broken-down compost is put into metal maturing boxes to continue breaking down into nutrient rich soil.”

Biodigester

In Summer 2025, a biodigester was installed at the Rincon Transfer Station to digest and break down food scraps. This installation is part of the larger Transfer Station improvement project and was funded by an EPA grant.  The biodigester can break down any food product, including meat and dairy which normal compost cannot handle, and turn it into a liquid fertilizer called “soil sauce” and methane gas.  Food is put into a chute on one side of the biodigester, staff mix the food waste with water and grind it into a liquid slurry, then microbes break down the food particles, and then the soil sauce can be drained and used in gardens and landscaping.

Recycle, Reduce, and Re-use

The Rincon Environmental Department encourages environmentally sound waste management practices that promote resource conservation through recycling, recovery, reduction, clean up, and elimination of waste.

Since 2010 the Rincon Tribe has promoted recycling by encouraging reservation residents to deposit plastic bottles, aluminum cans, paper and cardboard in a mobile recycling trailer (known by residents as “Bubba”) that is regularly moved by Rincon General Services to several different locations on the reservation convenient to residents.

A new recycling trailer was added to the Rincon Transfer Station.  This recycling trailer accepts glass beverage bottles, Type 1 and 2 plastic bottles, and aluminum cans. The trailer will stay at the Rincon Transfer Station.

Rincon’s Transfer Station also is available for Tribal Members living both on and off the reservation to bring household hazardous waste, tires, electronic wastes, glass, tires, green waste and residential trash.

The Rincon Environmental Department schedules disposals for accumulated household hazardous waste, electronic waste, and tires several times per year, and hosts or participates in-person events such as Clean-Up Day and Inter-Tribal Earth Day.

Curbside Trash Collection

The Tribally run curbside trash collection service is operated by Rincon General Services and offers several competitive advantages, including convenient billing, flexible, quality service, and low cost. It creates jobs, is community-focused, and contributes to self-sufficiency.

Go back to Rincon Environmental Department (RED) Page.