Dear Members and Friends,

Happy Thanksgiving!!

IRC Staff

REVENT - The IRC’s fall fundraiser was a great success!

Thanks to all of our guests for supporting the IRC and joining us for this special celebration! Thanks also to the five legislators who joined us: Senators Beverly Gard and Jean Breaux, and Representatives Mary Ann Sullivan, Randy Frye and Dick Dodge.

During the brief program, the IRC had the pleasure of awarding Senator Gard and Representative Sullivan with the IRC’s Legislative Leadership Award for their work on Indiana’s electronics recycling law. The IRC was the lead advocate for this legislation, however, the issue would not have moved forward without the dedication and talent of these two smart and effective legislators.

Representative Sullivan, IRC’s Carey Hamilton,

Senator Gard

Travis DiNicola served as the evening’s emcee and did a wonderful job entertaining attendees and keeping the evening on track.

Finally, thank you to the REVENT planning committee for making this evening a great success: IRC board members Matt Otte, Stacey Boggs, Corrina Prather, Mary Ann Sullivan, Deanna Dennison and former board member Amy Grimmer.

Event photos can be viewed here.

Welcome newest members of the IRC!

And Thank You To Our Returning Members!

IRC Recognizes Evansville’s Ford Center and Keep Evansville Beautiful as Public Space Recycling Bin Grant Program Recipients

Evansville’s Ford Center and Keep Evansville Beautiful (KEB) are the newest and largest beneficiaries of the IRC’s public space recycling bin grant program. The new Ford Center has received 50 recycling bins, which will help it meet its goals toward LEED certification requirements, and KEB has received 25 bins that will be used at community events.

Click here to view the IRC press release.
Click here to view coverage in the Evansville Courier & Press.

IRC’s 2011 America Recycles Day “Reconomics” Video Contest Winners Announced

Indiana middle and high school students were recently asked to create 30-second videos telling Hoosiers why recycling is good for the economy and students from around the state met the challenge! Find out who won here!

New EPA Recycling Data Available

According to the U.S. EPA, in 2010, Americans generated about 250 million tons of trash and recycled and composted nearly 85 million tons of this material, equivalent to a 34.0 percent recycling rate. On average, we recycled and composted 1.51 pounds of our individual waste generation of 4.43 pounds per person per day. Click here to access the newly released data.

Recycling resolution approved by U.S. Senate

By Editorial Staff, Resource Recycling

A non-binding resolution expressing support for the recycling industry received unanimous approval from the U.S. Senate this week.

Senate Resolution 251 was introduced by U.S. Senators Tom Carper (D-Delaware) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) this summer to the overwhelming agreement from the recycling industry. The resolution expresses support “for improvement in the collection, processing, and consumption of recyclable material throughout the United States in order to create well-paying jobs, foster innovation and investment in the United States recycling infrastructure, and stimulate the economy of the United States.”

SR 251 includes many notes pointing out the positive impact made by recycling on the U.S. economy, including that U.S. recycling processors directly or indirectly employ over 450,000 workers. According to a press release announcing the resolution’s approval says that that accounts “for more than $90 billion in economic output or roughly 0.6 percent of United States’ Gross Domestic Product, which is more than the fishing and forestry industries combined.“

IRC Note -This summer the IRC signed on as a supporter of this resolution and we are thrilled to report that the resolution received bipartisan and unanimous support.