Nashville launches curbside program - Municipal Recycling - Brief Article

Recycling Today, June, 2002

Nashville Mayor Bill Purcell has offered details about the citywide household recycling program. His remarks were made during a speech on waste management issues in April. He also presented the rolling 95-gallon carts to be used within the Urban Services District (USD).

The household program started Monday, April 22, as residents began receiving carts. Carts will be distributed to more than 100,000 single-family homes within the USD during the next six months.

"Forty-eight percent of our residential waste stream is paper, cardboard and cans of various types. This program is designed to recycle that huge share of our garbage and divert it away from landfills," says Mayor Purcell.

Chace Anderson, assistant director of public works, oversees the recycling program. He says the new program is larger and more inclusive than the program ended in 2000, in which 6,000 homes participated on a regular basis.

Bins will be collected monthly to reduce program costs. Items such as glass and plastic excluded from curbside collection can be taken to any of 10 recycling drop-off centers located throughout Davidson county.

The city's goal is to increase recycling from eight percent to 25 percent by 2004.