WASHINGTON: The recycling volumes have nearly doubled-a clear indication of the thumping success of the Knoxville curbside recycling program. The new household recycling program launched in October 2011 had registered 13,200 households initially. The number of households crossed 20,000 by December 2011.
In terms of volume, the curbside program which averaged between 4500 to 5000 tons per year has now touched 9,000-almost the double. The Knoxville Recycles Coalition which co-ordinates the recycling efforts say the city is planning to expand the program this summer so as to include as many as 1,900 more households who are now on wait list.
The curbside program has its own unique features which make it more convenient for the public. Households do not have to sort the materials before dumping in their bins. City residents with garbage pick-up have no additional fees for the recycling service. The city residents would just need to rinse all recyclable containers and flatten all the recyclable boxes before placing them into the cart.
The cart just needs to be taken to the curb. Recyclable items that can be included in the cart are Plastics(plastic bottles, plastic jugs, milk jugs, detergent containers, all plastic containers # 1-7),Metals(aluminum, steel and tin cans),Glass(glass bottles and brown/clear/green glass jars) and Paper(newspaper, magazines, junk mail, office paper, cereal boxes, cardboard, shredded paper).
Items that could not be included are aluminum foil, batteries, ceramics, dishes, electronics, food waste, hazardous waste, light bulbs, medical waste, mirrors, plastic bags, shrink wrap, styrofoam, trash, window glass, or yard waste. The participants can also register at Recyclebank, a nationwide agency that allots points to households depending on the weight of recyclables in their cart. The points thus earned can be redeemed at major shopping outlets.The Knoxville Recycles Coalition runs environmentally sound recycling programs by helping reduce the materials going to the landfill.
Source: http://www.scrapmonster.com/news/the-success-story-of-knoxville-curbside-recycling-program/1/8629
