After watching nearby communities find success with soft recycling efforts, Rocky River Director of Public Safety Service Mary Kay Costello said the city this week is introducing its new collaboration with Simple Recycling.
“To kick off the program, Simple Recycling mailed out orange bags,” Costello said. “They’re asking for clothing, shoes, handbags and small household textiles that have reached the end of their useful life and aren’t necessarily considered charitable donations.
“Residents will leave the orange recycling bags on their tree lawn. They’ll be collected on their refuse or recycling day with a replacement bag left at your front door.”
Simple Recycling representative Bill Wilk said the United States generates an average of 25 billion pounds of textiles per year with 85 percent going to landfills. Also, the EPA estimates the average person annually throws away 70 pounds of clothing, which equates to 3.8 billion pounds of unnecessary waste added to our landfills.
“Simple Recycling makes it simple to dramatically reduce textile waste,” Wilk said. “We’re excited to partner with the city of Rocky River in our program to help the environment and divert a major portion of textile waste from the landfill.”
Items accepted by Simple Recycling include men’s clothing, women’s clothing, children’s clothing, coats/jackets, jewelry, shoes, purses, hats, toys, blankets, drapes/curtains, pillows, sleeping bags, tools, silverware, dishes, pots/pans and backpacks.
Costello, who noted the city will continue to collect blue bags of co-mingled recycling, said the addition of Simple Recycling is not only going to save the city money regarding landfill costs, but Rocky River will also receive rebates.
“We do get a modest rebate back of $20 per ton from Simple Recycling,” Costello said. “Overall, it’s an excellent opportunity to recycle, which is good for our environment. This company will take a vast majority of what isn’t resalable and they export it internationally or it’s broken down for raw materials.”
To read the full story, visit http://www.cleveland.com/rocky-river/index.ssf/2017/08/rocky_river_unveils_new_citywi.html.