SWANA Celebrates America Recycles Day

Silver Spring, MD – November 13, 2018 – The Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) encourages everyone to support recycling as they celebrate America Recycles Day on November 15.

“It is important not only to recycle, but do it right,” said David Biderman, SWANA’s Executive Director and CEO. “Countless people recycle; however, many may not realize that they are not doing it correctly. America Recycles Day is the right moment to raise awareness of this problem and to improve our habits and the environment. SWANA will be participating in EPA’s America Recycles Day Summit taking place in Washington D.C., where key stakeholders will discuss how to address current recycling challenges.”

High levels of contamination – dirty recyclables and non-recyclable materials – heading to processing facilities and ultimately to end markets have led to major restrictions in how and where U.S. recycling programs are able to sell recovered materials. To counter this, recycling industry participants are working together to encourage greater awareness about the need to Recycle Right in each local area. As a part of that growing national coalition of organizations supporting recycling improvements, SWANA is pleased to participate in America Recycles Day.

America Recycles Day is an opportunity to raise awareness and provide useful information to the general public. To foster public education for Recycling Right, SWANA has created a short video addressing common items that should not be recycled in curbside recycling bins. These include plastic bags, hoses, food scraps, batteries and dirty diapers. For all other materials, SWANA encourages people to check local recycling program guidelines and “when in doubt, throw it out.”

“SWANA supports recycling and material recovery,” said Frank Caponi, SWANA’s International President. “Being knowledgeable about your local recycling program rules and committing to Recycle Right at home, at work, and on the go are important steps every person can take to improve local programs this year.”

Keep America Beautiful invites all interested to take the #BeRecycled pledge to focus more on an aspect of recycling. This pledge is a good way to learn more about the procedures at local facilities. Different communities vary in what can and cannot be recycled in the area.

SWANA fully supports the importance of recycling to our economy and environmental well-being, and encourages the public to get involved by celebrating America Recycles Day, and recycling right, every day.

To learn more about America Recycles Day 2018, visit https://americarecyclesday.org/.

For more information on SWANA, visit https://swana.org/.

About SWANA

The Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) is an organization of more than 10,000 public and private sector professionals committed to advancing from solid waste management to resource management through their shared emphasis on education, advocacy and research. For more than 50 years, SWANA has been the leading association in the solid waste management field. SWANA serves industry professionals through technical conferences, certifications, publications, and a large offering of technical training courses. Follow on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.

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