Waste reduction program exceeds goal

The state’s Waste Exchange program is exceeding its goals for keeping thousands of tons of junk from landfills.In the just-ended fiscal year, the Recycle Iowa program diverted more than one-hundred-thousand tons of waste from mostly big corporations to other companies that used it as raw materials. The goal was 75-thousand tons. Dave Cretors is the Waste Exchange’s industrial outreach manager.Cretors says the effort saved Iowa businesses more than three-point-eight million dollars in disposal costs, along with one-point-two million in other costs. Materials involved include: plastics, paper, food waste, scrap textiles and wooden pallets. He says the program is succeeding as it strives to find smart solutions to the state’s economic and environmental problems. Since it started a decade ago, Cretors says the program has helped thousands of businesses find new uses and new users for industrial materials and by-products. For more information, contact Recycle Iowa at 800-532-1216 or surf to “www.recycleiowa.org”.