Recycling Boost?

Local government officials looking to boost recycling rates in their jurisdictions may have a new weapon in their fight to do so. Earlier this year, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the audit and investigative arm of the U.S. Congress, released a report featuring the oh-so-punchy title, “Additional Efforts Could Increase Municipal Recycling.” The nearly 50-page report was requested by U.S. Sens. Tom Carper, D-Del.; Barack Obama, D-Ill.; Olympia Snowe, D-Maine; and Ron Wyden, D-Ore.

As part of their legwork for the report, GAO investigators interviewed 11 recycling coordinators about practices in their cities. The coordinators urged making recycling as easy as possible for residents by offering both curbside collection service and community drop-off locations. They also recommended giving residents a financial incentive to recycle and conducting significant public education efforts.

The stakeholders and other recycling stakeholders interviewed also would like to see some recycling policies implemented at the federal level, such as a national bottle bill allowing consumers to return beverage containers in exchange for money and a law requiring manufacturers to establish systems permitting consumers to return and recycle used items.

Waste Age will have a more in-depth analysis of the study in the Trends section of an upcoming edition.

The author is the editor of Waste Age