Greenstar Recycling, one of the largest recycling firms in the U.S., has become a leader in implementing successful residential recycling programs and increasing recycling rates by 300% in cities such as Dallas and San Antonio. By using single stream recycling- meaning residents don’t need to sort their own recyclables- Greenstar has made recycling convenient for local residents and businesses. CEO, Matt Delnick recently spoke at the United Nations headquarters in New York for the UNECE Public-Private Roundtables on Green Economy 2011 where he discussed Greenstar’s role in helping the city of San Antonio “create a pathway to zero waste”. Sixty percent of San Antonio residents now recycle, while the average national recycling rate is at a disappointing 30%.
With a network of 14 processing facilities and 10,000 managed service locations, Greenstar handles 2 million tons of recyclables per year. Check out this video of Greenstar’s single stream recycling technology in action at their Des Moines, Iowa facility:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tn-cxX8YQvc&feature=player_embedded#at=201[/youtube]
San Antonio is now being used as a model and case study for other worldwide cities to implement successful recycling programs in order to decrease landfills, reduce emissions, create jobs, and use waste as a resource. Delnick believes that sustainable recycling should be at the forefront of discussions on green infrastructure and investment in such programs offer a high rate of return for local communities in terms of jobs as well as social structure and technological innovation. Delnick says,
Cities like San Antonio play a strategically important role in the fight against climate change because they account for more than 70 percent of global CO2 emissions.
Greenstar, working together with city officials and private businesses, has succeeded in removing 600,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent annually, which is equal to eliminating 130,000 cars from San Antonio roads every year.
Greenstar Recycling recently became the official jersey sponsor for the Houston Dynamo soccer team as well as the first founding partner in the new Houston Dynamo stadium set to open in 2012. Greenstar will play a major role in the preparations of the new stadium to become one of the most environmentally friendly and sustainable venues in the country. Greenstar will handle all the recycling and waste management services once the stadium is open so fans can see single stream recycling at work. Read more about this partnership here.
For more about Greenstar Recycling visit their website.
Thanks for posting and sharing this article! It is nice to know where the waste management des moines iowa goes. And much more understandable how much recycling is important!