San Diego is celebrating America Recycles Day today, in part, with the announcement that it has hit a milestone recycling rate of 68%.
It was only one year ago that the city’s recycling rate topped out at 66% and residents were told they could start to put No. 5 plastics such as butter and yogurt containers in with their residential recycling bins, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.
It was because of the new plastics inclusion that the change generated an estimated 750 tons of plastic in its first year, Ken Prue, recycling manager for the city, told the newspaper.
The city’s initiatives are part of a larger movement to preserve natural resources, the newspaper said. California legislators recently set a “policy goal” of diverting 75% of waste from landfills by 2020. The state is at about 65% now, the newspaper said, a number that has been on the rise since the landmark mandate of 50% was set by the California Legislature in 1989.
Source: Waste & Recycling News
By Shawn Wright