The city of Providence, Rhode Island, will start delivering new, standardized waste and recycling collection carts to residents this month with the help of a $7.4 million investment from Closed Loop Partners, the American Beverage Association and other major brands, The Recycling Partnership and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling (SWIFR) grant program.
According to The Recycling Partnership (TRP), the new carts are a major step in a multiyear public-private partnership to address longstanding challenges in the city’s recycling system, and delivery of approximately 55,000 carts is expected to be complete by early summer.
By aligning public funding, private investments, infrastructure upgrades and resident education, TRP says the project is taking direct action to reduce contamination, strengthen recycling operations and deliver measurable recycling rate improvements citywide. Providence’s current contamination rate is more than 47 percent, TRP claims, resulting in more than 8,000 tons of materials intended for recycling being rejected and sent to landfills annually instead of being made into new products…