Salt Lake County Recycling & Compost

07/31/2019

We're on the SLC Green blog today, spreading the good word about compost!

"Ultimately, at a time of some skepticism about recycling, turning green waste into compost is the most local and direct form of recycling.

"Just like recycling programs, using your brown compost container diverts material from landfills, but unlike recycling programs, composting transforms waste into something new in the same cities and counties that produce the waste.

"Don’t have a curbside compost program? You can even compost in your apartment or backyard! It doesn’t get much more local than that!"

by Salt Lake Valley Landfill Compost Marketer & Recycling Specialist, Zak Breckenridge It’s variably called the “yard waste bin,” the “brown can,” or the “co…

07/29/2019

"To tackle this environmental catastrophe, U.S. companies and researchers are developing AI-assisted robotic technology that can work with humans in processing plants and improve quality control. The goal is to have robots do a better job at sorting garbage and reduce the contamination and health hazards human workers face in recycling plants every day. Sorting trash is a dirty and dangerous job. Recycling workers are more than twice as likely as other workers to be injured on the job, according to a report at the University of Illinois School of Public Health. The profession also has high fatality rates.

"The way the robots work is simple. Guided by cameras and computer systems trained to recognize specific objects, the robots’ arms glide over moving conveyor belts until they reach their target. Oversized tongs or fingers with sensors that are attached to the arms snag cans, glass, plastic containers, and other recyclable items out of the rubbish and place them into nearby bins."

The U.S. is facing a recycling crisis that is burying cities and towns in tens of millions of tons of garbage a day. Companies and municipalities are turning to AI-assisted robots to help sort garbage in recycling plants and boost quality control.

07/25/2019

By SLCgreen intern Kelbe Goupil Air quality, air quality, air quality…will we ever stop talking about it? Until our air is consistently clean and no longer putting our health and economy at risk, p…

07/25/2019

"In mid-July, Crossroads Paper held a press conference to announce its plans to build a paper mill in the Salt Lake City area that will recycle old corrugated containers (OCC) and residential mixed paper into new paper that will then be used to make boxes for manufacturers, farmers and e-commerce companies."

Crossroads Paper plans to build a recycled paperboard mill in the Salt Lake City area that will consume OCC and residential mixed paper.

07/23/2019

We hang student art in the landfill education space because we want students to learn about waste, recycling, and compost, but also because we want them to know that their voices matter they can be the visionaries, now and in the future, to solve the waste system’s problems. Check out these inspiring responses from the creative re-use camp that visited us last week!

@ Salt Lake City, Utah

07/23/2019

Clever Octopus just concluded a great camp on creative re-use. They visited the landfill, so click through for beautiful pictures of students learning at the landfill!

Clever Octopus and Goldman Sachs hosted a free art workshop series for students ages 11-14 in Salt Lake City, Utah, on July 9-12, 2019. The student-artists were joined by Clever Octopus teaching-artists and assistants, Goldman Sachs employees, and college mentors to learn about reducing the impact

07/18/2019

Our compost team works hard to make the highest-quality compost possible for our community! But contamination of the feedstock by non-compostable items makes their job difficult! Do your part to provide clean compost to the community of the Salt Lake Valley and avoid putting plastic, meat, dairy, grease, trash bags, pet waste, paper, glass, or other non-compostable items in your yard waste bin!

@ Salt Lake City, Utah

07/18/2019

"The country’s environmental well-being and the recycling industry are fundamentally entwined. Recycling is diverting hundreds of millions of pounds of materials from landfills and avoiding millions of metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually. Two out of every three pounds of steel made in the United States is manufactured using steel scrap, generating 58 percent less carbon dioxide and using 60 percent less energy than making steel from ore. What’s more, 80 percent of all U.S. paper mills are using recovered fiber, saving energy, reducing water pollution and air emissions dramatically."

The nation’s recycling leaders are descending on Capitol Hill this week with a clear message for U.S. lawmakers and the Trump administration: the

07/17/2019

We've just added a list of Home Composting Resources to our website! Scroll down to check out the resources we've collected. What resources have you found helpful for managing your own compost pile?

Salt Lake Valley Organic Compost

07/16/2019

Recent headlines have announced the death of recycling. Since China stopped acceptin...

07/15/2019

Our own Zak Breckenridge is in the Salt Lake Tribune opinion page, making the case for educating yourself about the recycling process.

"And even if sources agree, the rules seem to change all the time. Can you recycle number 3 plastics? Styrofoam? Plastic bags? That your curbside recycling program accepted these materials last year, or even last month, does not mean they will today. The environmentally conscious citizen may feel adrift in a plastic-choked ocean of conflicting information.

"So should you recycle? My answer is an unequivocal 'Yes.'"

Recent headlines have announced the death of recycling. Since China stopped acceptin...