Allan Gerlat, News Editor

January 27, 2012

1 Min Read
Fort Wayne Sets Recycling Participation Goal at 80%

Fort Wayne, Ind., hopes to reach a recycling participation rate of 80 percent this year after averaging 70 percent of city households in 2011.

Mayor Tom Henry said since the city’s One Cart recycling program began in January 2011, the city has been able to save nearly $150,000 in fees by reducing the amount of landfill waste. And through a shared revenue agreement Fort Wayne received more than $425,000 for its recyclables, the city said in a news release.

Henry is asking residents who are currently not recycling to call 311 to register for a cart to be delivered to their home.

"Recycling not only makes good sense from an environmental perspective, it also makes good economic sense," Henry said.

The city introduced the One Cart recycling program to provide residents with a more cost-efficient waste collection method and to improve the environment by reducing the amount of waste sent to the landfill.

Fort Wayne reduced its landfill waste from an average of 98,00 tons before 2011 to 88,953 tons last year. The participation rate increased to 70 percent from 39 percent before than program started.

As a result of the savings the city reduced the monthly waste fee for single-family homes to $9.95 from $11.24.

About the Author(s)

Allan Gerlat

News Editor, Waste360

Allan Gerlat joined the Waste360 staff in September 2011 as news editor. He was the editor of Waste & Recycling News for the first 16 years of its history, and under his guidance the publication won 27 national and regional awards.

Before Waste & Recycling News, Allan worked at another Crain Communications publication, Rubber & Plastics News, which covers rubber product manufacturing. He began with the publication as associate editor and eventually became managing editor, a position he held for nine years.

Allan is a graduate of Ohio University, where he earned a BS in journalism. He is based in Sagamore Hills, in northeast Ohio.

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