From Guest Blogger Angie Mansfield: Time for a Recycling Program in the Neighborhood?

According to the EPA’s Municipal Solid Waste Generation, Recycling, and Disposal report for 2011 (the most recent year available), more than 9,800 curbside recycling programs exist nationwide, and more than 3,000 community composting programs are in place.

Cities across the country are taking measures to help alleviate the problem of overstuffed landfills.

Here are a few interesting numbers, along with information on how you can start a recycling program in your town:

Statistics

In 2011, the United States produced around 250 million tons of trash, recycling or composting almost 87 million tons of it. On average, America generates about 4.4 pounds of waste per person per day, and recycles about 1.53 pounds of that.

All that recycling translates to more than 20 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent eliminated from the air — about the same amount as if 4 million cars were removed from the road for a year.

Getting Started with Recycling

If you live in an apartment complex or city with no curbside recycling program, you may have to do some legwork to get one started. The first thing you’ll need to do is talk to your neighbors and grow support for your program.

Talk to your local municipality and find out if any recycling programs already exist or are in the works. If your city is going to implement a recycling program in the near future, you may not have to do much more than help raise awareness.

Planning Your Program

If no city-wide recycling program is planned, form a recycling team consisting of a few people from the neighborhood dedicated to getting the program off the ground.

Talk to schools and businesses in your neighborhood to find out if they’re interested in participating in your recycling program.

You’ll need to determine how much recyclable waste your neighborhood produces, so you can decide which materials you’ll be collecting.

For example, if your school will participate, how many cans and bottles do they discard after each lunch? How many newspapers and plastic milk jugs do you and your neighbors throw out every week?

Collection and Recycling

Finally, you’ll have to decide who will do the collection of your recyclables.

Contact your waste management company and find out if they have recycling services available — if so, they should provide you with containers for collection, too.

If your trash pickup company doesn’t take recycling, find out if there’s a nearby recycling company that does its own collection, or where you can take your recyclables.

Find out what materials your local recycling center can take and what they can’t — for example, not all recycling centers can accept electronics.

Starting a recycling program will take some planning and work.

By clearly defining goals and getting your neighbors on board, you can help ensure your community recycling program’s success and reduce landfill waste.

About the Author: Freelance writer Angie Mansfield covers a range of topics for both small business owners and consumers. Her work addresses both businesses and people of interest, including Steve Wynn.