Recycle Rouge will receive 2007 Award for Outstanding Public Education Program in the Nation at Denver National Recycling Coalition conference.

Baton Rouge, Louisiana – The Baton Rouge Recycling Program, a division of the City-Parish Department of Public Works, will be recognized by the National Recycling Coalition as a recipient of the “2007 Beth Brown Boettner Award for Outstanding Public Education,” at a ceremony to be held on Monday, September 17th at the 26th Annual Recycling Congress and Expo in Denver, Colorado. Each year, the National Recycling Coalition presents eleven awards to different outstanding organizations in several different categories. The Outstanding Public Education award recognizes the best in recycling practices, honoring a program that shows innovation and leadership in public education and a recycling program that will become the standard for the future.

The 2007 award recognizes efforts of the Baton Rouge Recycling Office to educate community residents about waste reduction, and particularly about the city’s newly expanded “single-stream” recycling program. The single stream program consists of three key components: 64-gallon recycling carts; the addition of new recyclable materials (all sizes cardboard and plastics #1 through #7); and no more sorting of recyclable materials.

“The award-winning Baton Rouge recycling initiative illustrates the ability of a partnership between government and citizens to drive success,” said Mayor-President Melvin L. “Kip” Holden. "The 30% percent increase in the amount of recyclables collected to date demonstrates that the community is responding to recent enhancements to the Baton Rouge recycling program accompanied by effective outreach.”

Susan Hamilton, Recycling Director for the City-Parish stated: “We attribute our success to in-depth strategic planning, effective networking with local leaders, a creative grass-roots public outreach effort and partnerships with community businesses, such as The Dow Chemical Company, ExxonMobil, Kleinpeter Farms Dairy, L.L.C., Associated Grocers, and Southern Scrap Recycling-Baton Rouge.”

“Our goal of increasing recycling by 50% calls for even greater increases in participation in the coming months, and we look forward to enrolling even more Baton Rouge residents in our expanded program. Recycling is one of the easiest ways in which each of us can play a role in protecting our environment and making our community sustainable,” she continued.

Residents wishing to participate in the Baton Rouge easy to use residential recycling program may sign up for service by calling the city’s contractor, The Recycling Foundation, at 925-3442, or signing up online at Cart Request