Engineering for Comingled Recycling
SUMMARY: Commingled recycling means people recycle more, but these materials must be sorted. Take a look into Recology’s Material Recovery Facility (MRF) to see how we sort recyclables, learn about problems areas, and look forward to what types of innovative solutions we need to recycle more and to recycle better.
BIO: Kelly Ferron is a Government and Community Relations Specialist at Recology CleanScapes (former). She started her career in the waste world working to pass a plastic bag ban in the City of San Jose, California. From there, she has worked coordinating recycling programs at the City of Kirkland and now working towards Recology’s mission of a “world without waste”. She is passionate about environmental education and helping others to understand the environmental impacts of their behaviors.
Links for Learning More:
1.A Prezi Presentation of how material travels through Recology’s Material Recovery Facility (MRF) http://prezi.com/hkt3sc4ytvri/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy
2.Improving Commingled Recycling in Washington, http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/swfa/commingled/issues.html
3.Have a recycling question? Seattle Public Utilties’ Evelyn the Envelop helps to answer them: http://atyourservice.seattle.gov/2014/02/28/have-a-recycling-question-ask-evelyn-the-envelope/
4.Why to Buy Recycled: https://www3.epa.gov/region9/waste/tribal/waste-reduction/buy.html
5.New York Times Article on how Recology is helping the City of San Francisco become the Silicon Valley of recycling with leaders from around the world coming to tour the state of the art Materials Recovery Facility: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/29/science/san-francisco-the-silicon-valley-of-recycling.html?&moduleDetail=section-news-3&action=click&contentCollection=Science®ion=Footer&module=MoreInSection&version=WhatsNext&contentID=WhatsNext&pgtype=article