Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the
Florida Recycling Partnership Foundation Announce Recycling Awards
During Florida Recycles Day
Tallahassee, Fla. – Florida Recycling Partnership Foundation and Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) joined forces on Nov. 15 to encourage all Floridians to recycle. As part of Florida Recycles Day, several local governments and organizations were recognized for their recycling efforts.
DEP presented Recycling Recognition Awards to counties for meeting the interim statewide recycling goal of 75 percent for 2022. They were Palm Beach – 80%; Collier – 78% and Charlotte – 76%.
Florida Recycling Partnership Foundation announced the following 2023 Recycling Champion Award Winners:
1st Place Award: City of Orlando for their LMI Multifamily Recycling Incentive
2nd Place Award: League of Women Voters of Orange County, Orange County, City of Orlando & City of Winter Park for their Intergovernmental Waste Reduction Program – Campaign Signs Recycling
3rd Place Award: City of Coral Springs for their Coral Springs Recycles Right! Campaign
Award for Community Impact: Resource Depot for Turning Waste into Wonder
Award for Sustainable Impact: Tampa International Airport for Master Plan Phase 1 – Environmental Stewardship
Award for Innovative Impact: Keep Coral Gables Beautiful for their Reverse Vending Machine Rewards Incentive Pilot Program
Nominations were submitted this past fall and judged by students from the Patel College for Global Sustainability.
The Recycling Champion Award Winners will be featured in a webinar scheduled for January 26, 2024 beginning at 10:00 am.
To register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2023-florida-recycling-champion-award-winners-presentations-tickets-775875834507.
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Florida Recycles Day was a success!
Each year, the Florida Recycling Partnership Foundation and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection coordinates Florida Recycles Day. On November 15, the event was held at the Patel College for Global Sustainability at the University of South Florida Tampa Campus. Speakers included Dr. Pradeep Halder, Director of Sustainable Business – Patel College for Global Sustainability; Dr. Malak Anshassi – Florida Polytechnic University; Karen S. Moore – FDEP; Randall Ceneus – Recycling & Waste Reduction Specialist for Hillsborough County; Sushi Daniels – Sustainability Director for University of South Florida and Whit Remer – Chief Sustainability Office for the City of Tampa.
Thank you to the sponsors who made the event possible – Covanta; Publix; Cemex; Florida Goodwill Association; WM; The Foundation at AIF; SMI; Coca-Cola Beverages Florida; NuCycle Energy; Goodwill Manasota & Florida Recyclers Association
The Florida Recycling Partnership Foundation participated in the 2023 Resource Recycling Conference held in Orlando. We assisted the Resource Recycling team with speakers and tour locations. One of the speakers we recommended was Dr. Malak Anshassi who discussed the study we commissioned, “Investigating the Economics of Current and Future Recycling Programs in Florida.” Thank you, Karl Berven – Bealls, for helping Keyna Cory man the booth in the exhibit hall!x
FRPF Executive Director, Keyna Cory, was a guest speaker at the Florida Recyclers Association meeting held in September at the Hammond Beach Resort. It was a great time to share ideas about recycling and how we can improve. The Florida Recyclers Association is an organization of Scrap Metal Recyclers, Scrap Metal Equipment Suppliers and other Service Providers that specialize in the scrap metal industry, all located in the State of Florida.
The Florida Recycling Partnership Foundation works with a variety of associations in the recycling industry and business groups to help educate policymakers, business leaders, and the public about the benefits of recycling.
Congratulations Florida Department of Environmental Protection for receiving US EPA Grant!
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection has received a grant from the US EPA for the following:
Capacity analysis considering recycling, composting, waste-to-energy and landfilling – Limited facilities and capacity challenges constrain the state’s disposal and recycling options. The amount of municipal solid waste managed in 2021 was 50 million tons, an increase of 3 million tons in one year. In addition, natural disasters are adding millions of additional tons for management. The capacity analysis will review the amount of municipal solid waste managed in the state and determine the current available capacity of waste management and recycling facilities. The analysis will also evaluate the capacity needed in the future to keep up with population growth and development.
Away from Home Waste and Recycling Study – Florida hosted an estimated 140 million visitors for 2022. In a state of 22 million residents, it is possible that a significant portion of the 50 million tons of municipal solid waste generated is through tourism. A study on the amount of municipal solid waste generated and disposed/recycled by visitors will help determine how much of the material can be attributed to tourism. This data will allow the Department to develop plans that focus resources on diverting more material from the tourism sector to recycling.
Waste Composition Study/WasteCalc Update – WasteCalc is an online tool that was developed in the early 2000s and updated in 2019. The application calculates waste composition by county. The 2019 update included the identification and collection of waste composition studies, material generation reports, and waste sorts from a representative number of counties. To maintain and improve the accuracy of the tool, a representative number of county waste composition studies should be completed annually to update WasteCalc.
Member news …
WM Recycling Deerfield named NWRA’s Construction & Demolition Recycling Facility of the Year Award
WM is pleased to announce that its WM Recycling Deerfield site was named the National Waste & Recycling’s Construction & Demolition (C&D) Recycling Facility of the Year for 2022.
WM invested approximately $15 million to build the state-of-the-art C&D recycling facility that opened in February of 2022 and includes a 73,000-square-foot structure.
WM Recycling Deerfield accepts Class III waste, C&D debris, and Yard Waste from commercial and municipal customers and recycles wood, concrete, metal, and cardboard. The facility processes about 1,000 tons of material per day.
WM Recycling Deerfield’s initial goal was to recycle approximately 60% of inbound material. To date, the facility is recycling an average of 80% of inbound volume and greatly exceeding its recycling goals by diverting 800 tons a day from landfill disposal.
Florida Recycling Partnership Foundation Board Member and WM Communication Director Dawn McCormick will accept the award on behalf of the WM operations team, including WM Post-Collections Director Matt Orr and Site Manager Rich Finston, at NWRA’s Executive Roundtable meeting on October 4 in Ashville, NC.
FRPF Board members, Jenna Emerson, celebrates 15 years with CEMEX!
Jenna Emerson is the Public Affairs Manager for Cemex’s East Region, recently celebrating 15 years with the company. She has a bachelor’s degree in Interpersonal Communications from the University of Central FL along with an AA and Minor in Nutrition from Florida State University. She currently lives in Orlando, FL. with her husband Chris of 12 years and two daughters, Vivienne and Everly. Her responsibilities for Cemex include strategic planning and outreach for all business lines (cement, aggregate, ready-mix, and transport) to help establish and grow collaborative relationships with our stakeholders and strengthen Cemex’s Corporate Social Responsibility and Public Affairs Strategies. When Jenna is not working you can find her spending quality time with her husband and two daughters which include many trips to all the local theme parks in Orlando. Her hobbies including cooking, entertaining, exercising, traveling, and crafting.
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Big shoutout to our FRP Foundation Chair, Liz DeWitt, on receiving the prestigious “Beverage Industry Champion Award” from the American Beverage Association.
Keyna Cory, Executive Director for the Florida Recycling Partnership Foundation was named one of the “Above & Beyond” award winners.
The award honors women in government and public service.