Green Mountain College to Adopt Casella Waste System's Zero-Sort® Recycling Program and Power of Three™ Closed Loop Recycling System

POULTNEY, Vt., March 15, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Green Mountain College, located in Poultney, Vermont, reaffirmed its commitment to being a leader in sustainability by joining Casella Waste Systems Power of Three™ closed loop recycling initiative.  The Power of Three is Casella's newest solution for its customers who are intent on bringing a new meaning to the term "zero-waste." 

The Power of Three is premised off of picking up a customer's recycling, processing that recycling into new products, and then providing those products back to the customer in the form of new hand towels, tissue paper, and toiletry items.  The Green Mountain College program is accomplished through a partnership among Casella, SCA Paper, Foley Distributing and UGL Services that redefines closed-loop recycling.

With Zero-Sort®, all of Green Mountain College's paper, plastic, glass, and metal will be combined together in one single container.  Casella's Zero-Sort processing facility located in Rutland, Vermont mechanically sorts all of the material. Once sorted, the baled paper will travel just 45 miles more to the SCA plant in Glens Falls, New York to be made into 100% recycled paper content products that will then be delivered back to Green Mountain College by Foley Distributing and UGL Services.

Businesses that have converted over to Zero-Sort typically see a 20-40% or more improvement in their recycling efforts, which typically saves them money on disposal costs, time in sorting, and streamlines their collection processes internally.

"The words 'reuse' and 'recycle' are a big part of our vocabulary, and we're always looking for ways to make campus operations more sustainable," states Green Mountain College President Paul Fonteyn. "This project is a great demonstration of how non-profit institutions and for-profit companies can work together to create a greener economy."

Casella is very hopeful for the future of this program and the positive impact it will have on the environment and its customers.  "One of our goals as a company is to help our customers ensure that as few resources as possible are wasted," said John Casella, Chairman and CEO of Casella.  "We are intent in our mission of taking the things our customers do not want and transforming them back into things that they do.  Our partnership with SCA paper and Foley Distributing allows us to do just that."

About Green Mountain College:

Green Mountain College was founded in 1834 by the Troy Conference of the United Methodist Church. Throughout its history, strong teacher-student relationships have been the hallmark of a GMC education, a tradition that continues today.

At the heart of the College's environmental mission is the 37-credit Environmental Liberal Arts General Education Program, which all GMC students complete. ELA combines the skills and content of a strong liberal arts course of study with a focus on the environment.

Green Mountain College has a climate neutral campus and was named the second greenest school in the country in 2011 by Sierra magazine.

To visit the college on the Internet: http://www.greenmtn.edu

About Casella Waste Systems:

Casella Waste Systems, Inc. headquartered in Rutland, Vermont, provides solid waste, recycling and resource solutions throughout Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania. 

For further information, please contact Steve McDonnell, director of sales and marketing at (802) 772-2226, or visit the company's website at www.casella.com.  For more information about The Power of Three™, visit www.Casella.com/P3.

About Foley Distributing Corp.:

Foley Distributing founded in 1973, occupies a 140,000 square foot facility in Rutland, Vermont.  They have grown to be the market leader in the supply and delivery of recycled paper products, compostable and  recyclable takeout foodservice packaging; kitchenware washing and laundry systems, hotel guest amenity items, washroom toilet tissue, paper towel and hand soap systems that reduce waste; environmentally preferred cleaning and floor care products as well as floor care and carpet care cleaning equipment sales and service. Foley has played a major role in converting hundreds of companies, schools and other facilities to sustainable, green programs that lessen their impact on the environment while improving the health and safety of their employees and building occupants.  Their service area includes the entire State of Vermont, Western, Central and Southern New Hampshire, Upstate New York (including the Capital District) and Northern Massachusetts.  Foley Distributing is a member of Network Services, Distribution by Design™, located in Schaumburg, Illinois, a distribution network with over $10 Billion in annual sales.

About DTZ and UGL Services:

DTZ is now combined with UGL Services. UGL Services is a division of UGL Limited. The combined business of DTZ and UGL Services is now one of the largest property services companies in the world. It provides corporate/occupier clients with a global, integrated, end-to-end service offering and best-in-class investor services capabilities in investment agency, leasing agency, property and facilities management, project and building consultancy, valuation, and investment and asset management. The organization has 27,000 permanent employees and 43,000 personnel including contractors, operating across 225 offices in 45 countries. For further information, visit: www.uglservices.com and www.dtz-ugl.com

SOURCE Green Mountain College