Laurel, MD (April 22, 2022) The City of Laurel will begin rolling out new recycling and trash carts for households as it officially launches the One and Done program for weekly collection of recycling, trash, and compost.
The details of the new program were announced during an Earth Day Press Conference in the City’s Memorial Garden on Earth Day, April 22, 2022.
With this new program, all households will receive a new blue cart for recycling and a black cart for trash. The new carts roll easily to the curb, provide large capacity for materials, and the attached lids help keep contents from blowing away.
“As the City works to improve our sustainable practices, the One and Done Program will assist in continuing to protect our environment, reduce the amount of waste sent to landfills and enhance the efficiency of our trash, recycling, and composting collections,” says Laurel Mayor Craig A. Moe.
Carts will be delivered to homes starting on Friday, April 22, 2022. The One and Done Collection Program begins on Monday, May 2, 2022. Your current recycling day will be your One and Done collection day. You can find the full schedule on the program’s webpage, www.cityoflaurel.org/OneAndDone.
“The City will work with residents to ensure that this is a smooth transition for our neighborhoods,” Mayor Moe says.
To improve the recycling program for residents, the City of Laurel applied for and received a $112,000 grant from The Recycling Partnership, the nonprofit which helps communities achieve economically efficient recycling programs. The grant will help defray the cost of the 13,000 carts the City purchased and provided funds to develop resident education and outreach materials about the new collection process.
“The Recycling Partnership is proud to partner with the City of Laurel to help households capture more quality recyclables,” said Cody Marshall, Chief of Community Strategy at The Recycling Partnership. “We are grateful to the American Beverage Association’s Every Bottle Back initiative for their support of this recycling transformation that will keep valuable recyclables out of our environment and waterways and put them back into the circular economy to provide much needed supply for local producers.”
“Maryland’s beverage bottlers and distributors share the goal of ensuring valuable recyclable materials, like our carefully designed 100% recyclable bottles, are collected so they can be remade into new products, as intended. We’re proud of our partnership with the City of Laurel and look forward to working together to get every bottle back,” said Ellen Valentino, executive vice president of the MD/DE/DC Beverage Association.
The Recycling Partnership estimates the new recycling carts will assist with the collection of over 732,000 pounds of valuable recyclables that can then be transformed into new products and packaging.
Rehrig Pacific, the cart supplier, uses post-consumer recycled plastic and recycled ocean bound plastic found in and near lakes, beaches, and waterways to manufacture the carts. The amount of recycled plastic material used is the equivalent of more than 240,000 empty 1 gallon milk jugs.
“We are very proud to support this initiative in Laurel, MD. Increasing the volume of materials that can be recycled in the US is a core focus and goal for us,” said Marc Scott, Vice President of Environmental Sales at Rehrig Pacific. “We value these types of collaborative partnerships that can bring these ambitions to life.”
Residents can continue to do their part by placing only recyclable materials in carts, including glass bottles and jars, aluminum and steel cans, food and beverage cartons, paper products (including newspapers and flattened cardboard), and empty plastic bottles and containers. To help limit trash in the recycling, only place empty and dry items accepted for recycling into the recycling cart – loose and not in bags.
Some items that cannot be recycled include plastic bags, foam blocks or to-go containers, paper towels, electrical equipment, batteries, and clothing. These items often get mixed into recycling carts because of “wishcycling,” or the hope that they can be recycled. While well-intentioned, non-recyclable items cause serious issues, including damage to recycling facilities and injury to recycling workers.
The new recycling carts will replace the green recycling carts currently used. The city will be collecting the old, green recycling bins and carts. Place the green bins or carts at the curb and they will be removed.
For more information, visit www.cityoflaurel.org/OneAndDone , email OneAndDone@laurel.md.us or call 240-294-1305.
To learn more about the Recycling Partnership, visit their website www.recyclingpartnership.org