Recycling innovation and partnership are themes of this year’s America Recycles Day®, a Keep America Beautiful® national program that takes place on and surrounding Nov. 15.
Local organizations, including the Keep America Beautiful national network of more than 600 community-based affiliates, governmental institutions, schools, businesses, faith-based organizations and other community partners, schedule educational workshops and recycling collection events in communities throughout November in celebration of America Recycles Day.
Keep America Beautiful, in concert with the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has a series of initiatives from Monday, Nov. 11, through Friday, Nov. 15, highlighting how all Americans from the business community to our armed services are banding together to recycle more and recycle right.
On Monday, Nov. 11, Keep America Beautiful will participate in a ceremony at Fort Bliss to honor the inaugural American Recycles Day Recycling Heroes and recognize the Fort Bliss Recycling Heroes for their commitment to recycling. Fort Bliss was selected as a pilot Net Zero Waste installation, which considers the waste stream when purchasing items, reducing the volume of packaging, reusing as much as possible, and recycling the rest. With over a 50% waste diversion rate, the Net Zero Program is demonstrating results worthy of national attention.
The America Recycles Innovation Fair, in Washington, D.C. on Thursday, Nov. 14, will showcase recent advances in recycling technology, product development and materials usage. Exhibitors will showcase new recyclable products, goods made from recycled content, innovative education and communication methods or materials that promote more effective recycling. The Innovation Fair will connect the public as well as potential investors with recycling innovators, thereby spurring market development and adoption of new technologies that increase recycling rates as well as create new products comprised of post-recycled content.
Keep America Beautiful and America Recycles Day National Sponsors are hosting a America Recycles Day Reception at the Reagan Building in Washington D.C. This will be a great opportunity to network with government officials and recycling professionals from across the nation as we celebrate the successes and future of recycling innovation in America.
Keep America Beautiful urges people to pledge to reduce, reuse, repurpose, and recycle in every aspect of their life. Available online and via paper pledges at America Recycles Day events across the country, the #BeRecycled Pledge is a promise to actively choose to:
- Recycle at home, work/school and on the go;
- Buy products made with recycled content; and
- Educate and encourage friends, family and neighbors to take the #BeRecycled Pledge.
“America Recycles Day educates people about the importance of recycling to our economy and environmental well-being and helps to motivate occasional recyclers to become everyday recyclers,” said Keep America Beautiful President & CEO Helen Lowman. “This national initiative also highlights how we can be more mindful about using or purchasing products made with recycled content and to do all we can to reduce contamination in the recycling stream.”
Event organizers can still access valuable resources to plan, promote, and host an event on the America Recycles Day website. Events can still be scheduled leading into the official America Recycles Day celebration, Nov. 15, and throughout the month of November. For recycling educators, the program provides an opportunity to improve recycling by reminding individuals what can be recycled in their local communities.
Sponsors of this year’s America Recycles Day include Title Sponsor Cox Enterprises, as well as American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA), Coors Light, Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI), International Bottled Water Association (IBWA), Macerich, Mars Wrigley Confectionery, Northrop Grumman Corporation, The Recycling Partnership (TRP) and Waste Management.