The Rural Action Zero Waste Initiative has launched a new service to help local businesses transition to zero waste, with an end goal of recycling or composting 90%.

The new service is a two-fold process. First, local businesses may request a waste assessment. During the assessment, a representative from the Zero Waste Initiative explores how the business currently manages waste and recycling and identifies specific waste reduction needs. Then, businesses who have completed the assessment may then make a Zero Waste Pledge.  By taking the pledge, they receive added benefits such as visibility and social recognition for their commitment.

The 10th annual Athens Beautification Day is rapidly approaching, and this year Ohio University and partners are involved in several exciting improvements. This year, the event is taking their commitment to zero waste beyond litter cleanup projects by striving for zero waste to landfill and debuting a community clean up trailer.

The event is part of the Great American Cleanup, a program of Keep America Beautiful. The opening and closing celebration will strive for zero waste to landfill with zero recycling, compost, and landfill bins placed throughout the event. 

Furthermore, a trailer equipped with tools for clean-up and beautification efforts, will make its debut at the event. Funded by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agecny, the trailer will be available for use in the Keep Southeast Ohio Beautiful region. The trailer is a collaborative project between Wayne National Forest, the City of Athens, and the Athens City-County Health Department. 

Read more about the 10th annual Athens Beautification Day. 

To join the effort, you may register here.

You diligently sort your recyclables into their respective containers. If you are fortunate, you then haul your carefully-sorted bins to the sidewalk near your home, or, you load the bags into your car and drive them to the nearest drop-off center. Two men in bright yellow shirts retrieve your recyclables in a big white truck. From there, it is likely out of sight and out of mind for you. However, this is only the beginning of Mark Call and Justin Turley's work to make sure your materials are recycled.

Mark Call is the supervisor of the Athens Hocking Recycling Center. Justin Turley is the assistant supervisor. Together, they oversee the day-to-day operations at the center, which is located off of State Route 13 halfway between Athens and Chauncey. 

"They are good guys and very dedicated to what they do... I'm glad they're here. They're the glue at the recycling center," said Athens-Hocking Recycling Center Operations Manager Ralph Scarmack. 

Rural Action invites industry professionals from southeast Ohio to attend the Ohio By-Product Synergy Network meeting, the first of its kind to be hosted in this part of Ohio. It is taking place at the Eclipse Company Store in The Plains, OH on May 15, 2014 from 9am-3:45pm. It is a free event with a light continental breakfast and lunch served during the meeting.

The Ohio By-Product Synergy (BPS) Network helps businesses convert waste into value streams and connects industry members who seek to recycle their waste by-products, or seek to secure recycled material streams in place of virgin feed stocks. By fostering inter-business connections, the BPS Network provides a number of important benefits, including:

• increased revenues from by-product sales
• reduction in waste disposal costs
• substitution of lower-cost, locally sourced recycled feedstocks
• reduced demand for virgin materials leading to resource conservation
• and reduction in energy use and greenhouse gas emissions.

Discussions during the meeting will include an introduction to the By-Product Synergy Network, a data and progress update from all attending BPS members, cluster-based (by industry type) synergy and evaluation session, and a report-out of findings and next steps.

Contact Erin Sykes, Zero Waste Administrator, for more information about the BPS meeting:
[email protected] or 740-677-4047 Ext. 28