On Friday April 6, we heard from Karla Welding, the Superintendent of Solid Waste Management for Lincoln. The focus of the presentation was the ban on placing corrugated cardboard in the landfill.
Starting April 1, Lincoln’s landfill no longer accepts clean and dry corrugated cardboard. No Amazon boxes. No moving boxes.
Why? Corrugated cardboard is an easily-recyclable material that too many Lincolnites are throwing away—with 37.5 million pounds ending up in the landfill last year. Karla reported that 9.5% of the product currently placed in the landfill is corrugated cardboard. With this ban we will extend the life of the landfill. And, by recycling we can reduce the amount of waste being generated.
Recycling is an individual effort that amounts to large scale benefits for our planet. There are many reasons to recycle. Lincoln residents recently described several ways that recycling is beneficial to the community and makes a difference in their lives:* protects the environment and conserves resources (materials, time and money), preserves Nebraska’s pristine natural areas, extends the life of the landfill, invests in future generations, fosters community pride, supports the local economy.
When the process started, citizens were calling for a ban on all fiber based waste - all types of cardboard and paper. Through the political process and negotiations, we ended up with the ban only on corrugated cardboard. Karla believes that it will naturally lead to more recycling of all fiber product - it is an easy extension to include paper and other cardboard (cereal boxes, etc.) to the recycling.
Karla shared that waste management systems have been in place for 200 years. American cities lacked organized public works for street cleaning, refuse collection, water treatment, and human waste removal until the early 1800s. Recurrent epidemics forced efforts to improve public health and the environment.
The "Take It To The Bin" campaign has a team theme. Find more on the City website page (click here). It takes a team to make this a success. It includes:
Waste generators (residents, businesses and organizations)
Collectors
City of Lincoln
Waste Management Division
Recycling Processors
Our Landfill
The City is paid by paper processors for the cardboard they turn over to them. Businesses can also take their waste directly and get paid. And companies can get recognized for their recycling efforts.
To reach the recycling area directly:
recycle.lincoln.ne.gov
402-441-8215