OAKLAND, Calif, Oct. 08, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- California Waste Solutions, Inc. is publishing its community giving record, documenting more than 100 corporate contributions and sponsorships from 2020 through 2026. The record covers COVID-19 relief, scholarships, sports, food assistance and community programs in the United States and internationally, including support for Vietnamese-American organizations and environmental programs.
Alongside the company’s contributions, the release highlights separately identified giving by David Duong, his family and affiliated businesses, including a $5 million scholarship commitment to Fulbright University Vietnam.
“Giving back is the cornerstone of a strong company that stands the test of decades of community service, and CWS prioritizes this front and center. Over the past five and a half years, CWS has made millions in charitable donations and we are showcasing this with the release of our Charitable Giving List today to encourage more companies to do the same. The more than corporations give back to the communities they serve, the stronger those communities become, benefiting the people who live there and the customers they serve,” said Michael Duong, President of California Waste Solutions.
Giving In Hard Times
In the first months of COVID-19, N95 masks and oxygen equipment were scarce on both sides of the Pacific. California Waste Solutions Founder & CEO David Duong did not wait for a federal allocation as many were at the time. Duong was able to use his relationships with Vietnam to bridge a supply shortage of crucial medical equipment at the time.
At Vietnam Waste Solutions’ operations in Ho Chi Minh City, the Duong family arranged on-site accommodation for employees so essential waste treatment services could continue. Alongside those efforts, the family supported the movement of masks and oxygen equipment to hospitals and community organizations in Vietnam and the United States.
California Waste Solutions’ records include a May 2020 KN95 mask purchase through U.S. Freight Systems as part of that response. Public accounts describe the broader pandemic effort: millions of masks and units of sanitizer distributed through local governments and community groups in California, and 1,200 oxygen concentrators sent by the Duong family to hospitals in Vietnam.
“Giving is most effective when people are either too scared or too reluctant to do it, and the COVID-19 period was the best example of that in recent history,” said David Duong. “Our focus had three parts: first, keeping employees safe, supported and working; second, putting systems in place so operations could continue smoothly; and third, making sure customers continued to receive service. With more people at home during the pandemic, household recycling could not be put on hold. We had to ramp up at a very, very difficult time.”
Bridging Vietnamese-American Education
In December 2024, David Duong committed $5 million to the scholarship fund at Fulbright University Vietnam in Ho Chi Minh City through Vietnam Waste Solutions, a wholly owned subsidiary of California Waste Solutions. Of that commitment, $1 million has already been contributed. The remaining $4 million is a matching commitment intended to attract additional donors and expand financial assistance for students who otherwise could not afford to attend.
The education commitment forms another chapter in the family’s connection between Vietnam and the United States. After losing its manufacturing plants in Vietnam following 1975, the family rebuilt its business in California and later brought American-standard waste treatment infrastructure to Ho Chi Minh City.
For David Duong, founder and owner of California Waste Solutions and Vietnam Waste Solutions, business growth and community giving have developed together. Since founding California Waste Solutions in Oakland in 1992, David Duong has built a business spanning California and Vietnam, while supporting medical relief, education and cultural programs in both countries. His Fulbright scholarship commitment extends that work to students facing financial barriers, reflecting a long-term vision of investing in people alongside the infrastructure that serves their communities.
“The Fulbright commitment extends our investment in Ho Chi Minh City from environmental infrastructure to education,” said David Duong. “At the end of the day, education is a cornerstone of a growing society and the global economy, and it is one of the causes we are most committed to supporting. The young people of today are the entrepreneurs of tomorrow.”
More Than 100 Contributions
California Waste Solutions serves more than 343,000 customers across Oakland and San José and operates six Bay Area facilities. The company processes approximately 1,000 tons of material per week in Oakland and approximately 1,300 tons per week in San José. Over its history, it has managed more than three million tons of material.
