America Recycles Day: Philly to start taking foam

This afternoon, Philadelphia is launching a foam recycling pilot project. It's one of many events being timed to America Recycles Day, which is today.

Meanwhile, Keep Philadelphia Beautiful is launching a plastic bag recycling campaign. Also, the Philadelphia Eagles and Philly-based SCA will announce the winners of a school recycling contest. For info on both of these, see below.

Back to the foam: Over the last several years, Philadelphia has been gradually increasing its recycling opportunities, going to weekly pick-ups, single-stream (rather than asking residents to sort items), and adding numbers 1-7 plastics.

But the hang-up has still been foam -- No. 6 on the plastics progression, including things like foam egg cartons, foam coffee cups, packing foam, those large blocks used to package electronics, and more. When collected and recycled, the foam can be remade into picture frames, crown moldings, office products, nursery plant containers and other products.

Today, the Streets Department is announcing that foam can be dropped off at Northeast Sanitation Convenience Center located at State Road and Ashburner Street.

So no curbside pick-up just yet. But I can just see the neighborhood recycling advocates going into overdrive, organizing community collections.  Hope the center is ready for vanloads of the stuff. Businesses also can participate.

The program "is another step in our continued efforts to provide Philadelphia's residents with innovative recycling programs and divert as much waste as possible from our landfills," said Streets Commissioner Clarena Tolson in a press release.

"We have had great feedback from residents and businesses on the programs we have implemented in other areas in the region," said Ray Ehrlich, Dart Container Corporation Regional Manager of Government Affairs and the Environment, also in the press release. "It just confirms that there is a market for growing recycling options and the community wants to help divert waste from local landfills."

The Convenience Center is open Monday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 6 pm. For more information,  contact the Streets Department's Customer Affairs Unit at 215-686-5560 or check  http://www.phila.gov/Streets

Today, KPB is launching "A Bag's Life," a campaign to promote the recycling of plastic bags and wrapping materials. This includes dry-cleaner bags, bread bags, newspaper bags.  A rule of thumb: If it's soft plastic, it's okay. If it crackles when you crinkle it, no go.

During the city's deliberations over whether to tax or ban plastic bags from large stores, KPB more or less broke with other environmental groups in promoting plastic bag recycling instead.

The campaign identifies more than 1,400 retail drop-off locations in Pennsylvania and has a smartphone app to help people locate the nearest one.

SCA, a global manufacturer of paper and hygiene products with U.S. headquarters in Philadelphia teamed up with Keep Philadelphia Beautiful and the Philadelphia Eagles to announce the Philadelphia winners of Recycle-Bowl, a nationwide competition to teach students about recycling.

It was a two-week competition, and students from the three winning classes collectively recycled 1,000 pounds of paper. (Hope none of that was someone's homework!)

The winners are:

• Elementary: James Ludlow Elementary, 5th & Master Streets, the 1st grade class taught by Lauren Brittingham.

• Middle School: Global Leadership Academy, 45th & Girard, the 6th grade class taught by Kelly Williams.

• In a related plastic bag competition, the winner was St. Peter's School, 3rd & Lombard, the  3rd grade taught by Laura Bahnck.

At a recycling day event in D.C., Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE), a representative from the office of U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and a panel of environmental, labor and other leaders discussed a report that said a 75 percent national recycling rate -- an optimistic figure, many would say, but what the heck -- would generate millions of jobs.

The report, "More Jobs, Less Pollution" from the Tellus Institute and was prepared for the BlueGreen Alliance, SEIU, NRDC, Teamsters, Recycling Works!, and the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA).

According to a press release, it found that a 75 percent national recycling rate would also reduce CO2 emissions by 276 million metric tons by 2030 — equivalent to eliminating emissions from 72 coal-fired power plants or taking 50 million cars off the road; reduce conventional and toxic emissions that impact human and ecosystem health; and generate a stronger economy by creating a broader employment base.