Dive Summary:
- Waste Management looks to set a new record for recycling at the 2012 Iowa State Fair.
- As part of the efforts, the company has placed more than 300 recycling containers around the fairgrounds.
- In 2010, the fair produced 5 tons of recyclables. That increased to 19 tons last year. With 3 days left in the fair, Waste Management is on pace to break that record.
- “We will be breaking a new record this year,” said Waste Management spokeswoman Stephanie Regagnon.
From the article:
For every beer consumed, double-bacon corn dog devoured and mouth wiped clean at the Iowa State Fair, there is waste to be contained — more than 500 tons of it for an 11-day fair, according to Waste Management’s 2011 numbers.
Waste Management officials say the “Nothing Compares” 2012 fair slogan sounds just about right when it comes to managing trash at a single event.
The challenge is getting vendors and fairgoers, who generally exceed 1 million in number, to differentiate between garbage and recyclable waste — and care enough to separate the two. For 2012, the first step to promoting more recycling and less garbage was placing an additional 100 recycling containers throughout the fairgrounds, an effort that already seems to be paying off.
“We will be breaking a new record this year,” Waste Management spokeswoman Stephanie Regagnon said Thursday, with three fair days remaining.
