On June 13 the Joint Legislative Air and Water Pollution Control and Conservation Committee will hold its next Environmental Issues Forum on the new RecycleBank program in Philadelphia operated by the City, RecycleBank, Inc., Blue Mountain Recycling and other partners.

The guest speaker will be Patrick Fitzgerald, the president of RecycleBank, a for-profit business that has developed an innovative, incentive-based recycling pilot program with the City.

The new program introduces single stream recycling to residents as well as an incentive program that gives them dollars off grocery bills, movie rentals, sneaker purchases and other based on the amount of material they recycle each week. Incentive program sponsors include Coca-Cola, Starbucks, Rite Aid, Whole Foods and more.

New technology, pioneered by Blue Mountain Recycling, will separate the recyclables at their processing plant under their existing contract with Smurfit-Stone.

Early returns on the program are promising with monthly participation rates in the pilot area of 90 percent and 30 pounds of recyclables being collected from the average household every week. Participation rates in Philadelphia were as low as 15 percent in the past.

5/27/2005