Waste program managers are often tasked with raising recycling awareness at their organization because success relies on the daily actions of everyone. Increasing recycling awareness can increase the quality and quantity of recycled materials, but even the best campaign for recycling awareness won’t overcome a poorly designed recycling program. For 70+ years, Keep America Beautiful has run a recycling awareness campaign to inspire daily action that improves the beauty and health of our communities. More than four decades ago, Keep America Beautiful and the Ad Council first teamed up to bring recycling to the forefront of America’s consciousness with this…

According to the EPA, each year Americans throw away 25,000,000,000 Styrofoam cups. Even 500 years from now, the foam coffee cup you used for your coffee this morning will still be sitting in a landfill. Styrofoam products are easily identifiable by their numbered recycling symbol. All Styrofoam cups and containers must be rinsed and cleaned. The straws, lids, tape and stickers cannot be recycled with Styrofoam, so remember to remove them. Place all of your acceptable Styrofoam materials in a clear bag and take them to Styrofoam drop-off center nearest to you. Styrofoam insulation and packing peanuts are not accepted…

Recycling centers in Maryland offer opportunities to recycle certain items that are not accepted in curbside, single-stream recycling. In fact, in some areas, these recycling centers in Maryland are the only way to recycle! Each MD County Recycling Center offers drop-off sites for various types of waste and recycling that can’t be collected in your curbside bin. Whether you’ve got electronics, yard trimmings, appliances, batteries, tires, large rigid plastics, scrap metal, motor oil or even antifreeze; you can find a home for it at one of the drop-off sites in your county. Of course, not all drop-off sites will take…