Voluntary Initiatives to Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle Organic Materials

The GreenScapes program is designed to help preserve natural resources and prevent waste and pollution. The GreenScapes program encourages companies, government agencies, and other entities to make more holistic decisions regarding waste generation and disposal and the associated impacts on land, water, air, and energy use.

WasteWise is a successful voluntary partnership program that seeks to reduce MSW through innovative waste prevention and recycling techniques. More than 2700 partners from business, government, and institutions have reported a reduction of 35 million tons of municipal solid waste. WasteWise partners continue to take on new challenges, such as encouraging the reuse and recycling of construction and demolition debris and the use of recycled products to create new “WasteWise buildings.”

RecycleMania is a friendly competition among university recycling programs in the United States that provides students with a fun, proactive activity in waste reduction. Over a 10-week period, schools compete in different contests, including food service organics, to see which institution can collect the largest amount of recyclables, the least amount of trash, and have the highest recycling rate.