Newport Beach trash wheel completes cycle in ribbon-cutting ceremony at Upper Newport Bay Nature Preserve

Newport Beach celebrated the completion of its $5.5-million trash interceptor at Upper Newport Bay Nature Preserve, a project proposed over eight years ago that is expected to prevent hundreds of tons of garbage from polluting a sensitive habitat.

Mayor Joe Stapleton joined Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley as well as other officials and members of the community during a ceremony Friday afternoon at the site of the new facility, near Jamboree Road where San Diego Creek feeds into the bay. Hawks and seagulls screeched overhead as officials cut a ribbon to commemorate its unveiling.

“Upper Back Bay is the jewel of the city,” Stapleton told the Daily Pilot ahead of the event. “You talk about the harbor, you talk about the bay, you talk about the beaches, that’s what makes us Newport Beach. And if we don’t protect that, we won’t be Newport.”

Mayor Joe Stapleton talks about the completion of the Newport Bay Trash Interceptor for the city of Newport Beach.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

Between 100 to 300 tons of trash make their way into Upper Newport Bay via San Diego Creek each year. Sending boats and people in to clean that up poses the risk of harming native plants and wildlife. Instead, the interceptor will scoop up as much as 80% of that garbage before it can reach the preserve.

The system is modeled after Baltimore’s two Mr. Trash Wheels, which use floating booms to direct debris toward a conveyor belt powered by a water wheel and solar panels. The belt deposits trash into dumpsters to be hauled away.

Trash receptacles move along the Newport Bay Trash Interceptor tracks for pick-up.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

City officials had been considering the trash interceptor since at least 2017. In July 2023, the City Council approved a contract with Jilk Heavy Construction to design and build the project. It broke ground the following September.

The project’s price tag rose over the course of several revisions from $4 million to $5.5 million. About $3.78 million of that was covered by state and county grants.

“As the sole county board member serving on the Orange County Transportation Authority Board, I’m proud to support this $5.5-million investment, the first of its kind on the West Coast,” Foley said Friday. “Newport Beach residents and visitors deserve to enjoy clean beaches and watershed.”

The garbage interceptor is just part of efforts to protect Upper Newport Bay, Stapleton said, and he looks forward to partnering with leaders in other communities, especially those upstream along San Diego Creek, on future sustainability projects.

Staff photographer Don Leach contributed to this report.

State Assemblywoman Diane Dixon congratulates Director of Public Works David Webb for a job well done during a ribbon-cutting ceremony for completion of the Newport Bay Trash Interceptor.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)