The Lancaster County Solid Waste Management Authority announced Monday the county achieved a new record for community-wide recycling of 43 percent of its municipal solid waste in 2012.

Several factors contributed to this increase: 1) more businesses recycled both ferrous and non-ferrous metals; 2) residents and businesses recycled more organic materials, including wood, yard waste, leaves and food scraps for composting; 3) residents and businesses recycled more fibrous (cardboard) materials; 4) the curbside collection and drop-off recycling of single-stream materials, such as plastic and glass bottles, metal cans, newsprint, magazines, junk mail, phone books and catalogs, increased for residents and businesses; and finally, 5) household hazardous waste and electronic waste recycling increased as well.

“Recycling is a critical component of our Integrated System,” says James Warner, CEO for LCSWMA, “Residents and businesses play a key role in the management of our society’s discards by recycling materials instead of throwing them away as trash. This new record demonstrates the continued health and vitality of our system.”

Out of the remaining 57 percent of municipal solid waste that is not recycled, 55 percent is combusted at the Waste-to-Energy Facility in Conoy Township where waste is turned into renewable energy (electricity) that powers approximately 30,000 area homes and businesses; and only 2 percent is delivered to the Frey Farm Landfill in Manor Township.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the national average for recycling is 34 percent. The substantial elevation of Lancaster County’s recycling rate over the national average indicates the effectiveness of the area’s Integrated System and the cooperation of residents and businesses to act responsibly when discarding waste.

The recycling rate for Lancaster County in 2011 was 40 percent.

4/22/2013