On April 23 the Professional Recyclers of Pennsylvania and Waste Management, Inc. announced the Riverside Elementary School West, Lackawanna County, was the winner of the 2013 GreenSylvania Paper Recycling Competition.

The winning school received a traveling-trophy and a $500 cash prize that was generously sponsored by Waste Management, Inc.

Each fall PROP conducts the month-long GreenSylvania competition in Pennsylvania schools. The school that collects the most paper for recycling during that month receives the award.

Riverside Elementary in Taylor, Pennsylvania placed first in the competition again in 2013, marking the third year that it has won the award. With a population of 377, the school collected 21.11 pounds per capita of paper for recycling.

PROP's Executive Director, Kelly Megonnel, Susan Lewis of PROP, and John Hambrose of Waste Management attended the presentation at the school on Wednesday, April 23, 2014. School officials and others witnessed the presentation before the school's first through fourth grade students.

Megonnel explained that PROP recognizes the importance of these young recyclers. She said, "professional recyclers understand that developing early awareness of recycling is an ideal way to promote recycling with future generations."

This year PROP also recognizes a second place winner of the Competition, Hillview Intermediate Center in Grove City, Pennsylvania. This school was awarded a $ 50 gift card, sponsored by Staples of Camp Hill.

In the past few years, the GreenSylvania competition has been conducted in conjunction with the national Recycle Bowl competition of Keep America Beautiful, which includes the collection of other recyclable items.

4/28/2014