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City recycling rates soar

Recycling rates in Philadelphia have skyrocketed since the beginning of single-stream recycling effort in January, Mayor Nutter announced today.

Nutter, in a press release, said that residential recycling "has reached an all time record with a 46 percent increase in household recycling over the last year."

The  Streets Department collected 75,060 tons of household waste between June 2008 and June 2009, 23,734 tons more than in the previous 12-month period.

That's 278 pounds of recycled materials per household, up 88 pounds from the previous year.

Residents are now recycling 12.4 percent of their garbage, an increase of 5.3 percentage points since January 2008. That saved the city $4.8 million in landfill costs.

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