Recycling coordinator helps Merced cut waste, build awareness

For City of Merced recycling coordinator Monique Gama, talking trash – and recycling, is just part of the job as she educates residents on proper recycling techniques.

For the past 12 years, Gama has implemented state regulations and educated the community about recycling and waste diversion, helping them to understand what items are recyclable and how to properly recycle them.

Gama, 44, has been employed with the city for 18 years, and said that during her time with public works, she has learned that what they do is very much out of sight and out of mind from those who live in the community.

“Your garbage is getting picked up and you don’t really think about it. Your water’s still working, you don’t really think about it,” she said. It is when something breaks that people think about public works and what they do to keep the city operating

Gama recently attended National Night Out at Applegate Park in Merced on Aug. 5, speaking with community members, answering questions, and educating people about the city’s recycling programs.

“It’s important to come out to these community events to really show our presence, to let them know everything we can do, because unless you know about our services, then you really don’t know,” she said.

The city offers programs such as the Assisted Refuse Program, which can help residents if there is not an able-bodied person in the home or in the area capable of moving their refuse containers to and from the curb.

“Unless you know that we offer that service, you may not do anything, and you may be trying to haul those cans out to the curb, and you really physically can’t,” Gama said. “Why not use that same service that we provide at no additional charge?”

Attending events such as National Night Out affords her the opportunity to have conversations with city residents in a less intimidating setting, which she said leads to friendly conversations and what she feels is an overall win.

“I find that even with difficult customers, you just take a minute with them and really talk it out – usually can come to a good resolution,” she said.

During the event, Gama handed out various items to those who stopped by her table. She said one her favorite items to hand out is rubber grippers made from recycled tires, which can be used to open bottles or jars.

“Anything on my table, I typically try to find something that’s made from recycled products, just to show people,” Gama said. “I feel like that’s an important thing to look at because we really can do so much more with our recycled items and we have that opportunity to keep that out of our landfill and make that landfill last as long as it possibly can.”

While some of Merced’s recycling is transported to Fresno for processing, green waste such as yard waste and grass clippings are sent to the landfill off Highway 59 in Merced County. Once there, bags of food waste and other trash and contamination is removed from the green waste which gets ground up by a machine and placed into rows for composting. Finished compost material is then distributed by Agrimen to various places such as cities, parks and stadiums, according to Merced County Regional Waste Authority Diversion Program Manager Kyle Loreto. Individuals can even purchase large amounts of compost through Agrimen, and have it loaded into a truck or trailer at the landfill site.

As Recycling Coordinator, Gama said she often performs a variety of tasks including making sure the city complies with state rules and regulations when it comes to solid waste, with a focus on recycling and waste diversion. This involves focusing on keeping specific things out of the general waste stream. One area of focus is edible food recovery, making sure that edible food is redirected elsewhere such as a local food bank rather than being thrown away.

She said she is also tasked with keeping track of waste tonnage, monitoring recycling to see what loads of waste are rejected and identifying and educating others based on her findings as to correctly recycle items. She has also has a hand in developing advertising for the city’s various waste advertising campaigns while acting as a liaison between the state, city and community.

“I do a lot of varied tasks,” said Gama. “Customer outreach, so it’s always different depending on what the day brings me.”

Gama said public education and outreach is just one responsibility of her job that sees her speaking with schools, various businesses and clubs, develop recycling campaigns, as well as working with the facilities manager to place food waste bins in all Merced City School District schools.

“Usually the third-graders have a sustainability unit and we always offer our services to go out and talk about solid waste and a do a little slide show presentation, give the kids a little goodie like a pencil made from recycled material. Just to give them a thing to see that recycling is more than just bottles and cans,” said Gama.

Gama said she has spoken with many parents who reference the presentations she has done at their children’s schools. Telling her that the children are making sure the parents are correctly recycling items.

“It’s so important,” said Gama. “They’re young minds, and they’re just soaking up everything. I feel like it’s so important that we go out there and do that. Starting them young and realizing the connection that it all has, is a key thing.”’

Gama said the various outreach and education programs available are provided at no charge to businesses and clubsoffering them a chance to learn about solid waste and recycling.

“I really do think more or less, it’s more about they don’t realize the enormity that comes with trash. When it’s trash it’s out of sight out of mind,” said Gama. “There’s so much more to it with our waste services and what we look at and what we try to do to help things last, such as our landfill.”

With a degree in paralegal studies, Gama said she began working for the city after applying for and getting a job as a city administrative assistant which she found posted while assisting her husband in looking for a job. While working in an administrative office as an account clerk, she was tasked with duties related to the city’s recycling outreach. When the city created the position of Recycling Coordinator, she applied for the job and has been doing it ever since.

“I really grew up with the city’s position because they didn’t have that before,” said Gama.

Prior to the creation of that position, the city used a third party recycling vendor which the landfill was using.

“I really got to start with it from its infancy and grow up with it along with the city,” she said.

As state regulations have changed, Gamma said so has her job, which keeps it interesting. .

“I like to learn,” said Gama. “As this position has progressed, I’m learning new stuff that we have to do and the job is changing just a little bit. I think that’s been the best part. My tasks vary, I’m not doing to the same thing day in and day out.”

Some days she may enter data for waste tonnages in order to make graphs and visual aids showing waste and recycling trends on others, she could be looking at the change in the city’s program that included adding food waste.

“I like that it’s different all the time,” she said. “It’s not the same thing everyday day in and day out, it keeps me interested.”

One service that Gama said she is proud of the city implementing, and one that she had a hand in developing, is the bulky item drop off site, located near the intersection of Highway 59 and Yosemite Avenue.

“I always tell everybody that’s our solid waste gem in Merced,” Gama said.

Although there was initial concern of having an area where people drop off waste, Gama said the service was needed as the city stopped doing annual spring clean up events. That site has proven to be beneficial to people who have large items they need to get rid of and previously either had to take those items to the landfill or wait for the city’s spring clean up event to dispose of them.

Items such as electronics, home appliances, furniture, tires, mattresses, metal, batteries and cardboard are able to be dropped off at the site allowing them to be recycled and ultimately diverting them from the general waste stream. Gama said she has received positive feedback from inviduals in the community who have made use of the site.

“We brought that and we made that little part of our community better,” said Gama. “That makes me really happy working for the city, that we were able to do that. We were able to fill a need that our community needed and they love. That’s a special kind of feeling.”

Gama said the city is in the process of trying to incorporate clothing boxes at the site that would allow for people to drop off and donate clothes, allowing for textile recycling and diverting those items from the general waste stream.

As much of Merced’s recycling is transported to Fresno for additional processing, Gama said this due to the size of city’s population. Gama also said that once the city is able to build a food waste processing site, that too will be processed within the county.

Gama said the overall goal is for everyone to do their part when it comes to recycling. This means keeping the general waste stream as low as possible to ensure the longevity of the landfill, avoiding having to use additional land for landfill operations.

She said some people are hesitant to change, but that she and the people she works with, want to work with those in the community when it comes to recycling efforts.

“Even that little bit of waste that you’re recycling, if you did that everyday or every week, it adds up throughout the year,” said Gama. “Every little bit counts.”

This story was originally published August 21, 2025 at 11:16 AM.