Volume 20, No. 4
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Selected Articles:
Southern Appalachian Recycling
Recycling Infrastructure Scorecard
America Recycles Day November 15
Bellsouth Directory Campaigns
A Canthology Of Fun Facts
NAPCOR Introduces Recycling Toolkit For Pet Containers
Franklin Associates Notes Increase in Recycling Numbers in U.S.
What's Happening In Kentucky's Watersheds
Recycling Promotion To Change

Southern Appalachian Recycling
SAR is a non profit organization that operates with grant monies to train liaisons who promote recycling through the schools in counties in which it has a presence. It has been providing recycling education in Letcher County schools since 1994. In 1996, SAR contracted with schools in 16 additional counties to provide recycling education. In addition to the 17 county service area, SAR assists other counties with educational materials as requested. Buying recycled has been one of its biggest promotions.

BIRP has worked with the SAR to set up cafeteria recycling in Letcher and Magoffin Counties and to increase participation in recycling programs in all counties in the SAR work area. To date, 105 of the 171 schools in the SAR service area have established recycling collection programs. (Click here to return to top.)

Recycling Infrastructure Scorecard
The following information is from the 1999 Annual Reports submitted by counties. Drop Off Recycling Centers: These are locations where citizens can bring recyclable materials. The drop off center may or may not have processing capabilities.

      411 centers are located in 105 counties statewide           
      226 are privately owned and operated           
      185 are publicly owned and operated

Curbside Recycling Programs: Most curbside recycling programs are voluntary with many requiring a subscription. Reported participation by those who have curbside service ranges from 5 percent to 100 percent. Some curbside recycling programs serve very limited areas.

Curbside collection programs are valuable in that they collect a wide range of materials and the program is growing in Kentucky.

Composting Operations:

      41 Operations in Kentucky
      26 publicly owned and operated
      15 privately owned and operated

The 1999 county reports indicate 2,745,637 tons of materials were collected for recycling. 13,768 gallons of anti freeze were recycled, and 1,507,891 gallons of used motor oil was recycled.

Currently, there are 163 privately owned and operated recycling facilities in Kentucky, while there are 53 county or city operations. These facilities are located in 82 counties. The service areas for the recycling operations range from local to regional.

The distribution of materials accepted is as follows:

• 75 percent accept aluminum
• 41 percent accept corrugated cardboard
• 40 percent accept newspapers
• 33 percent accept plastic soda bottles
• 33 percent accept plastic milk jugs
• 33 percent accept tin cans
• 30 percent accept glass bottles

While some centers pay for materials such as aluminum cans, most simply accept materials without payment or charge a fee to take items such as batteries, tires, etc. (Click here to return to top.)

America Recycles Day November 15
The fourth America Recycles Day is scheduled to take place on November 15, 2000. The Kentucky coordinating committee has been meeting for many weeks now, and is distributing pledge cards to thousands of Kentuckians. The pledge cards indicate that the person signing the card accepts responsibility for recycling and pledges to follow through.

Pledge cards will be mailed into a central location, and one card will be selected to win a new $250,000 home built entirely out of recycled materials. The Post Office, local government office, BIRP, Grocers, and Solid Waste Coordinators will be distributing the pledge cards.

This year, the committee has set up a contest and will recognize 10 businesses, schools, or organizations who have done an outstanding job of recycling. Entries into the contest will be received until October 25 and will be judged November 1. Plans are to have the Governor or Secretary of the Natural Resources Cabinet to present the awards on November 15 at the Capitol.

Nominations are being sought for the awards. Awards will be made to large, medium and small firms and to schools in recognition of their efforts in recycling. Four points being considered by the committee include:

1. Purchasing practices: Are the firms buying recycled materials? Are they practicing waste reduction purchasing, i.e., take back pallets, returned cardboard boxes, less packaging?
2. What does the firm recycle. Is the business recycling materials in house? What kinds of materials are being recycled? Do they have recycling baskets at employee work stations?
3. How much material is being recycled? What quantities of materials are being recycled?
4. Are the firms using recycled materials as “feed stock” for their operations?

Businesses are encouraged to enter this competition. It is important that we catalog what businesses are doing in this area. Entries should be sent to BIRP, P.O. Box 1143, Frankfort, KY 40602, Attn: D. Ray Gillespie. Entrties must be in hand by October 25 at the very latest for consideration and judging by the America Recycles Day Committee. Entries should be typed on no more than two pages, with pictures as appropriate.

