By Karissa Miller / WM
Recycling can be a puzzle. This summer, WM is deploying a team of college students to help businesses and communities across Western Washington put the pieces together.
The WM Recycle Corps intern program places students in communities to engage residents, businesses, and both managers and tenants at multifamily properties to waste less and recycle right. WM recycling experts train the interns to engage the public as part of the company’s broader work to reduce recycling contamination. Our local communities work hard to recycle right, and yet there is always room to improve recycling by reducing contamination.
Contamination is the result of people putting plastic bags, food, and garbage in recycling carts. When this happens, entire loads of recycling can become contaminated and end up in landfills.
When people put the right materials in recycling carts, it helps keep our local recycling program strong, healthy and sustainable. It also ensures materials will be recycled into new products. This is why it’s important to focus recycling efforts on materials like cardboard and paper, tin and aluminum cans, plastic bottles, tubs and jugs.
Where do the interns come in? Across 17 communities throughout the region, they are educating and engaging people around recycling – one face-to-face conversation at a time.
For apartment and condominium complexes, WM interns help property managers provide reliable and convenient recycling systems with appropriate signage and container placement. The interns work with local businesses to help organize recycling systems and offer hands-on training for staff, which can be especially important at restaurants and food-related businesses. Finally, the interns are at community events educating about what it takes to recycle right.
What does it take? Here are the top recycle right tips:
• Recycle clean bottles, cans, paper and cardboard.
• Keep food and liquid out of your recycling.
• No loose plastic bags and no bagged recyclables.
WM initiated the WM Recycle Corps internship 10 years ago to augment WM’s innovative, award-winning recycling education and outreach work. The program has won the prestigious Gold Excellence Award – one of the highest honors in the recycling industry – from the Solid Waste Association of North America.
With an emphasis on professional development for students and delivering results for waste reduction and recycling, the program has become an incubator for sustainability professionals, with many alumni now working as professionals across the green sector.
Karissa Miller is WM’s recycling education and outreach manager. To see what’s recyclable in your community, go to https://www.wmnorthwest.com/index.html.
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