For America Recycles Day, Metro Nashville is celebrating a drop in the amount of unacceptable material found in curbside recycling carts. According to the city’s latest audit of curbside recycling, our contamination rate dropped from 28.4% in 2021 to 21.6% of all recycled items. This reduction represents a second straight year that Nashville has seen significant improvement in curbside recycling contamination rates.
“This news could not come at a more perfect time, as each year the US Environmental Protection Agency recognizes the importance and impact of recycling on November 15 for America Recycles Day. This audit shows that more recyclables are being kept out of landfills and put into the process of recycling,” said Scott Potter, Director of Metro Water Services (MWS) of which Waste Services is a division. “Nashvillians are passionate about recycling and making our city more sustainable. This is a testament to that commitment from our residents.”
One of the improvements seen in this year’s audit was less food and liquids in recycling bins. “We were excited to see that more material had been properly rinsed and dried before being put in curbside recycling carts, helping make sure that the material going in the cart makes it through the recycling process to go back on a shelf as a new product,” said Jenn Harrman, Zero Waste Program Manager for Metro Waste Services.
Still an issue, Harrman says, is recycling being bagged in plastic or paper bags before going into resident’s curbside carts. “Even if the bag is a paper grocery bag, the recycling trucks compact all the material to transport it to the facility. That compaction prevents recycling from falling out loose, which means the equipment and machines that sort recycling cannot do their job.”
Waste Services and WM are excited to invite the public to the recycling facility on Tuesday, November 15, America Recycles Day, from 9am-1pm to see the recycling process and learn more about proper recycling methods. Staff experts will be providing tours of the facility, available on the hour, and will be stationed in the facility’s education room to answer questions and provide insight on how recycling works in Nashville. Tour space is limited, and registration is strongly encouraged. Residents can register online.
We also invite residents to join Scott Potter and Jenn Harrman live on the Nashville Metro Water Services Facebook page on Thursday, November 17 at 10 a.m. for a virtual Town Hall to discuss recycling do’s and do not’s as we enter the holiday season.
Additionally, Waste Services offers an on-demand webinar to learn about how to recycle right and encourages residents to download the Nashville Waste and Recycling App that features the Waste Wizard which can be used to find out where more than 400 items can be either recycled or properly disposed of in the city. Alongside the database, the app also allows users to sign up for trash, recycling, and brush pickup-day reminders and alerts.
“The Nashville Waste and Recycling App is a quick and easy way for Nashville residents to find answers to all of their recycling and trash questions,” says Harrman. Nashvillians can also test their recycling and composting knowledge by playing the Get Rowdy Recycle sorting game that is part of the app. The game is customized with a Nashville skyline and is a fun way to learn about recycling for both kids and adults.
The Nashville Waste and Recycling App can be downloaded on the App Store, Google Play and on Recycle.Nashville.gov.