Secretary Dave, the acting president last Friday, did some Nevada trivia and the winner, Steve Bamberger, received a bottle of wine.

 

Our program last Friday focused on recycling in the Truckee Meadows. Carly Norton is the Recycling Education Representative for Waste Management and Ali Szabo is a Franchise Account Manager for Waste Management. Waste Management (WM) provides residential and business recycling under their agreements with the cities of Reno and Sparks, and Washoe County. They also need to follow both Federal and State laws and regulations. Along with picking up waste and recyclables, WM also operates a recycling sorting facility and a landfill.

 

The average Nevadans produces 8 pounds of trash per day, which is one of the highest trash levels in the Unites States. This is because of our tourist economy. The Lockwood landfill was opened in 1969 and is projected to have a capacity for another 125 years. On average 3, 275 tons of waste is processed every day at the landfill. The landfill covers about 3,200 acres, of which 20% has been used. Each day the trash that is deposited at the landfill is covered with dirt and other approved materials including shredded glass and tires. Methane gasses that are the result of trash decay is used to provide natural gas to about 2000 homes in Lockwood.

 

There are a number of factors that determine what items can be recycled. First the item must be made of a material that can be recycled. Then there is the cost factor. The example that was given is the recycling of Styrofoam. Because there is no local Styrofoam recycling facility, the cost of shipping the Styrofoam is greater that the revenue that WM would receive for selling it to the recycling facility. Thus sending Styrofoam to be recycled is a financial loss.