"Recycle Greensboro" Sets New Records 

For the first time in the history of the "Recycle Greensboro" program, businesses and multi-family communities recycled more than 1,000 tons of material in one month.

In July, commercial recycling customers recycled 1,005 tons of cardboard, paper, plastic bottles and other recyclables, surpassing the most recent record of 979 tons set in March of this year. The new record also represents a 31 percent increase over the amount of recyclables delivered to the recycling center in July 1998, when businesses, organizations and multi-family communities recycled 687 tons.

"These increases in the volume of recyclables coincide with a recent upward turn in the market for recyclables," said Wayne Turner, Waste Reduction Superintendent. "That combination makes this news even more exciting and beneficial for the City’s recycling program and for the businesses and multi-family communities who are responsible for the success of our commercial recycling program."

The "Recycle Greensboro" program, implemented in 1993, now collects recyclables from nearly 1,000 businesses, organizations and multi-family communities in the city. While all of these organizations are helping to protect the environment by recycling, many of them are also saving money on their waste disposal costs, since the City of Greensboro empties recycling dumpsters free of charge. Participants in the program can recycle 10 different materials, including newspaper, magazines, cardboard, office paper, plastic soda bottles and aluminum cans.

The City of Greensboro is one of only a handful of North Carolina municipalities to offer commercial garbage and recycling service. The commercial recycling program, which has been renamed "Team Recycle," is available to all businesses, multi-family communities and organizations within the city limits. For more information about "Team Recycle" and the other services offered by the Solid Waste Management Division, call the Commercial Recycling Helpline at 335-5444.