Update Overview: Expand and Improve Recycling Citywide

Plastics #1 - #7 Are Now Recyclable

Great News! Starting this August, Philadelphia residents can now recycle plastics numbered #1- #7. Put contains like yogurt cups, medicine bottles, squeeze bottles, take out containers, and bottles for shampoo and conditioner into your recycling bin. Still not sure exactly what can and cannot be recycled? Check out this list of acceptable recycling materials.

In addition to the convenience of no longer having to pick through your plastics, more recyclable plastic means more material in your recycling bin, and more recyclables in your bin means more rewards for you and your neighbors through Philadelphia's Recycling Rewards program. If you haven't already signed up, register today.

Bring it Back Philly  

After a trip to the grocery store, you can now recycle more than just the bag you brought your food home in. The Bring it Back Philly campaign, spearheaded by Keep Philadelphia Beautiful (KPB), allows you to conveniently recycle plastic shopping bags, dry-cleaning bags, bread bags, wraps from paper towels, bathroom tissue, napkins, and diapers. Select supermarkets and pharmacies will have recycling bins to drop off your plastic bags and wraps.  The plastic is then refashioned into products for building construction, backyard fencing, or even for recycled plastic bags.

Take Advantage of a Green Reward

Now every neighborhood in Philadelphia can be rewarded for recycling. With the inclusion of the Northeast, the Philadelphia Recycling Rewards program is now available to all city residents. Participating households are given RFID tags to place on their blue bins to track how much they recycle.  Those numbers are then counted towards a community-wide total. Reward points are given to each participant based on the neighborhood total, and can be redeemed for gift cards or discounts at businesses.

Help the city reduce waste and earn points for your neighborhood by signing up today. If you've already signed up- start redeeming your points!

For more information about other recycling news, check out the Recycling Alliance of Philadelphia's website or sign up for the RecycleNOWPhilly newsletter.

Mayor's Proposed Budget Impacts on Recycling 

Mayor Nutter presented his Fiscal Year 2011 Budget Address to members of City Council last week.  We've looked over the proposed budget to see how it would affect the Next Great City (NGC) actions, and this is what we observed regarding recycling:

Recycling Mayor Nutter has proposed the Keep Philly Clean Service Fee, which would be $300 a year for most residents, or $200 for low-income households. While a pay as you throw system would help to incentivize recycling, a flat fee does not encourage people to produce less trash or to recycle more. However, residents that sign up with the Philadelphia Recycling Rewards program can earn up to $400 a year, offsetting the proposed trash fee.

The Keep Philly Clean Service as proposed will be a benefit to the NGC vacant lot recommendation by providing more revenue for cleaning and greening.  The funds would also restore leaf recycling, helping to increase composting.

Philadelphia Appoints Recycling Coordinator   

David Biddle has been appointed to the position of Recycling Coordinator in the Streets Department.  This position has been open for over a year, with an acting coordinator filling in. David previously worked for the Greater Philadelphia Commercial Recycling Council where he helped businesses and commercial establishments set up comprehensive waste and recycling programs.

The appointment of a new coordinator was recommended by the RecycleNOW campaign during the Mayoral election. The position is largely paid for by Department of Environmental Protection funds, and will help the city meet its Greenworks goals.   

Last Piece of Recycling Recommendation Announced

It's been a big year for recycling in Philadelphia. Single-stream, weekly recycling pick-up went into effect, bringing the recycling diversion rate to a record high in the city; and on street recycling made its debut with BigBelly units popping up throughout Center City.  

The last piece of the Next Great City recycling recommendation, the implementation of an incentive-based recycling program, was recently announced. Run through RecycleBank, the program will go into affect starting in North Philadelphia in February and spreading throughout the rest of the city over the following six month period.

You can learn more, and sign up at www.recyclingpaysphila.gov.

Recycling at an All Time High

Next Great City applauds the City of Philadelphia and you for making big strides in recycling.  According to the Mayor's Office of Sustainability, residential recycling in Philadelphia has reached an all time record with a 46 percent increase in household recycling over the last year. For fiscal year 2009 (July 2008 June 2009) the Streets Department collected 75,060 tons of waste from Philadelphia households, a 23,734 ton increase from last year. The average household with City collection recycled 278 pounds of their waste last year, 88 pounds more than in the previous year. The diversion rate, the amount of residential waste that ends up in recycling compared to trash, is now nearly 12-1/2 percent, an increase of over 5 percent since Mayor Nutter took office in January 2008. This amounts to saving of nearly $5,000,000 in avoided landfill costs.

Commercial Recycling

The City of Philadelphia's commercial recycling regulations require that all commercial buildings in all parts of the City including businesses, apartment buildings of more than six units, and schools provide recycling for their employees and/or tenants.

RecycleNOW will be holding meetings in the upcoming months to educate tenants and employees on how to advocate for recycling in their workplace or apartment. If you are interested in becoming a recycling advocate for your apartment building, condominium, or workplace please email your name and the name of your apartment building, condominium, or workplace to info@recyclenowphilly.org.

Public Recycling is Now Available in Philadelphia!

The city has installed 210 recycling bins throughout Center City along with 500 solar-powered trash compactor bins.  Combined, the two are estimated to save the city over $12 million dollars over the next 10 years in reduced emptying requirements and landfilling costs. 

 Philly One of Top 10 Least Wasteful Cities

 Philly is ranked 10th Least Wasteful City in the Country according to a study conducted by Nalgene 

Mayor Nutter announces that from January 5^, 2009 forward single stream recycling will be picked-up weekly throughout the city.

Recycling Help & Information

The City of Philadelphia has recently expanded single stream recycling citywide- making it easier than ever to recycle. However, many people still don't have a recycling bin. Bins are now being made available at select recreation centers around the City, found on this directory: http://64.78.36.115/pdf/facility-directory.pdf

However- you don't need a blue bin to recycle. Any hard-sided container clearly marked "RECYCLING" will do. You can also request a recycling sticker from the City for your container.

For any city-related recycling information, go to recyclingpays.phila.gov. If you have any customer service questions, you can email csstreets@phila.gov or call The Philadelphia Recycling Hotline at 215-685-RECYCLE (7329).

Single Stream Recycling Citywide

On July 7 2008 , Mayor Nutter announced Philadelphia's BINdependence Day, celebrating the expansion of single stream recycling citywide. Single stream recycling allows residents to put all of their recycling- including paper, glass, aluminum, cardboard and plastics in one bin for easier collection.

The Next Great City coalition recommended that Philadelphia provide single stream, weekly recycling to all residents to help boost the city's historically low recycling rate. The Mayor also plans to increase recycling collection to weekly citywide by January.

Still need helping navigating the often confusing world of recycling? Check out RecycleNOW Philadelphia's new website with all the Philly Recycling info you need.

Budget Committment

Mayor Michael Nutter backed up his campaign promise by boosting funding for recycling by $6.1 million in fiscal year 2009 and by $25 million over the next five years. This infusion of money means that the entire city will have single stream, weekly recycling by the end of the year!

RecycleNOW Philadelphia

The RecycleNOW campaign, a project of the Recycling Alliance of Philadelphia, succeeded in getting all of the Mayoral candidates to sign on to a 5-point agenda to improve recycling. In fact, recycling became one of the most discussed campaign issues!

You can get involved with the Recycling Alliance of Philadelphia by joining the RecycleNOW campaign! You can sign a petition, join a neighborhood RecycleNOW chapter and sign up for the RecycleNOW monthly newsletter.

To find out when RecycleNOW Philadelphia chapters meet, send an email to info@recyclenowphilly.org

• RecycleNOW Philadelphia