Our Story & Mission
A nonprofit built on the belief that cleaning our environment and lifting our communities are not two separate missions — they are one.
Urban Recyclers Inc. was founded in 2014 with a mission that goes far beyond sorting cans and bottles. We are a nonprofit redemption center with a vision — to transform the way communities think about waste, work, and one another.
We believe that environmental responsibility and human dignity are inseparable. You cannot truly clean a neighborhood without also lifting the people who live in it. That is the foundation everything we do is built on.
From our very first day, we have served with integrity, compassion, and an unwavering commitment to the communities that need us most — veterans returning from service, individuals experiencing homelessness, and hardworking families doing whatever it takes to get by.
Our Official Statement
Urban Recyclers Inc. exists because our planet cannot wait, and neither can our people. Every year, millions of tons of recyclable materials — aluminum cans, glass bottles, plastic containers, cardboard — are needlessly buried in landfills across America. This is not just an environmental failure. It is a missed opportunity. An opportunity to employ those who need work. An opportunity to generate income for those who have none. An opportunity to restore pride, purpose, and cleanliness to neighborhoods that deserve better.
Our agenda is clear and unapologetic: we are here to clean up our neighborhoods, and we intend to do it by employing the very people our society has too often forgotten. Veterans who served this country and came home to struggle. Men and women experiencing homelessness who are searching for stability and a path forward. Working-class families doing everything right but still falling short. These are our people. This is our community. And Urban Recyclers Inc. will not stop until every one of them has a place where they are welcomed, respected, and given a genuine opportunity to rebuild.
The work is simple but powerful: collect recyclable materials, separate them with precision and care, redeem them for value, and return that value — financial, environmental, and human — to the communities we serve. Every can redeemed is litter removed from a street. Every bottle sorted is a job created. Every bag processed is a step away from the landfill and toward a cleaner, healthier future for our children.
We call on individuals, businesses, property managers, and organizations to partner with Urban Recyclers Inc. — not as a charity, but as an investment in the communities you live and work in. When you bring your recyclables to us, you are not just doing the right thing for the environment. You are funding jobs. You are supporting veterans. You are helping someone get back on their feet. You are making a statement that in your neighborhood, people matter and the planet matters — and no one has to choose between the two.
This is the Urban Recyclers mission. This is our promise to every community we touch. Together, we will repair our world — one neighborhood, one family, one can at a time.
Our Three Pillars
We hold ourselves accountable to the planet. That means refusing to allow recyclable materials to become landfill waste. It means precise separation, responsible disposal, and a zero-tolerance policy for avoidable contamination. The environment has no voice — we speak for it through our actions.
Recycling creates real income. We exist to ensure that income reaches the hands of those who need it most. By employing veterans, those experiencing homelessness, and underserved community members, we prove that environmental work and economic opportunity are the same work.
Every person who walks through our doors is treated with the highest standards of care and respect — no exceptions. We are not a last resort. We are a first choice for people who want to contribute to something meaningful and be seen as the capable, worthy individuals they are.
Who We Serve
Urban Recyclers Inc. was built to serve the people our society most often overlooks. Every program, every partnership, and every redemption we process is done in their honor.
Those who served our country deserve more than a thank you. They deserve opportunity. Urban Recyclers Inc. actively recruits and employs veterans, providing stable work, community, and a mission-driven environment that honors their service.
We provide a safe, respectful, and income-generating opportunity for individuals experiencing homelessness. Collecting and redeeming cans and bottles is honest work that creates real earnings — and we make sure every person doing that work is treated with dignity.
For families stretched thin by rising costs, supplemental income from recycling can mean the difference between making rent or not. We welcome every family that comes to us and ensure the redemption process is fast, fair, and worth their time.
Our Promise
We make a promise to every person who walks through our doors: you will be seen, you will be respected, and you will be served with care. No judgment. No barriers. Just a genuine commitment to your wellbeing and the wellbeing of the community around you.
We are building something bigger than a recycling center. We are building a model — proof that a business can do right by the earth and by its people at the same time. Proof that in our communities, no one has to be left behind.