Various activities are scheduled to take place between October 15 and November 15. Appearances will be arranged on TV talk shows…electronic banners at various sporting events will tout the day, and local governments will issue proclamations urging the public to take part. (Click here to return to top.)

Bellsouth Directory Campaigns
The following communities have set approximate dates for fall/early winter new BellSouth directory delivery dates for communities with phone book recycling programs. Information on the likely tonnage based on previous year’s tons collected and the Bellsouth manager in charge of the recycling campaign have been included. Contact these managers directly for further information on the campaigns.

      Christian county, KY – November-December
      11 tons collected – BellSouth Manager – Thompson  

      Richmond, KY – January – February
      7 tons – BellSouth Manager – Thompson

      Winchester, KY – January-February
      4 tons – BellSouth Manager – Thompson

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A Canthology Of Fun Facts
A little rusty on your can history? Read up on these milestones in the can’s development.

• In 1795 the Government of Napoleon offered 12,000 francs for a method of preserving food for its army and navy.
• In 1810, Nicholas Appert took home that prize for preserving food by sterilization. He also used the first metal can.
• In 1896, US Army buys first aluminum canteens for its soldiers.
• In 1957, Aluminum was introduced in metal can making
• In 1959, Coors introduced the first aluminum beer can
• In 1962, Easy open ring pull tabs are first available.
• In 1963, Slenderella diet cola becomes the first soft drink to use 8 ounce aluminum cans.
• In 1964, Royal Crown Cola sells the first 12 ounce all aluminum soft drink cans.
• In 1968, First consumer recycling center is established
• In 1974, the stay on tab is introduced.
• In 1981, the first national aluminum can recycling program debuts, asking consumers to recycle for the US Olympic team. “Turn aluminum into Gold” raises millions of dollars over several years.
• In 1993, the amount of energy saved from recycling aluminum cans was equivalent to 19.3 million barrels of oil or 11.5 billion hours of electricity.
• In 1996, The South Carolina Aluminum Cans for Burned Children program reaches $1 million in earnings from recycled aluminum cans.
• In 1997, Aluminum cans build Habitat for Humanity Homes is launched.
• In 2000, Aluminum cans purchased in the US today return to store shelves as new aluminum cans in as few as 60 days.

Did You Know…?

• Recycling aluminum cans saves 95% of the energy needed to make new aluminum for ore.
• The average American drinks 380 beverages in aluminum cans each year.
• The US aluminum can recycling rate in 1999 was 63%.
• Over half of today’s typical aluminum can is made from post consumer recycled aluminum. (Click here to return to top.)

NAPCOR Introduces Recycling Toolkit To Increase Collection Of Pet Containers
The National Association for PET Container Resources (NAPCOR) today announced the development of an iPET Recycling Toolkit, a guide for starting or expanding individual sized PET plastic beverage container recycling programs at major venues.

PET containers known as iPET are plastic beverage bottles of 24 ounces or less that are marked with the #1 code on or near the bottom of the container.

The iPET Recycling toolkit is designed to help facility managers, recycling coordinators and other interested parties design and implement successful programs for recycling plastic beverage bottles at schools, workplaces, campuses, convention centers, entertainment venues and special events. The guide contains planning tools for collecting, handling, storing and marketing iPET as well as case studies of successful iPET recycling programs.

The iPET containers represent the fastest growing segment of beverage container sales today and NAPCOR is poised to assist recyclers at special venues with the collection of those containers.

The iPET Toolkits are being distributed from the NAPCOR offices and will soon be available on the NAPCOR Internet site at www.napcor.com.   (Click here to return to top.)

Franklin Associates Notes Increase In Recycling Numbers In US
A new high of 28 percent recycling and composting rate was recorded for the United States according to a study released recently by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This reflects an increase from only 16 percent in 1990. Seventeen percent of US waste was incinerated, while the remaining 55 percent was landfilled. Paper and paperboard recovery was 42 percent for the year and is projected to grow to over 48 percent by 2005.

Waste generation rose to 4.4 pounds per person per day…over half of which was paper and yard waste. With almost 9,000 curbside recycling programs serving 51 percent of the population and over 12,000 drop off locations, Americans had more opportunities than ever before to recycle. There were also less landfills than in the past although their capacity is about the same.

Franklin Associates who compiled the study predicted that municipal solid waste (MSW) would continue to grow faster than the population. Other predictions:

• Local, state and federal agencies will continue to promote recycling and composting as alternatives to landfill.
• No additional deposit legislation will be passed.
• Industry will make the necessary investments to improve recycling rates.
• Composting programs will be stimulated by the continuing trend toward diverting yard waste from landfills.
• Adequate end user capacity will absorb all the material collected by recycling programs. Higher rates may be achieved in communities with local end markets and composting opportunities.
• The growth of recycling will slow because of market conditions and the maturing of existing recycling infrastructure.

