The Iowa Recycling Association has named the Council Bluffs Recycling Center the winner of its 2016 Recycling Program of the Year award.
The accolade honors the center’s comprehensive and creative efforts to educate the public, its community outreach through local partnerships and its wide array of unique programs to recycle materials that would otherwise be sent to the landfill.
“It’s for our whole operation, everything we do,” center director Tony Fiala said during Tuesday’s open house celebrating the award. “We do so many things.”
The amount of materials residents recycle also played a role in the award. “Everyone should be proud of it,” Fiala said. Council Bluffs Public Health Director Donn Dierks agreed.“We couldn’t have done it without people who support us,” he said.
The committee of the Iowa Recycling Association that reviewed all the recycling center applicants for this award must have been impressed with the interest by Council Bluffs residents. As The Nonpareil reported in April, approximately 50 percent of all waste generated by the city’s residents was recycled.
“That same percentage is holding steady right now,” Fiala said.
Besides keeping items out of landfills, recycling creates jobs. Two employees were hired this year to help with the demand bringing the number of full-time workers at the center to 12, Fiala said while praising his staff.
“Without them, we couldn’t do this,” he said. “They’re the key to the operation.”
Among those touring the facility Tuesday was Donna Barry, regional representative for U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley and a longtime recycler. Since she began recycling, Barry estimated her weekly trash amount has been reduced by two-thirds.
“It’s very impressive,” she said. “I don’t think people realize all the things they do.”
Besides recycling basic everyday household items – like paper and newsprint, plastics, cardboard and aluminum – the center accepts all types of electronic waste (e-waste) from televisions and stereos to computers and keyboards, some for a small fee based on weight.
To read the full story, visit http://www.nonpareilonline.com/news/local/take-a-bow-council-bluffs-recycling-center-iowa-winner-for/article_02f69a1a-438c-5640-8726-3ac9c8c7e579.html.