Recycle Often. Recycle Right.^SM simplifies recycling and inspires participation.

HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 14, 2014-- In an effort to increase recycling and improve the quality of materials through a comprehensive education program, Waste Management (NYSE:WM) has launched a new online portal around its Recycle Often. Recycle Right.^SM campaign, which promotes the basics of recycling by simplifying guidelines and empowering everyone to become Recycling Ambassadors.

Conveyor belt at a single-stream recycling facility, where recyclables are separated by both machines and workers. (Photo: Business Wire)

Accessible at www.RecycleOftenRecycleRight.com, users can access the campaign online and make a digital promise to rethink recycling by “getting back to the basics of good recycling” and encourage others to do the same.

As more and more communities aspire to achieve higher diversion rates, the need for clarification and simplification has grown. In addition, as recycling has evolved over the years, confusion about things such as collection systems, what can and cannot be recycled, what materials are made from, how they are packaged and their eventual end market, has grown. The result? Today, up to 65 percent of consumers place non-recyclables in their curbside recycling bins.

Waste Management’s Recycle Often. Recycle Right.^SM campaign simplifies recycling by promoting three basic rules:

1. Recycle all bottles, cans and paper

2. Keep items clean and dry

3. No plastic bags

“These three recycling rules serve as the foundation for understanding how to recycle, while also addressing some of the common nationwide issues impacting recycling rates and business profitability for the industry,” said Jim Trevathan, executive vice president and chief operating officer for Waste Management. “Our customers want to do the right thing, and we want to help them do that. By emphasizing the most common recyclable products and providing helpful tips to ensure those materials can in fact be recycled rather than end up in a landfill, Waste Management hopes to significantly impact the amount of usable materials entering our recycling facilities, which helps save resources, time, energy and raw materials.”

When users visit the Recycle Often. Recycle Right.^SM website, they are invited to make a recycling promise, pledge to practice better recycling at home, work and throughout their communities, and urge others to do the same by sharing their stories through social media. In honor of America Recycles Day, an annual celebration of recycling awareness on November 15, Waste Management is hoping to gather 5,000 online promises by the end of the month.

The educational website includes recycling information that can be downloaded by educators, city staff and members of the community. Consumers can learn about some of the most common questionable items to place in the waste or recycling bin via the Myth Busters guide, which provides explanations behind why and how materials are or are not recyclable, including plastic bottle caps, pizza boxes and candy wrappers. In addition, recyclers are encouraged to engage through social media using the campaign’s hashtag #RORR.

Visit www.RecycleOftenRecycleRight.com to learn more about the campaign. Recycling information is also available through Waste Management’s accounts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

ABOUT WASTE MANAGEMENT

Waste Management, based in Houston, Texas, is the leading provider of comprehensive waste management services in North America. Our subsidiaries provide collection, transfer, recycling and resource recovery, and disposal services. We are the largest residential recycler and also a leading developer, operator and owner of waste-to-energy and landfill-gas-to-energy facilities in the United States. Our customers include residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers throughout North America. To learn more visit www.wm.com.

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Source: Waste Management

Waste Management
Media
Robert Kidwell, 713-210-9778
rkidwell@wm.com