Published: Thursday, June 24, 2010
 

City and Allied Waste team up for new recycling program at Palmer Park

Staff Reports
Madison Weekly

The City of Madison and Allied Waste have teamed up to start a new recycling program at Palmer Park.

According to city officials, over 775 baseball games, 250 softball games, and 27 regional weekend baseball and softball tournaments fill Palmer Park from March to June with thousands of participants and attendees. These park visitors can now choose to make a difference by recycling.

In mid-May, Allied Waste placed new blue recycling carts throughout the park near concession stands and trash receptacles to compliment the curbside recycling effort already present in the city.

The response by park patrons has been very positive, said city officials. The carts have been full each week, which means recyclables such as plastic water bottles, sports drink bottles as well as aluminum cans that were once being thrown in trash bins are now being recycled.

“The success of this new program has not only been defined by the large amount of recyclable plastic and aluminum already being removed from our waste stream, but also by the response of our park visitors,” said Mayor Paul Finley. “Our residents and visitors want to recycle and Allied Waste has partnered with us to make it a reality”.

Allied Waste saw a great opportunity to make an immediate and meaningful impact and stepped in.

“Allied Waste is proud to partner with Madison and their recycling efforts,” explained Bill Brinkley, General Manager of Allied Waste in Huntsville. “We are pleased the pilot program at Palmer Park is an early success. We look forward to many more successful recycling ventures with the residents and commercial businesses of Madison.”

Taylor Edge, Executive Assistant to Mayor Paul Finley, continued the praise, “The feedback received from the community shows that this program will continue to be a success. We deeply appreciate Allied Waste making this need a priority and enabling this success!”

The program will continue throughout the summer and possibly be expanded in the fall.