NAVAIR Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake -- For a number of years the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake has provided recycling services to the local community as an extension of its own solid waste diversion program. Unfortunately, due to budget constraints and the fact that the recycling program has been operating at a significant deficit for the past few years, the Station will no longer be able to provide those services for recyclable items from off Station. Sept. 12 will be the last day recyclable materials will be picked up in the community for the Navy.

To be able to reassess the entire recycling program, NAWS officials must be able to figure out how much of the Station’s generated non-hazardous solid waste is being recycled and at what cost. To do this, the NAWS recycling center will only accept recyclable materials generated onboard the Station. Therefore, the drop off point on Cobra Street will also be closed to the general public as of Sept. 12.

“I regret any inconvenience this may cause to the community,” said Capt. Hnarakis, NAWS Commanding Officer. “But continuing a program that is losing money each year doesn’t make good business sense. In these economic times, I owe it to you, the tax payer, to spend our dollars efficiently. I realize how important recycling is to the environment, and hope community members will continue recycling through other avenues available. I thank the community for their patience and understanding in this matter.”

People wanting to recycle their California Redemption Value (CRV) items can use Pearson’s Recycling Center, 1536 N. Mahan, or Tomra Recycling in Wal-Mart’s parking lot on China Lake Blvd.