Pittsburgh will use funds to purchase and deploy recycling containers across the city
Image: Pittsburgh has received funds from the Recycling Partnership for blue recycling bins. Photo: courtesy of Hans Braxmeier from Pixabay.
Pittsburgh, a city in the US state of Pennsylvania, has secured funds from the Recycling Partnership for blue recycling bins.
The Recycling Partnership is providing a grant of $500,000 for Pittsburgh’s curbside residential recycling programme.
At the staring of this year, Pittsburgh mayor William Peduto announced a Capital Budget proposal to gather funds for the supply of blue bins for residents who receive service from the Bureau of Environmental Services.
The mayor has signed an agreement with the national nonprofit the Recycling Partnership to match the city’s 2020 Capital Budget proposal to start the three-year programme to purchase and deploy recycling containers across the city.
The Recycling Partnership will also offer in-kind technical assistance for Pittsburgh
The Recycling Partnership, which invests in community recycling programmes across the nation, will offer in-kind technical assistance for Pittsburgh.
The initiative is in line with the Pennsylvania Resources Council’s drive, which offered Pittsburgh residents with more than 10,000 blue bins and recycling education since 2015.
Environmental Services workers can easily collect recyclables placed loosely in blue containers.
Using blue bags tends to clog machinery when processed at the Material Recovery Facility (MRF) run by Recycle Source in the Hazelwood neighbourhood of the city.
Environmental Services collects waste and recycling from 115,630 residences inside Pittsburgh’s city limits. The service collects recyclables such as cardboard, glass bottles, jugs and jars, aluminium and steel cans under single-stream curbside collection programme.
The Recycling Partnership grants and community development director Rob Taylor said: “The Partnership is excited to respond to Mayor Peduto’s plan to help Pittsburgh transition away from a bag-based recycling program into a containerized one by offering to match the Mayor’s proposed investment dollar for dollar.
“By putting this grant funding on the table, The Recycling Partnership will boost the city’s ability to transition away from bags and move towards a more efficient and effective recycling programme.”
In October this year, baby food company provider Gerber has collaborated with international recycling firm TerraCycle to launch the national recycling programme.