Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, February 3, 1992 TAG: 9202030184
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
RECYCLING
THE ROANOKE Valley has been out front in Virginia's recycling effort. Roanoke County was the first in the state to try voluntary, multimaterial curbside recycling. In 1990, Vinton became the first locality to require residents to separate all recyclables in household trash for curbside pickup.Another source of pride should be local businesses that have made a strong commitment to recycling. There are many (including, in all modesty, this newspaper), but to cite just one standout: Shenandoah Life Insurance Co. was one of the valley's first companies to implement a comprehensive recycling program.
With the help of the Clean Valley Council, Shenandoah Life's effort has relied heavily on education and the enthusiastic involvement of employees. At the program's kickoff on Aug. 1, 1990, the firm gave each of its 230 workers a ceramic mug so that they would stop using throw-away foam cups. Plastic containers, color-coded for various types of waste, were placed at every work station. The mail department learned to divert junk mail to recycling bins before it made its way to employees' desks.
As an extra incentive for participation, the company pledged a fourth of the profits from selling recyclables to an employees' fund for Christmas parties and other social functions. Then it built a compost heap, where food wastes from the cafeteria and leaves will become mulch for the maintenance of its 23-acre corporate grounds on Brambleton Avenue.
Shenandoah Life's program is a fine example of management and employees working together to recycle. The firm has tried to share what it's learned with other businesses. Last month, it hosted a regional business waste-management workshop.
According to the Clean Valley Council, two-thirds of the waste stream in the Roanoke Valley is from business and industry. With local governments under a state mandate to reduce by 25 percent the amount of waste they bury in landfills by 1995, private companies will be held accountable for their environmental policies. Good.
Shenandoah Life, in the first year of its program, diverted 40 percent of its waste from dumpster to recycling bins; it made $1,258 selling its recyclables; it avoided two increases in waste-hauling fees by reducing the number of days the dumpster had to be emptied. Other companies also are likely to find that recycling is good for business.