Making Recycling Bins Accessible
In an effort to increase the amount of collected recycled materials
from Rhode Island households, the Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation
donated $16,000 to the Arthritis Foundation, Southern New England Chapter,
to purchase and distribute specially designed recycling bins. For the
debut of the "EZ Recycler Program," the Arthritis Foundation
distributed 500 sets of blue and green residential recycling bins with
wheels and handles for ease-of-use to their members. The bins were distributed
free of charge to members of the Arthritis Foundation.
In addition to offering the EZ Recycler bins to aid recycling among
those suffering from arthritis, the Arthritis Foundation also distributed
information about recycling to its members."The physical task of
recycling requires both strength and flexibility," said Stephen
Evangelista, president and CEO of the Southern New England Chapter of
the Arthritis Foundation. "Those with arthritis have activity limitations,
which may otherwise prohibit them from using traditional recycling bins.
The EZ Recycler program, however, will make recycling far easier for
our constituents."
Arthritis is the leading cause of disability in Rhode Island and the
nation. About 30 percent of those with arthritis or chronic joint pain
report they are limited in their daily activities. While the prevalence
of people with arthritis increases over the age of 45, more than half
those affected with arthritis are under the age of 65. Even daily activities
may become difficult, such as walking, buttoning a shirt, or recycling.
Resource Recovery Donates $25,000 to Town
In 1998, the town of Central Falls had a recycling rate of just
eight percent. A tiny community in northeast Rhode Island, it's a town
with an abundance of apartments and plenty of renters, many of whom
don't speak English as their primary language. These factors were seen
as minuses when town officials began to evaluate how they could improve
their recycling rates and reduce the amount of fees paid for disposing
trash. It wasn't an easy task but their hard work paid dividends - literally.
This week, Resource Recovery will present a grant of $25,000 to Central
Falls city officials for boosting their recycling rate to 14 percent,
or double what it was producing just five years ago. The funds will
be earmarked for additional recycling projects within the town. To help
increase their diversion, the city initiated a city-wide recycling program
for its schools, and stopped collecting waste from apartments and condos
of 6 units or more. They instituted a recycling program at municipal
offices and began enforcing recycling compliance with homeowners. Offenders
were given one warning and then received fines. The city also improved
its metals and bulky waste collections to ensure that the material would
be recycled instead of paying tipping fees.
RI Launches Nation's First Statewide Plastic Bags Recycling Program
On Labor Day, Rhode Island will launch the nation's first-ever statewide
plastic bags recycling program. ReStore is a program offered by the
Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation (RIRRC) in partnership with
the Rhode Island Food Dealers Association (RIFDA).
At the forefront of ReStore is a universal collection system for all
plastic bags. These collection bins will be located in the vestibules
of grocery stores statewide-from the largest chains to the smallest
corner markets. All HDPE film bags are eligible for recycling and shoppers
may deposit their bags at any store. Colorful displays were created
to advertise the program. In addition, many stores are running ads in
their weekly circulars and educating their shoppers with promotional
materials and announcements over the loudspeaker.
The goal is to educate shoppers and encourage them to recycle not only
their plastic grocery bags but all HDPE film bags -- newspaper sleeves,
produce baggies and bags from the dry cleaners, pharmacies, and department
stores.
The state's overwhelming and costly litter problem led to the creation
of ReStore. Surveys demonstrated that shoppers will continue to use
plastic bags and fill the landfill with them. The decision was made
to revamp an unused paper baler at the MRF to bale plastic bags. One
of RIFDA's members supplies inventory to grocers and will underwrite
the cost of hauling the bags from the stores to his warehouse and then
subsequently onto the MRF.
Nearly all the markets -from large chain stores to local corner shops-are
part of the RIFDA and are participating in the first-ever statewide
program. Resource Recovery is underwriting the cost of the promotional
materials and collection barrels. They are also handling all of the
marketing efforts for the ReStore program.
A recent Resource Recovery survey concluded that 95% of R.I. households
use plastic bags. Each month, 16 million bags are used for groceries
in R.I. alone. Virtually all of them end up at the landfill.
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