Sonoco, City of Hartsville Launch Six-Year Recycling Program
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The City of Hartsville, S.C., USA, and Sonoco Recycling Inc., Hartsville, S.C., a wholly owned subsidiary of Sonoco, this past week announced the launch of a six-year recycling pilot program for the city. Aimed at increasing commercial and residential recycling, the pilot program was kicked off during a recent press conference. Speakers included Hartsville Mayor Mel Pennington and Sonoco executive Marcy Thompson, a member of the company's Sustainability Council and former division VP of Sonoco Recycling.
"Clearly, our goal at the city is to improve the environment and quality of life for the citizens and businesses here in Hartsville," said Pennington. "Working with Sonoco Recycling, headquartered here in Hartsville, we will be piloting an initiative to implement a new single-stream recycling program in our community and to increase the kind of materials that can be collected. In addition, we will jointly develop a ‘voluntary' program specifically aimed at increasing recycling efforts for local businesses, educational institutions, and our citizens."
Thompson agrees the new program will increase and modernize recycling services throughout Hartsville. "We actually began working with the city late last year on transitioning from dual- to single-stream waste collections, and the results have been pretty astounding," she said. "In fact, since the first of this year, the number of tons being recycled has tripled. As we continue to make improvements in the services offered, this number should only go up."
As part of the pilot, Sonoco Recycling will continue to assist the City in converting from dual-stream curbside collection and sorting to an expanded single-stream process. The types of materials acceptable for recycling also will be expanded. In addition, the city will continue switching from 16-gal bins to 95-gal roll carts, which will help drive recycling participation and divert additional materials away from landfills. The city began switching to roll carts in late 2010. The Greater Hartsville Chamber of Commerce and the Hartsville Downtown Development Association and its member businesses will be participating in the pilot program. ,p>Sonoco Recycling annually collects more than 3 million tons of old corrugated containers, various grades of paper, metals, and plastics. Currently, it operates three material recovery facilities (MRFs) serving more than 125 communities in which curbside-collected residential and commercial materials are processed.
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