Recycling How can the recycling program be improved?

What Should Providence Recycle?

  1. Newspaper: Tie with string or place in brown paper bags. (You can include colored newspaper and colored inserts but not magazines.)

  2. Tin Cans: Rinse.

  3. Plastic milk jugs rinse and remove caps. (NO OTHER PLASTICS, such as bleach bottles, detergent bottles, cheese and margarine containers, etc.)

  4. Glass food and drink containers rinse and remove lids and caps (no broken glass, please!).

  5. Aluminum rinse cans and foil; remove webbing from aluminum furniture.

  6. Plastic soda bottles rinse and remove caps. (NO OTHER PLASTICS, such as bleach bottles, detergent bottles, cheese and margarine containers, etc.)

 

  

 

Did You Know?

Providence's solid waste is brought to Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation's (RRIC) Johnston landfill. The City pays $32 dollars for each ton of waste that they bring to the landfill. Recyclable material is deposited for free

Where does Providence's Solid Waste Go?

Providence's solid waste is brought to Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation's (RRIC) Johnston landfill. The City pays $32 dollars for each ton of waste that they bring to the landfill. Recyclable material is deposited for free

 

 

 

 

Providence's Curbside Recycling Program

Curbside recycling: the recyclable material that residents put in their blue boxes. The graph above shows the curbside recycling rate for the City in the past 8 years. Curbside recycling rate is the percentage of all the waste that is recycled by residents. The graph above shows that Providence's city wide recycling rate has dropped in the last 8 years. In 1999, until July, the curbside recycling rate has been 8.6%. There is a large difference between the recycling rates of different parts of the City. Figure 1 (on the next page) shows the curbside recycling rates of five different sections of the city. Figure 2 shows the approximate per capita curbside solid waste production in different sections of the City.

What is Maximum Recycling?

Rhode Island state law says that all Cities and Towns must have maximum recycling by 2001. Maximum recycling means recycling many more types of waste then we do currently, such as scrap metal, writing paper, and textiles. Many cities and towns in Rhode Island, such as Barrington, Burrillville, Cumberland, East Greenwich, East Providence, Foster, Hopkinton, Johnston, Newport, North Kingstown, North Providence, North Smithfield, Scituate, Smithfield, and Warwick already have maximum recycling. If Providence starts maximum recycling it would be given a grant to help educate people about recycling. Also, the City would share in the profits that are made recycling Providence's waste. In return they would have to bring all of their waste to RIRRC's Johnston landfill.