Mid-Valley Recycling, a Subsidiary of Mid-Valley Disposal, Receives CalRecycle Grant
PRESS RELEASE: Mid-Valley Recycling awarded ground-breaking, $4.5M CalRecycle grant to improve recycling technology, processing for Valley communities
March 25, 2026 – Mid-Valley Recycling (MVR), a subsidiary of Mid-Valley Disposal, was awarded $4.5 million in grant funds from the State of California – amounting to nearly 10 percent of all grant funds awarded – to help fund groundbreaking, innovative technologies for sorting and processing recycled material generated by Valley communities.
In late 2024, CalRecycle announced it was making $50 million available through its Beverage Container Quality Infrastructure Grant Program, which is designed to help fund projects involving the infrastructure of facilities that sort materials from curbside recycling programs or drop-off collection programs. Projects across Alameda, Fresno, Kern, Marin, Sacramento, San Diego, Santa Clara, and Shasta counties were selected by CalRecycle.
MVR was one of nine projects across the state that were awarded funding from this grant, winning $4,595,898 in grant funds. The grant funds will provide six AI-powered robots for improved CVR recovery as well as a brand-new state-of-the-art commercial processing line with a total project cost of over $12 million.
“For more than a year now, we’ve been working on improving our commercial processing facility,” said Joseph Kalpakoff, President & CEO of Mid-Valley Disposal. “This grant supports our own investment in making key improvements to our operational infrastructure and install cutting-edge technology. We feel very blessed to have been selected.”
CalRecycle received 37 applications requesting a total of $207 million, and nearly six months after the grant funds were announced, nine projects in eight counties are set to receive funding totaling $46 million.
“The MRF (material recovery facility) opened in 2002,” said Abel Salazar, Jr., manager of post-collections at Mid-Valley Disposal, “and over the years we’ve tracked the increase in volume processed at this facility. This grant will help us upgrade our sort lines and the technology we’ve recently installed will help us reduce items that are sent to the landfill.”
As part of its facility upgrades, MVR has partnered with California-based company Glacier to deploy AI-powered robots that sort recyclable materials, increasing recovery rates and reducing contamination. Glacier’s systems also provide real-time data to monitor plant efficiency and track progress toward Mid-Valley’s sustainability objectives. With this implementation, Fresno joins other progressive cities including San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago, Detroit, and Phoenix in adopting Glacier’s advanced technology.
“As fellow Californians, we are proud to support Mid-Valley Recycling in setting a new standard for recycling in central California,” said Rebecca Hu-Thrams, CEO and founder of Glacier. “This partnership is a great example of how thoughtful public-private collaboration can rapidly advance sustainability innovation across our state.”
MVR has already commissioned three AI-robots with plans on a completed project by May 2026. This project will further enhance recycling and diversion efforts for all the communities served by Mid-Valley Disposal. Items such as cardboard, various plastic containers, glass, and aluminum are processed at Mid-Valley Disposal’s Material Recovery Facility, located at 2721 S. Elm Avenue in Fresno. In 2025, more than 130,000 tons of material were processed from our communities.
Media Contact:
Mid Valley Disposal
Emily Nichols- Emily.Nichols@midvalleydisposal.com
Michelle Sanchez- MichelleLS@midvalleydisposal.com
Glacier
Margaret Link – margaret@endwaste.io