For example, the records show that this decade, the company’s longest continuous civic relationship is with the San Jose Police Foundation, where gifts and sponsorships run from 2021 through 2025. California Waste Solutions returned as Diamond Sponsor of the 2026 Major Awards Ceremony this month, which drew about 650 officers, officials and residents. Michael Duong, president of California Waste Solutions, sits on the Foundation board.
“Police officers work tirelessly to keep our streets and city safe, and we have profound admiration for their long hours and the demands of their work, often for low pay,” said Michael Duong. “It is an honor to return every year and recognize their service. Over the years, many of the officers in San José have become close friends.”
In Oakland, the giving record includes a 2021 contribution through the Oakland Chinatown Improvement Council designated for Oakland Police Department drones. Subsequent public accounts valued the contribution at approximately $80,000 and credited it with helping the department establish aerial support. The company also supported the council’s student backpack program in 2022 and sponsored the 2025 Oakland Chinatown Night Market.
Youth and education contributions include support for Oakland Dynamites Football Cheer Elite, Youth Uprising, Oakland Children’s Fairyland during National Public Works Week, the Oakland Parks and Recreation Foundation, Berryessa Education Foundation’s arts festival and two contributions to the International Education Leadership Foundation.
Food assistance and senior support include contributions to the Alameda County Community Food Bank and East Oakland Senior Center in 2020, Community Kitchen meals in East Oakland, turkey drives, Crown and Buccaneer Social Club’s West Oakland Thanksgiving program and charity golf tournaments, St. Mary Senior Center, Lend A Hand Foundation’s Joy of Giving and Got Souper.
Supporting Culture, Community and Environmental Programs
The record also documents support for Vietnamese-American civic and cultural organizations. Recipients and programs include the Consulate General of Vietnam in San Francisco, VENUSA, Viet Dreams Foundation, Viet Nam Radios, the Vietnamese-American Cultural Foundation, the Vietnamese American Heritage Foundation, Silicon Valley Chao Chow Community Center across multiple years, Saigon Broadcasting’s Senior Voice package and VACP cultural programming.
Separately, family and affiliated-business contributions have included more than $46,000 for Vietnamese language and cultural schools and more than $105,000 in relief following Typhoon Yagi.
“Taken together, these contributions represent a substantial amount of support for many causes,” said Michael Duong. “What we have found is that the more closely we work with a community, the better we understand where our support can make a meaningful difference. We take time to understand each cause and the people it serves. That is especially personal for us in Vietnamese-American communities, given our own family’s experience rebuilding our lives after immigrating from Vietnam.”
The giving record lists California Waste Solutions as a Gold Sponsor of the Californians Against Waste Foundation in 2021, 2025 and April 2026. That support sits alongside the company’s recycling operations and its interest in environmental research and education related to bottle bills, product stewardship and California’s 75 percent recycling target.
Other contributions include support for the American Cancer Society, Oakland Ballet, Family Bridges, LoveLife Foundation galas, Temescal Telegraph street fairs, the Oakland Roots Justice Match, Alameda County’s Illegal Dumping Conference in 2020 and 2026, and San José Spotlight.
“Waste is a problem for a community but it doesn’t often want to focus on solutions to it, which is our business. Providing a top-line recycling service is fundamentally about understanding your community better than anyone else,” Michael Duong said. “That’s what enables you to develop solutions to problems they have before they even think of them. Giving is at the heart of understanding a community.”
About California Waste Solutions
Founded in 1992 by David Duong, California Waste Solutions provides recycling collection, processing, customer service and material recovery for residential, commercial and municipal customers in Northern California, including Oakland and San José. Through its subsidiary Vietnam Waste Solutions, the company also operates large-scale environmental infrastructure in Ho Chi Minh City.
Headquarters: 1211 Embarcadero, Suite 300, Oakland, CA 94606. Learn more at www.calwaste.com.
Wendy Nguyen PR & Marketing Manager California Waste Solutions wendynguyen@calwaste.com
