We learned what happens to all our waste from Willa DiCostanzo . What is Waste? Trash, garbage, paper, cardboard, unusable, waste, plastic, energy, single-use, copper, steel, rubbish, expired, aluminum, glass, organic matter, recycled, uneaten, unworn, broken, littered, illegally dumped, food waste, landfill, dump, recycled, ferris and non-ferris metals, waste-to-energy, ugly fruit, thrown-away … even what we consume.
Did you know that the average American produces 5.5 lbs. of waste per day. Without waste recovery humans will continue to negatively impact the supply chain, jobs, our environment and the climate.
Have you tried buying used items for your Christmas? There are used and refurbished electronics out there to buy, but there are high demands for them, therefore you might experience production delays and shortages.
There are three things that Lincoln, NE Willa emphasized we are doing. They are: 1) Encourage implementation of the recommendations of the updated 2040 Solid Waste Plan. 2) Continue conducting periodic waste characterization studies. 3) Reduce the amount of readily recyclable materials currently being landfilled by 80% by 2040. The Solid Waste Plan for 2040 can be found on the City of Lincoln website.
Wasted food is a valuable resource and needs to be managed. Lincoln’s Solid Waste Management System consists of: the private hauler system which includes waste/yard collection, recycling collection and bulky items collection and more. There is also the recycling processors which is done by Green Quest or Firstar Fiber. They do have the HazToGo which handles Lincoln’s hazardous waste center. The Thrift Stores/Market Place takes care of the reuse and reuse items. EarthFuel (formally LinGro) and Prairie Land Dairy handed Lincoln’s compost material.
Willa told us they usually have about 300 trucks each day come to the Landfill at Bluff Road. This chart shows the divertibility of disposed frontload, rearload and compactor waste. When recycling items and question what bin or if it can be recycled you can go to recycle.lincoln.ne.gov to find out.
So folks it does pay for us to recycle items knowing that we could possibly be working to save the earth.