In 2010, Americans generated about 250 million tons of trash and recycled and composted nearly 85 million tons of this material, equivalent to a 34.0 percent recycling rate. On average, we recycled and composted 1.51 pounds out of our individual waste generation of 4.43 pounds per person per day. See the Envrionmental Protection Agency website for details.
Americans are estimated to spend $11 billion dollars on SuperBowl food and preparations this weekend. How will you minimize your waste for this epic event? Click Here to see how the NFL is doing their part.
| Activity | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Generation | 251.4 | 243.7 | 249.9 |
| Recycling | 61.7 | 61.5 | 64.8 |
| Composting | 22.1 | 20.8 | 20.2 |
| Total Recovery | 83.8 | 82.3 | 85.0 |
| Combustion | 31.6 | 29.0 | 29.3 |
| Landfill | 136.0 | 132.4 | 135.7 |
RECYCLE YOUR PLASTIC BAGS AT YOUR SUPERMARKET OR AS A
SEPARATE COLLECTION AT OUR TRANSFER STATIONS
NOT IN YOUR PERSONAL RECYCLING BIN
According to www.cleanair.org, “Americans use ~1 billion plastic shopping bags a year creating 300,000 tons of landfill waste since less than 1% are recycled.”
Material Recovery Facilities are mandating a reduction or elimination of contamination in accepted recycling loads. Film plastics (plastic shopping bags) are a major contributor to contamination. Contaminated loads will incur a fee or be sent to the landfill. Please take your plastic bags to Price Chopper, Hannaford, Shaw’s or other retailers where bags are accepted to be sent to a facility for proper recycling.
What's even better than recycling your plastic shopping bags? Not using them at all. Help reduce the number of bags that go to the landfill. Make reusable shopping bags a habit, tell cashiers you don't need a bag or recycle your plastic (and paper) shopping bags properly.