Focus on RecyclingRecycling is just about saving landfill space, right? Wrong! Recycling creates jobs and strengthens local economies; reduces greenhouse gasses; conserves natural resources and saves landfill space, and is easy to do at home or at work. With the steady growth of manufacturing in the Southeast, the need for recycled materials has grown steadily as well. Your old cans, bottles, and paper products are in high demand and EPA is encouraging local communities to increase their recycling collection totals through the Resource Conservation Challenge (RCC). For the latest news on the RCC, visit the RCC News Room. There you’ll see more proof that recycling plays a serious role in the country’s economic infrastructure -- that means only good things for you and the 1.1 million people employed by recycling!
This Web site provides general information on recycling, including:
- Recycling Hot Links that contain information specific to the following groups: Schools, Households, Businesses, and Government.
- Frequently asked questions (FAQs) that show the value of recycling.
- An A-Z recycling topics list comprised of various waste reduction resources.
- Information on recycling markets, including many individual recycling commodities and a directory of regional waste exchanges.
- State and local contacts to access information specific to your state.
- Online tools to help you improve your community/government recycling program, including the: Municipal Government Toolkit.
- Atlanta launches Southeast's first Zero Waste Zone.
- The Sustainable Design and Green Building Toolkit (pdf: 92 pps, 15MB) for Local Governments provides an assessment tool, resource guide and action plan for communities that wish to save resources by promoting sustainable building practices. Download the assessment portion of the Green Building Toolkit in spreadsheet format to aid in completing the assessment and generating charts and graphs of the results.
- The Building Multi-Family Recycling Programs in Georgia toolkit provides guidance, technical assistance, and resources for property managers and local government recycling managers who wish to increase recycling at multi-family complexes. While developed specific to the State of Georgia, the toolkit will be useful for interested users throughout the Southeast and beyond.