Establishing November 15, 2015 as America Recycles Day in the City of Philadelphia.

WHEREAS, Each year, Philadelphia residents and businesses combine to generate more than 2.5 million tons of solid waste – or a rate of about 9 lbs. per person per day; and

WHEREAS, Philadelphia has reached an overall recycling rate of nearly 50 percent and each year these overall recycling efforts divert more than one million tons of material to a useful second life instead of disposal, saves the same amount of energy consumed by over 43,000 households in a year, avoids greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to removing more than 101,000 cars from the road and helps the overall economy and creates jobs by providing raw materials for manufacturing; and

WHEREAS, Philadelphia continues to grow its recycling program by opening the Port Richmond Sanitation Convenience Center on November 13th, kicking off the annual fall leaf collection, and through expanded educational outreach about the importance of recycling and recycling right; and

WHEREAS, The Philadelphia School District have made great strides in recycling and other institutions, such as Philadelphia International Airport and the Philadelphia Prison System continue to be leaders in recycling and waste reduction; and

WHEREAS, To focus the nation’s attention on the importance of recycling, businesses, industries, government agencies, nonprofit organizations and individuals have joined together to celebrate America Recycles Day and are encouraging their friends, neighbors and coworkers to pledge to learn more about recycling options in their community and commit to recycle more materials; and

WHEREAS, The Philadelphia Streets Department celebrates America Recycles Day this year by improving recycling in municipal buildings, utilizing its partners Keep Philadelphia Beautiful and Recyclebank to assist in outreach to City offices and employees; and

WHEREAS, Participating in America Recycles Day 2015 is one way citizens can help raise awareness about the need to reduce waste by reusing, recycling and buying recycled-content products; and

WHEREAS, Philadelphia leaders can also use this as an opportunity to spread the word about the excellent recycling programs that have been established, the growth of markets for recyclable materials and the importance of buying recycled products, now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That Council does hereby establish November 15, 2015 as America Recycles Day in the City of Philadelphia.

FURTHER RESOLVED

, That an Engrossed copy of this resolution be presented to

Phil Bresee, Recycling Director, along with representatives of the Philadelphia Streets Department

as evidence of the sincere sentiments of this legislative body.

End