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What's Happening In Kentucky's Watersheds
No matter where you live, work, or play, you are in a watershed. A watershed is a geographic area where all water running off the land drains to a specific location. This location may be a stream, river, lake, wetland, or ocean…or the water may drain underground into the groundwater. You may live on a creek, which is in a small watershed. Your creek may join a river, which is in a larger watershed. The river may have many smaller creeks, known as tributaries, that drain into it and each of these tributaries has a small watershed associated with it, and each is part of the larger watershed of the river.

Students in Rowan County make interesting discoveries, while a group in Jefferson County uses the Internet to spread its message. A team in central Kentucky charts a course, while a group in western Kentucky prepares to get down to business.

These activities are all part of watershed protection. Groups that want to protect watersheds are part of the Watershed Management Framework, a program administered by the Kentucky Division of Water. The framework is designed to foster cooperative efforts by bringing together state and federal agencies, nonprofit organizations and volunteers to protect and improve water quality. These groups of government employees and citizens work in the state’s major river basins as “river basin teams.” Each team meets regularly to coordinate activities, and identify and address issues specific to their basin.

Kentucky River Basin…Mapping a course.
This group has completed its first monitoring effort and has assessed the data it collected. Group members are putting that data together into a report that will help to identify the most urgent problems in the Kentucky River Basin. The group plans to release this assessment report in the latter part of the year.

The Kentucky River Basin team plans to use the report to identify priority watersheds and to address the most pressing problems within the Kentucky River Basin. The report and priority watershed will map a course for agencies in addressing the watershed problems that exist. The Division of Water has already electronically submitted this data to EPA as part of its reporting requirements.

Licking River Basin…Students discovery and data.
Young people in Rowan County do their part to protect their watershed. Students found high levels of fecal coliform in the water samples they collected. The students have asked the Kentucky Division of Water to help them find the source of this bacteria.

Those students aren’t the only ones collecting data in this river basin. The agency partners now have a year of biological and chemical samples from streams in the Licking River Basin and adjacent Ohio River tributaries. Scientists will spent several months translating the data into conclusions about the health of the many small watersheds within the basin.

Salt River Basin…Floyds Fork Goes Electronic
What types of fish live in Floyds Fork in eastern Jefferson County? Where can you launch your canoe in the creek? What’s the history of the area that the stream flows through? Students at Eastern High School have the answers to those questions. 

A grant from the Ky. Dept. of local government allowed students to develop this information, and translate it onto a WEB page. The WEB page includes the most comprehensive collection of data of any stream in the state.

Upper Cumberland and Four Rivers Region
Two new teams of experts and volunteers recently formed to work in the Upper Cumberland and Four Rivers Region. The Cumberland River Basin and Four Rivers Region Status Report is meant to provide the public with background information on the watershed and to assist the Cumberland and Four Rivers Basin teams in communicating needs in the basin. It includes descriptions of the area, lists of impaired streams and the sources of pollutants that impact water quality. (Click here to return to top.)

Recycling Promotion To Change
Programs designed to promote local recycling systems will need to adjust their efforts to address recent startling social changes according to Resource Recycling magazine. Changes include:

• HIGH LEVELS OF TRANSCIENCY: We are a very mobile population. Especially in the western US where eight of the 10 fastest growing states are located, recycling promoters need to reinvest consistently in their efforts, as residents are entering and leaving the community every day. Such folks have far fewer local ties, and trying to link recycling with civic or neighborhood issues may not be as strong a promotional alternative as in the past.
• GROWTH IN MALE LED HOUSEHOLDS: No longer can advertisers and promoters assume that households are led by couples and single women…for the number of male led households has grown nearly 40 percent since 1990. Recycling promotional messages may need to be updated to reflect this rising trend.
• GROWTH IN THREE GENERATION HOUSEHOLDS: As in traditional European and Third World countries and as before in America’s history, more and more homes now contain three generations. This provides an opportunity for recycling marketers to urge senior citizens, who are often very familiar with the Depression and World War II era recycling efforts, to education their children and grandchildren about materials recovery.
• TAKE SPANISH CLASSES: The surge in Hispanic influence is changing demographic conditions in many communities, especially those in the southwest. The U.S. Hispanic community grew by 35 percent in the 1990’s, far faster than any other sector and this trend will continue. More recycling messages attractive to these citizens are needed.

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