Less Waste to the Landfill at Foodstock
Post date: Jun 1, 2017 12:07:39 PM
Green Bellevue announced today that a comprehensive plan to keep landfill waste to a minimum at the city's first Foodstock event has been formed. Working with organizer, Garrett Sims, the Bellevue Chamber of Commerce, the City of Bellevue and the region's materials recovery facility, Firstar Fiber and Papillion Sanitation there is a plan to capture not only the recyclables such as cans and plastic bottles, but the "Hefty Energy Bag" items will also be diverted from the trash.
On April 21 the city of Bellevue announced it was working to become "the first city in the country to include the Hefty Energy Bag program into their city-wide solid waste contract." The article went on to state that "the program is currently being tested successfully in their solid waste pay-as-you-throw pilot program area, as well as throughout the Bellevue and Omaha area. Leaders in Bellevue have recognized this ground-breaking program as an opportunity to further their sustainability efforts to control their waste impact on local landfills." Click here for details about the Hefty Energy Bag program.
Waste Expected at the Event
There are waste stations planned that will collect three "categories" of waste that is expected to be produced at an event like this.
Recycling: one container will be a marked recycling toter to collect bottles and cans and cardboard and anything else that can be recycled.
Items for Energy Bag: an energy bag collection container, which is recognizable by the orange liner, will collect the following items:
Straws and plastic lids from drinks
Plastic Utensils
Styrofoam packaging - that should be scrapped free of food materials
Plastic wrapping
Plastic bags
Potato chip bags
Trash: food waste, cardboard packaging that has grease/food, wax paper wrapping with food, drink cups
The Public's Assistance is Needed
Firstar Fiber will bring the Hefty-branded Recycling truck to the event to capture all recycling and energy bag waste. There will be high school and Green Bellevue volunteers on hand to set up the waste stations and empty contents. However, this will only work with a concerted effort to dispose of the waste properly by each attendee.
"We are proud to kick the summer off the Foodstock event, and we are even prouder now that Green Bellevue has stepped in to make sure that the waste created from the event is properly disposed of," said Garrett Sims, Foodstock organizer.