Pa. recycling efforts continued despite the pandemic
By ERIC SEIVERLING
eseiverling@yourmvi.com
Volunteer program Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful released its recycling and litter pick-up statistics for last year from its affiliates throughout the state, including in the Mon Valley.
According to Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful, its affiliates, which are county and municipal based, collected a combined total of over 1,119,573 pounds of electronics, 11,851 tires, 119,041 appliances and 56,341 pounds of household hazardous waste.
Shannon Reiter, president of Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful, said those numbers are impressive because in early 2020, many municipal trash haulers suspended recycling programs and large or bulky item pick-up citing worker safety and other limitations due to COVID-19. Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful affiliates and its partners also postponed spring and summer special collections to ensure the health and safety of workers and county residents.
“Even with the amount of obstacles organizers had to overcome due to the novel coronavirus, our affiliates were able to adjust their protocols to hold safe and successful collections events,” Reiter said. “These convenient, low-cost options for disposing of tires, old appliances, electronics and other recyclables are crucial to making certain that these items end up where they should and not over the hillside. I want to thank our affiliates for providing this valuable service to their communities and the residents for holding on to their things until services became available again.”
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