FLAGSTAFF — The City of Flagstaff was chosen as the Municipality of the Year as part of the Arizona Recycling Coalition’s Excellence in Recycling awards. The award recognizes the City’s recent efforts to promote reduce, reuse, and recycle programming and minimize the impact of Flagstaff’s waste and material consumption.
The City’s recent initiatives include launching the Master Recycler Program, which leverages volunteers to provide direct outreach to the community on everything from how to recycle properly to reducing household wasted food. The City also utilizes multiple specialized events to prevent materials from ending up in the landfill. In 2016, Fix-it Clinics helped residents repair hundreds of broken household items and Drop-off Day diverted 16,600 pounds of sensitive documents, 500 gallons of usable paint, and 8,000 pounds of electronic waste.
The City is also working to make it easier for residents to recycle properly in their homes and public places. Recycling infrastructure was recently deployed throughout historic downtown Flagstaff, as well as Thorpe and Bushmaster Parks, with more bins on the way. This year, all of Sunnyside received new blue recycling carts, along with door-to-door outreach to reduce confusion over what material can be recycled.
In an effort to increase access to recycling at multifamily properties, the City also partnered with Woodcrest Apartments to expand access to recycling. As a result, the complex increased the percentage of recyclables captured from 11% to 80% with only a 2% increase in the property’s monthly trash bill.
Building off these recent efforts, Flagstaff’s City Council recently adopted the Rethink Waste Plan, which includes a goal of achieving zero waste by 2050 and outlines initiatives over the next three years to continue to improve upon these recent successes.
For more information, contact Dylan Lenzen, Zero Waste Coordinator, City of Flagstaff Sustainability Program at (928) 213-2158.