CMS is now being recognized as a national model for their excellent milk and juice carton recycling program.
 
In February, Mecklenburg County was awarded an $18,000 Community Waste Reduction and Recycling Grant from the North Carolina Department of Natural Resources. The grant was for the purchase of specialized bins and signs to catch the attention of students in 165 Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools and 68% of the schools took part. As an added incentive, five $1,000 prizes were on the line for the best carton recycling programs in CMS. 

During the four-week incentive program, 250,000 cartons were recycled. The five prize winners are Selwyn Elementary, Winget Park Elementary, Sterling Elementary, Stoney Creek Elementary and Bain Elementary.

The CMS carton recycling program was co-sponsored by Mecklenburg County Solid Waste and the Carton Council, a national organization specifically dedicating attention to improving carton recycling in communities across the United States. 

As a result of the carton recycling effort, ReCommunity, the operator of Mecklenburg County’s Metrolina Recycling Center, helped secure another state grant to purchase a fully automated aseptic optical sorter that blows the cartons off the recycling conveyor into a bin without the use of any manual labor. The new equipment has improved the efficiency of recovery of cartons by 70%.

Next on the agenda for Mecklenburg County and the Carton Council for 2013 will be a concentrated ad campaign highlighting residential single stream with an emphasis on carton recycling.

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Media contact: William Carroll at 704-621-7434 or William.Carroll@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov