The City of San José, long a center of technology innovation, is now leading the way with innovative financing by closing an approximately $27 million New Markets Tax Credits financing transaction to complete construction of the new San José Environmental Innovation Center (EIC) – a premier demonstration facility for emerging clean technology companies, a construction materials store called the ReStore, and a household hazardous waste facility. To learn more, please see the Project Summary and Press Release.

San José customers are now shopping greener than ever! Since, January 1, 2012, all grocery and retail stores in San José can no longer provide single-use carryout bags at checkout. Of the plastic bags collected at curbside, only 4% are recycled, the rest are landfilled or become litter, which impairs our streets, creek and oceans. The City of San José no longer collects plastic bags at curbside for recycling because single-use plastic carryout bags interfere with the recycling facility’s machinery and often jam the screens used to separate materials, which is expensive to repair. The City estimates the cost at $1 million a year. Consumers can either bring reusable bags or purchase recycled paper bags. To learn more, please visit the Bring Your Own Bag webpage.