A Word About Recycling with Ollie Maier
I always enjoy seeing something in a recycling newsletter that demonstrates a company’s interest in recycling and thus promoting it. A recent Resource Recycling newsletter had not one, but two such items.
The first involves Pepsi. Under the title “PepsiCo pledges $10 million to support recycling,” the article started out, “PepsiCo has scaled up its commitment to The Recycling Partnership, and as a leader at the beverage company, says the money will be geared toward improving local programs.”
The money, $2 million each year for five years, is to be spent in two primary areas: 1) to increase access to recycling and 2) improving programs through education. They are hoping other companies will follow their lead and the amount raised could get to about $25 million.
With that amount, they hope to help about 2,800 communities around the country. The five-year aim is to recycle nearly two million tons of recyclables, including an estimated 7 billion bottles and cans.
“Initial funding will go toward recycling efforts in the Central Ohio region; El Paso, Texas; Miami and the state of Michigan.”
This program is part of The Recycling Partnership, which PepsiCo joined in August of last year. This partnership receives operation money from 40 companies and organizations.
To help insure I am not providing publicity for one company over another, I was very pleased to also see the following article in that newsletter. The opening of it was: “A $1 million grant from the Coca-Cola Foundation will kickstart a program to buy lidded recycling carts for coastal U.S. communities.”
These lidded carts will replace open-top receptacles.
“By providing households with a lidded container, we can help ensure that recyclables stay in the recycling stream and don’t end up in our oceans, rivers and lakes,” the Coca-Cola CEO said.
Thus these lidded carts will be going to U.S. communities fronting oceans and seas, as well as those along the Mississippi River and the Great Lakes.
The Coca-Cola Co. gave $1 million for the startup of The Recycling Partnership and is one of the largest funding partners. Over the past four years, they have donated another $2.3 million.
Switching subjects, as much as we like to mention positive things concerning recycling, we also feel obligated to report on the not-so-positive things. Here’s one that was included in the same newsletter. It was titled: “National statistics show stagnant U.S. diversion rate.”
It appears the country’s recycling and composting rate remains stuck at just over 34 percent, according to the U.S. EPA. This was in their report of 2015 estimates of recycling and composting in the U.S.
Using the figures for that year, our country had about 262.4 million tons of municipal solid waste (MSW). Of that total, about 67.8 million tons (25.8 percent) were recycled and 23.4 million tons (8.9 percent) were composted. This amounts to a 34.7 percent recycling and composting rate in 2015. Not that bad except it was almost the same as the 34.6 rate for 2014.
And of even more concern, is our recycling and composting rate has been between 34 percent and 35 percent since 2010. In fact, the 2015 rate was the same rate – 34.7 percent – achieved in 2011. However, we generated a lot more MSW between those two years. For example, just in 2015 there was 1.5 percent more MSW than 2014.
Enough for today, we will cover a bit more on this next week, till then, have a great one.
--Ollie is a local citizen concerned with the environment and helping others. A retired Air Force fighter and instructor pilot, he is a graduate of Leadership San Marcos and received his degrees at Texas State University where he worked on staff before totally retiring. For questions or comments, he invites you to call him at 512-353-7432 or e-mail omaier@txstate.edu.
