Countywide Litter Abatement Program
The Countywide litter abatement program has concluded as of April 5, 2024, as the special, one-time grant funding from CalRecycle has been spent. In the meantime, if you would like to report illegal dumping in your community, please reach out directly to the City or Town that the illegal dumping is located in using the directory below.
Through this work, we were able to complete 773 cleanups throughout the County. We disposed of 110 tons of waste which included 8,049 bags of trash and 4,639 appliances/bulky items. We also collected and recycled 329 waste tires, 136 mattresses, 633 pounds of electronic waste, and 242 pounds of recyclable materials.
How to report illegal dumping in Santa Clara County:
History of the SB 170 Litter Abatement Program
In 2022, the County of Santa Clara’s Consumer and Environmental Protection Agency (CEPA) received a $2 million funding allocation from the State of California, appropriated as a grant from the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle), to identify and prioritize litter, debris, and brush control throughout Santa Clara County. CEPA’s Watershed Protection Division (WPD) managed the grant and had developed a countywide cleanup program, known as the SB 170 Litter Abatement Program, to address areas in the county that experience high frequencies of litter and illegal dumping. WPD worked in close coordination with the 15 cities of Santa Clara County and its contractor, the San José Conservation Corp (SJCC), to ensure that areas with the greatest need were prioritized first and were being cleaned up on a regular basis.
San José Conservation Corps
The SJCC was contracted by the County to provide work crews for the SB 170 Litter Abatement Program. SJCC is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides paid job skill training and education to local youth and young adults, preparing them for future careers and completion of their high school diploma or GED. WPD has worked with SJCC for several years in partnership with the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) to conduct litter and debris cleanups on freeways and highways throughout Santa Clara County. SJCC also works with a number of local agencies in the County and provides excellent services while acting as a steward of our local communities and environment.