When people think about Nebraska, a sparsely populated state with fertile farmland, pristine lakes and natural prairies, recycling is the last thing that enters their minds. But believe it or not, even in this land of wide-open spaces where garbage disposal is not a problem, recycling rates now exceed many large cities.“One of the reasons is RecycleBank,” said Dale Gubbels, president of Firstar Fiber, RecycleBank’s local materials recovery facility (MRF) partner. “Recycling rates in Lincoln have increased by more than 200 percent since we brought RecycleBank to town 18 months ago. Customer now recycle 70 pounds of recyclables per household each month, instead of the previous 20 to 30 pounds.” Gubbels said RecycleBank proves that people will recycle when it’s easy and convenient. “The rewards also help because people love being rewarded for doing the right thing,” he said. “Because people can redeem their points locally, merchants—even those outside the collection area—also like RecycleBank.”
“Everybody benefits from RecycleBank: residents, the town, haulers, merchants and the planet,” said Gubbels. “Residents love RecycleBank because the large blue bins make it easy to recycle. Because the trash cans are so large, and the previous 18-gallon recycle bins were so small, many people threw their recycling in the trash when their recycle bins were full. RecycleBank has eliminated this wastage by making it as easy to recycle as it is to throw garbage in the trash.”
The town has benefited from RecycleBank by having the life of it’s landfill extended because not as much trash is dumped in its landfill facility.
“Because trucks can dump their loads in a single place at the MRF, instead of driving over the place at the landfill, fewer emissions are released into the atmosphere,” Gubbels said. “Haulers benefit by spending less time on the road and through a reduction in the amount of gas they have to buy.
“Their trucks also suffer less damage. One of the problems with a traditional garbage dump is that the layout changes as more trash is deposited. This requires the construction of temporary roads, which deteriorate quickly, making it easy for trucks to suffer damage.”
Firstar Fiber said RecycleBank has created so much interest in Nebraska, it’s looking to extend it to other areas.
“Everyday we get calls from people asking when we’re going to bring RecycleBank to their areas,” said Gubbels. “The good news is that we’re working on this as we speak. We’re very excited about the benefits RecycleBank offers Nebraskans and we’re currently in negotiations with several other towns and haulers. We expect to make some big announcements soon.”
