Keep America Beautiful (KAB) and Nestle Waters North America have announced the third annual Recycle-Bowl competition, a month-long challenge to see which U.S. school can become the national recycling champion.

Elementary, middle and high schools across the country can register through the official Recycle-Bowl website. The program, which first launched in 2011 as a way to encourage recycling in schools, will run from Oct. 21 to Nov. 15. Winners from each participating state will be awarded $1,000, with an undisclosed grand prize going to the overall winner.

Recycle-Bowl 2012 was a big year for Kokomo, Indiana's Taylor Primary. Students recycled 47 pounds of waste, per student, on their way to becoming the national recycling champion. School principal Terry Stokes told Resource Recycling another win is in view: "Being the National Recycling Champions last year was a huge accomplishment for our little students. They enjoyed having our award celebration in a school-wide convocation, especially the part where our high school cheerleaders cheered about recycling while flipping through the air."

If the program's first two years are any indication, competition should increase in 2013. In the competition's second year, student participation nearly doubled from 500,000 in 2011 to 900,000 in 2012. KAB's Kelley Dennings is challenging students to keep at it in 2013. "In partnership with Nestle Waters North America, Keep America Beautiful has a goal of reaching 1,750 schools in 2013 and engaging over 1.5 million students," she told Resource Recycling. "This would be a 25 percent increase in the number of registered schools, a goal that we were able to attain in 2012."

Get your school recycling containers from Fibrex Group. Our wide selection of smart receptacles will enhance your school or university, as well as collecting recyclables for Recycle-Bowl. Who knows, your school may even win the 2013 championship?! Check us out at www.fibrexgroup.com or give us a call at 866-756-4560 to see how we can help you close the loop on your campus.

Original by Bobby Elliott for Resource Recycling

The Envirodesign RL4200 is the perfect outdoor recycling container for collecting waste and recyclables in public spaces. Built to withstand the most demanding high traffic public areas and attractive enough for the most discriminate of locations. This 2-compartment recycling bin is made from recycled materials as well - from recycled plastic milk jugs!!

The large drop-in openings give you the flexibility to collect a wide variety of paper, plastic or glass, compostables or waste. The recyclables are collected inside with two rigid half-moon plastic liners that hold 21 gallons each. Openings are 8” round for waste and a 6” round single stream recycling configuration.

The recycled plastic lumber slats that surround the outside base of the recycling container are available in the following colors: Cedar, Brown, Gray, White, Black, Yellow, Blue & Red.

Dual opening lid color options are: Green, Blue, White, Black, Gray, Yellow, Red, Tan, Orange, Maroon, Purple & we can also match any custom color.
 
Recycled plastic lumber has a wood-like appearance and does not require any maintenance since it does not absorb any moisture. It will never need waterproofing, painting or staining and will never rot, rust, crack decay, split or splinter. Recycled plastic lumber is the environmentally friendly and economically superior alternative to traditional wood, steel and aggregate concrete products.

Public area recycling containers permit people to practice their good recycling habits when at work or at play. Our multi-compartment receptacles allow for source-separated collection of recyclable beverage containers, recyclable paper products, compostables and residue waste products. Designed to last, resist vandalism and bad weather, these receptacles are attractive in design and perfect for high traffic areas such as parks, universities, city streets, sidewalks and many other pedestrian public spaces.

Call us now at 1-866-756-4560 or contact us for more information. We offer excellent factory direct and GSA contract pricing for your needs.

On course to double its recycling rate to 30% by 2017 and save at least $60 million annually, New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg unveiled a new public information campaign – "Recycle Everything" – to remind everyone how easy it can be to make a measurable difference.

Scraps of colorful brand product labels make up artsy collages that are being placed in print publications this week and will be seen in subways and were placed on streets starting Aug. 5. Shaped like bottles, cans, magazines, and yogurt containers, the collages have slogans, such as "Give new life to old plastics," "Turn this issue into next week's," and "Recycled as a can. Reborn as a can."

The "Recycle Everything" ads highlight ambitious policies and investments that will allow more waste to be recycled in The Big Apple, or as one proponent put it: to realize the fruit scraps of their labor.

The campaign precedes a plan to expand food waste collection this fall from a few select Manhattan high-rises to neighborhoods in Brooklyn and the Bronx. In the spring, Queens and Staten Island will begin organics recycling and the program will reach an estimated 125,000 residents.

