Miami-Dade County's recycling program surpasses 60,000 tons for the fourth year in a row

Residents thanked for participating, reminded to recycle only acceptable items

(MIAMI, October 31, 2013) – Miami-Dade County’s curbside single-stream residential recycling program keeps going strong.  During Fiscal Year 2012-2013, which ended September 30, 2013, the County collected 61,632.85 tons of recyclable materials.  That marks four years in a row with more than 60,000 tons of materials diverted from Miami-Dade’s landfills—and put to good use making new products. 

“We’re proud of the fact that our recycling partners and our residents continue to make Miami-Dade County’s award-winning recycling program a big success,” said Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez.  “Protecting our environment is an important priority for my administration so we will continue to emphasize recycling education and outreach programs.”

Miami-Dade County converted its residential recycling program in 2008 from a two-bin, “dual stream” system to a more streamlined single-stream program.  Participants simply place all recyclable materials accepted in the program—paper, cardboard, narrow-neck plastic bottles with their caps and lids, glass bottles, metal food and beverage containers, and “gable-top” (aseptic) milk and juice cartons—into a wheeled blue cart for collection.  With single-stream recycling, Miami-Dade has consistently collected 59,000—or more—tons every year. 

“We appreciate our residents’ recycling efforts and remind them of the importance of ensuring they only recycle materials acceptable in our program,” said Alina T. Hudak, Deputy Mayor and Interim Department Director for the Miami-Dade County Department of Solid Waste Management (DSWM), adding, “Placing the wrong materials in the blue recycling cart makes it more difficult to recycle the good materials we collect.” 

Miami-Dade County provides curbside recycling service to more than 350,000 single-family households in the unincorporated areas of Miami-Dade County as well as all residences in 20 participating municipalities: Aventura, Cutler Bay, Doral, El Portal, Florida City, Medley, Miami Beach, Miami Gardens, Miami Lakes, Miami Springs, North Bay Village, North Miami Beach, Opa-locka, Palmetto Bay, Pinecrest, South Miami, Sunny Isles Beach, Surfside, West Miami and Virginia Gardens. 

For more information on Miami-Dade County's recycling program, including information on which materials can and can’t be recycled in the program, visit the PWWM website at www.miamidade.gov/solidwaste or call 3-1-1.