Iowa does well in recycling

Today is “America Recycles” day, a national effort to highlight how we handle our trash and take care of the environment. Jane Mild with the DNR says Iowa does pretty well as the “diversion average” statewide is 35-percent, the amount of stuff we discard that does not go to landfills, and some smaller towns work with bigger ones that have recycling programs. Mild says there are 60 municipal landfills in Iowa, a good number to handle all the trash hauled from residents of its 99 counties, and there’s no shortage of places to start new city dumps, unlike some more densely-populated states. And Mild says some recycling is done within the state’s borders.There are some plastic recycling facilities in the state, and glass collected through recycling programs is crushed in some progressive communities and mixed into “glassphalt” for road or trail paving. Mild says it’s easy to have a say in how your community will handle recycling and other waste-disposal issues. Every 3 years residents have an opportunity to have a hand in the development of their area’s new comprehensive solid-waste plan update and they can get involved or just ask questions. Communities around the country are noting America Recycles day today.