Each year, the Professional Recyclers of Pennsylvania sponsor the Waste Watchers Award, which is open to all institutions, groups, and individuals that go above and beyond and have outstanding achievement in various recycling efforts. All municipalities, counties, businesses, industries, schools, colleges, universities, nonprofit groups, and individuals within Pennsylvania are eligible to apply. Contributions in categories as varied as recycling, composting and organics, public education, and waste reduction are all eligible for recognition.
PennFuture was one of the recipients of the Waste Watchers Award this year for its 2014 annual electronic waste bulk collection. The Wilkes-Barre office started electronic recycling collection in 2012 as a project spearheaded by an intern and maintained by staff and interns since. To help make the project a success, the Wilkes-Barre staff coordinated with Beth DeNardi, the Luzerne County Solid Waste Management Recycling Coordinator. In addition, PennFuture supported the passage of the 2010 Pennsylvania Covered Device Recycling Act (Act 108), which requires manufacturers provide recycling programs of consumer electronics. With Act 108 in effect, PennFuture was able to educate the public on the new requirements, which ultimately led to greater collections.
The 2014 collection was the largest to date. Roughly 18 pallets of electronic recyclables were collected, compared to 12 pallets in 2013 and 9 pallets in 2012. It is worth noting that no dedicated funding for this annual collection exists. Storage space for collected materials was an in-kind contribution by PennFuture's landlord and Humford Equities. Participants in 2014 included architecture firm Bohlin Cywinski Jackson; Fairchild Semiconductor; tenants of the Citizens Bank Building; Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Northeast Regional Office; Humford Equities; Rosenn Jenkins and Greenwald LLP; and various individuals.
Coordination with county officials, public education, and partnerships with local businesses made this annual event successful.
Brittany Czerniakowski is an intern in PennFuture's
Wilkes-Barre office. She is entering her senior year and working toward a B.A. in
Environmental Studies at King's College, Wilkes-Barre. This is her second blog post on green efforts in NE PA.
