California Waste Solutions nears 35 years with Bay Area and Vietnam operations

California Waste Solutions is marking nearly 35 years in recycling and environmental infrastructure as founder David Duong highlights the company’s growth from eight used trucks in Oakland to a two-country operation. The company now serves more than 343,000 customers in the Bay Area and runs major waste infrastructure in Ho Chi Minh City.

Why it matters: - California Waste Solutions has become a large municipal recycling and environmental infrastructure operator with reach in California and Vietnam. - The company’s growth shows how residential service, material recovery and waste infrastructure can scale into a cross-border business. - The company now serves more than 343,000 customers across Oakland and San Jose, so its operations affect daily waste and recycling service for hundreds of thousands of residents and businesses.

What happened: - California Waste Solutions is approaching its 35th year in business after David Duong founded the company in Oakland in 1992. - The company received its first City of Oakland franchise in 1993 and has served Oakland continuously since then. - California Waste Solutions later expanded into San Jose and built an operating network around collection, processing, material recovery, customer service and commodity marketing. - The company operates six Bay Area recycling facilities. - Through Vietnam Waste Solutions, California Waste Solutions also manages large-scale waste infrastructure in Ho Chi Minh City. - Duong said the milestone reflects what immigrant entrepreneurs can build through long-term work and persistence. - Duong said the business started with eight used trucks and a family willing to work.

The details: - California Waste Solutions provides residential recycling collection in Oakland through Oakland Recycles and in San Jose through San Jose Recycles. - The company also serves commercial customers, including manufacturers, offices, retailers, restaurants and multifamily properties. - Collection is only the first step in a larger system that includes sorting, processing, material recovery, logistics and commodity marketing. - At processing facilities, mixed loads are separated into paper, cardboard, plastics, metals and glass. - The materials are prepared to meet the specifications of mills, processors and other buyers before returning to manufacturing. - Drivers, mechanics, facility teams, customer service employees and supervisors each play a role in keeping the system running. - California Waste Solutions says it has invested more than $2 million in upgrades to operating systems over time to improve coordination, efficiency, safety and service performance. - The company is evaluating infrared cameras, smoke and heat detection systems and fire-extinguishing components for collection vehicles to improve early detection and response to battery-related or other hazardous-material incidents. - California Waste Solutions is also evaluating electric and lower-emission collection vehicles for longer-term fleet planning. - Inside its recycling facilities, the company continues to modernize sorting and processing systems and improve employee visibility into material flow and equipment performance. - The company remains family-owned and operated, with Michael Duong as president, Johnny Duong as chief operating officer, Kristina Duong as chief financial officer and Victor Duong as executive vice president of public affairs. - Those roles cover operations, finance, public affairs, municipal relationships and long-term planning. - California Waste Solutions says the next generation grew up working inside the business rather than taking over all at once. - The company produces recycling guides, multilingual communications and property-manager resources. - California Waste Solutions also conducts school visits and public outreach. - Recent community activities included the Lakeshore Street Festival in Oakland, the Oakland Housing Authority Summer Block Party and recycling education with a local Daisy Scout troop. - The company participates in programs serving seniors, young people and multifamily communities. - California Waste Solutions is working with the City of San Jose on a planned 2027 household battery recycling program. - The company says the program is meant to keep batteries out of the conventional recycling stream, where damaged or mishandled batteries can create fire risks. - In December 2024, David Duong committed $5 million to the scholarship fund at Fulbright University Vietnam through Vietnam Waste Solutions. - One million dollars has been contributed so far, and the remaining $4 million is structured as a matching commitment. - During the COVID-19 pandemic, a manufacturing operation in Vietnam produced masks and hand sanitizer distributed in California through local governments and community organizations. - Millions of units were donated, and the Duong family also sent 1,200 oxygen concentrators to hospitals in Vietnam. - Other support has included Vietnamese language and culture schools, California cancer patients, humanitarian relief after Typhoon Yagi in northern Vietnam and the Oakland Dynamites youth football program. - California Waste Solutions will mark its 35th anniversary in 2027.

Between the lines: - The company is positioning recycling as a service business that depends on infrastructure, labor, safety systems and public education, not just curbside pickup. - Its Vietnam operation gives California Waste Solutions experience with landfill engineering, composting, wastewater treatment, landfill-gas recovery and energy generation at a much larger scale than a typical recycling company. - The Da Phuoc Integrated Solid Waste Facility in Ho Chi Minh City receives more than 6,500 tons of waste per day and handles about 2.4 million tons annually. - Da Phuoc is Southeast Asia’s first and only integrated solid waste facility and Vietnam’s largest landfill operation. - A World Bank environmental assessment described the Da Phuoc complex as Vietnam’s largest solid waste processing complex. - The facility combines recycling, material recovery, sanitary landfill management, composting, industrial leachate and wastewater treatment, treated-water reuse, landfill-gas collection and electricity generation. - California Waste Solutions agreed to develop Da Phuoc under a structure that gave the company ownership of the facility and required U.S. environmental standards. - The company says Da Phuoc remains the only landfill in Vietnam developed to U.S. Subtitle D standards. - The international footprint also reflects David Duong’s path from Vietnamese refugee to business owner spanning both countries. - The company says only one American employee remains on the ground in Vietnam, while Vietnamese engineers, employees and technical personnel run the operation.

What’s next: - California Waste Solutions says it will keep reinvesting in safety systems, sorting technology and fleet planning as recycling streams become more complex. - The company’s planned San Jose battery recycling program is set for 2027. - As California Waste Solutions approaches its 35th year, performance will continue to be measured by safe, consistent service and the reliability of its infrastructure. - The company’s next phase will likely center on handling changing material streams, tighter commodity standards and growing expectations from cities for operational visibility.