The "Recycle Everything" campaign follows an April initiative that allows New Yorkers to recycle all rigid plastics, including toys and hangers. That marked the largest expansion of the recycling program in 25 years.

"The tagline sums up nicely how far we've come: Recycle everything," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said during the campaign launch on Monday.

New Yorkers generate 11,000 tons of waste every day. In total, metal, glass plastic and food waste, textiles and electronics account for 80% of the waste stream. The mayor said the public information campaign and expanded collection services into the final frontier of food waste will help divert materials that can be recycled away from landfills.

"These ambitious policies will save at least $60 million in taxpayer dollars and have a significant environmental impact, making them the type of investments we need to secure the city's future," Bloomberg said.

Organic waste accounts for more than 35% of New York City's total waste stream. Recycling diverts it from landfills to be composted or converted into energy. In places where food waste recycling is offered, the Department of Sanitation has found the voluntary participation rate exceeds 50%.

For households that want to compost but aren't in a pilot area, the city is partnering with the non-profit group GrowNYC to begin food scrap collection at drop-off points in five boroughs. The compost will be used at community gardens. The GrowNYC collection program is on track to divert more than 1 million pounds from landfills this year.

The city also developed Re-Fashion, a program for clothing and textile collection service in more than 280 buildings city-wide.

In addition, it is planning the most expansive electronics waste recycling collection service in the United States.  Announced in May, the first phase of the program calls for registering buildings with more than 10 units. The city hopes to enroll most buildings before a ban on disposing of electronics in residential trash takes effect in 2015.

A perfect collection receptacle for this program is Fibrex Group’s Profile 6 Recycling container. With its streamlined simplicity, the Profile 6 is a versatile, go-anywhere kind of recycling container. Its curvy lines offer a contemporary look and the six compartments can be set up to fit your custom needs. Each compartment is equipped with a heavy-duty, 32-gallon collection bin, user friendly drop-in opening, and doughnut shaped recycling decal. Please visit www.fibrexgroup.com for more information.

For more information on recycling containers for New York, contact us.

Original by Katherine Cavanaugh - Waste & Recycling News

Last week, the owners of Fibrex had the honor of attending the memorial garden dedication for a wonderful young man whose life was cut too short. Ian Michael Burgett is the son of Roger & Tammy and the brother of Sam Burgett. Ian was attending his senior year Nansemond Suffolk Academy (NSA) and preparing to attend James Madison University, when he was tragically killed in an auto accident. The Burgett family is friends of ours whom we have the pleasure of knowing in our neighborhood at Book Club, Bunco, Fantasy Football, and while boating on the James River.

After Ian’s death, Tammy contacted NSA about creating a memorial garden at the school where students could gather and reflect during their day - even give them a chance to be reminded about who Ian was and share memories about him. Tammy is a Master Gardener herself so she had great plans about what the space would entail. Suzanne learned about Tammy’s plans while chatting with her on a Friday night. She offered that Fibrex could donate a bench to the garden for the students to relax on. Tammy agreed.

At the office next Monday, Suzanne emailed NSA and Tammy with the bench options that might suit for the garden. Within a week or so, Kenda Council from NSA contacted Suzanne about their decision of what model the bench would be. Fibrex began production of the Victorian Bench that would be placed in Ian’s garden.

We like the fact that the bench is made from recycled plastic bottles and sustainable. It also shows that whether the person whom it is dedicated to is still here or not, their soul and energy will continue to go on. Just like the renewable materials in the bench.

The bench looks wonderful standing next to the plaque that NSA provided in the garden. It was bittersweet attending the dedication last week. It brought back a lot of memories of Ian for us and the many classmates that attended. Wearing Ian’s favorite color pink and seeing the pink ribbon on the bench, we were all reminded of what an intelligent, athletic, kind and caring young man Ian was. He always lived life to the fullest with no regrets and made every day count. As Sam cut the pink ribbon I couldn’t help but think that the many students who will hang out in the courtyard will ultimately think back with fond memories of their fellow classmate, Ian Burgett. A talented son, brother, friend, student, swimmer, soccer player, sailor, runner and all around great guy who touched many lives and whom we all miss very deeply!!