Environment Articles

April 22 is Earth Day, the time of year when our thoughts turn to environmental issues. The MARC Solid Waste Management District (SWMD) encourages people in the Kansas City region not only to recycle more, but to recycle better!

Contamination is the term used by the recycling industry to describe anything in a recycling bin that shouldn’t be there. Contamination decreases the value of recyclables, increases processing costs, can be dangerous for workers and can cause your recyclables to be sent to the landfill. The average contamination rate among communities and businesses is currently about 25 percent. That means that roughly one in four items placed in a recycling bin is not actually recyclable.